Ep 60: It Is Normal for Your Appetite to Increase After WLS
This post is a companion to Episode 60 of the Bariatric Nutrition Coach Podcast. Listen to the full episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
This topic comes up constantly — in comments, in social media, in conversations with clients. If you have noticed your appetite increasing after bariatric surgery, this episode is for you. The simple answer first: yes, it is completely normal. And here is why.
How Bariatric Surgery Affects Appetite Over Time
Bariatric surgery works in multiple ways — through restriction (a smaller stomach), through metabolic changes (altered hunger and fullness hormones), and in bypass procedures, through some degree of malabsorption. In the early days after surgery, all of these effects are at their strongest. Your hunger hormone levels are low, your restriction is high, and you may feel very little appetite at all.
Over time — as expected — these metabolic changes gradually ease. Your body adapts. Hunger hormones begin to return to a more normal range. Your stomach can accommodate a little more food. This is not a failure. It is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is how bariatric surgery works over time, and it happens to virtually everyone.
Why This Can Feel Alarming
After months of enjoying relief from constant hunger, feeling appetite return can trigger real panic. It can feel like the old, relentless hunger from before surgery is coming back. It can feel like losing control. For many people it triggers fear of weight regain. These feelings are completely valid — and understanding what is actually happening can make a significant difference.
Three Strategies to Manage Increasing Appetite
Keep eating regularly. A consistent eating schedule helps regulate appetite throughout the day. When you skip meals and arrive at the next one over-hungry, all bets are off. Regular meals keep appetite manageable and reduce the drive to overeat or graze.
Check your protein. As appetite returns, it is very common for carbohydrate intake to quietly increase while protein intake drops. Carbohydrates do not keep you satisfied as long as protein does, which amplifies the feeling of hunger. Refocusing on protein — especially earlier in the day — makes a significant difference to appetite later on.
Build in more fibre. As you move further from surgery and can tolerate more variety, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit add fibre — which, like protein, increases satiety. A more varied diet is also a more satisfying one.
Increasing appetite is a signal to revisit your eating habits — not a sign that your surgery has stopped working.
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