Top 10 Ways to Conquer Cravings Handle Hunger, and Control Your Appetite You often hear the well-intentioned advice, "eat only when you're hungry." authoritynutrition.com But if you eat every time you feel the slightest twinge of hunger, regardless of whether your calorie needs for the day have already been met or not, you will constantly be taking one step forward and one step back. A little bit of hunger on a fat loss program is normal and sometimes simply needs to be tolerated. Your body's natural response to calorie deprivation is to increase hunger and it's not just because your stomach isn't full; it is far more complicated than that. A lot of it has to do with hormones secreted by your fat cells (leptin) and by your stomach and gastrointestinal tract (Ghrelin, CCK, Neuropeptide YY and others). These hormones interact with your central nervous system (brain/hypothalamus) in a way you could describe as turning up the appetite dial a notch...