What To Test If You Are Always Hungry Or Holding Weight

There is nothing more frustrating than constant hunger, food noise, or watching your weight stay exactly where it is no matter how healthy you eat. I hear this constantly from clients who assume they lack discipline or believe their metabolism is simply “broken.” In reality, persistent hunger and stubborn weight are not personal failures. They are biochemical signals.

Your body is incredibly intelligent. If it keeps asking for food or holding onto weight, there is a reason. These lab markers help you understand what that reason is. Once you see the story your labs are telling, everything finally clicks into place.

Below are the tests I recommend for anyone who feels like their appetite is out of control, their cravings never calm down, or their body is holding onto weight in a way that no longer feels normal.

1. Fasting Insulin 

Optimal: 2 to 5 µIU/mL

Fasting insulin may be the most important test for anyone who feels hungry all the time. When insulin is elevated, your body cannot easily access stored energy. This means your cells feel deprived even if you are eating enough. Your brain responds by increasing hunger, especially for sugar and carbs…

Many people have normal fasting glucose but high fasting insulin. That is metabolic dysfunction long before blood sugar becomes an issue. So, if you feel hungry shortly after eating, gain weight around the midsection, experience energy crashes, or need caffeine or sugar just to function, run this biomarker. 

2. HbA1c

Optimal: 4.8 to 5.2 percent

A1C measures how stable your blood sugar has been over the past ninety days. Blood sugar swings lead to cravings, overeating, irritability, afternoon slumps, and feeling hungry even after a balanced meal. When A1C is creeping up, even just a little bit, it often explains stubborn weight, nighttime snacking, and feeling shaky or foggy between meals. In other words, stable blood sugar equals stable hunger and stable energy.

3. Leptin 

Optimal: 4 to 12 ng/mL

Leptin is your fullness signal. When leptin is working well, your brain clearly receives the message that you have eaten enough. But when leptin is high, that message gets blocked, which is called leptin resistance. You can eat an adequate amount of food and still feel hungry twenty minutes later. Many clients mistake this for emotional eating when it is actually biochemical. High leptin also makes weight loss extremely challenging because the brain interprets leptin resistance as starvation (and your body will therefore hold on to fat for survival). 

4. Cortisol

Optimal Morning: 15 to 18 µg/dL

Evening: low and gently declining

Cortisol influences appetite more than most people realize. High cortisol in the morning can signal acute stress, poor sleep, blood sugar instability, or inflammation. This pattern drives cravings for sugar, carbs, and salty foods because your body believes it needs quick energy for survival.

A flat or reversed cortisol curve makes weight loss nearly impossible because the body stays in conservation mode. So testing both morning and evening cortisol helps you understand exactly how stress is shaping your appetite.

5. Thyroid Panel

TSH: 0.5 to 2.0

Free T4: 1.1 to 1.8 ng/dL

Free T3: 3.2 to 4.2 pg/mL

Reverse T3: 10 to 15 ng/dL

TPO Antibodies: ideally under 35 IU/mL

TG Antibodies: ideally under 20 IU/mL

Your thyroid regulates metabolic rate, appetite, digestion, energy, and weight balance. When thyroid function slows down, hunger increases because your body is trying to compensate for sluggish metabolism. Weight becomes harder to lose because your cells are operating on a lower energy setting.

Reverse T3 rises under stress or inflammation and can block active thyroid hormone. This often explains why people feel exhausted and hungry even with “normal” labs. And lastly, thyroid antibodies show whether the immune system is interfering with your thyroid long before symptoms become visible.

6. DHEA-S

Optimal: 150 to 250 µg/dL

DHEA-S reflects adrenal resilience and overall vitality. When DHEA is low, people often feel depleted or burnt out. Cravings intensify because the body seeks instant energy in the form of sugar or carbs. Low DHEA can also make workouts harder to recover from and contribute to stubborn weight gain around the midsection.

7. Ferritin 

Optimal: 50 to 100 ng/mL

Low ferritin is one of the most overlooked causes of cravings because when iron stores are low, the body struggles to produce energy, which creates fatigue and a desire for fast fuel. Many people assume they simply have “low willpower” when the real issue is low iron. If you feel tired after meals, crave carbs or sugar, or struggle with exercise tolerance, look at ferritin.

8. Magnesium RBC 

Optimal: 5.5 to 6.5 mg/dL

Magnesium is essential for blood sugar stability and appetite control. Low magnesium leads to cravings, especially for chocolate, salt, and sweets (sound familiar?!) It also disrupts sleep, which increases hunger hormones the next day. Magnesium RBC shows the magnesium inside your cells, which is much more accurate than a basic serum magnesium test.

When clients run these tests and finally see what their body has been trying to communicate, the relief is incredible. They understand why their hunger feels intense, why their energy crashes, why their weight has stayed put, and what their body needs to feel supported again. Your body is not fighting you. It is inviting you to listen.