What If I Never Feel Full? Understanding Fullness and Satiety Cues

Written by: Heather Soman, RD

Why You Don’t Feel Full (and How to Reconnect With Your Body’s Cues)

Have you ever wondered, “Why don’t I ever feel full?” Maybe you can eat a full meal and still feel like something’s missing — or you keep thinking about food even when you know you’ve eaten “enough.”

If that sounds familiar, you’re not broken.

Your body might just be trying to communicate with you.

As a Registered Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, I’ve seen so many clients struggle with fullness cues — and I’ve been there myself. Let’s unpack what’s actually happening in your body and how to start trusting those signals again.

Fullness vs. Satiety: What’s the Difference?

We often use these words interchangeably, but they mean different things.

Fullness is the physical sensation you feel in your stomach after eating — that sense of stretch or pressure that signals your stomach has had enough volume.

Satiety, on the other hand, is the lasting feeling of satisfaction that keeps you from thinking about food between meals. It’s influenced by not only what you eat, but how you eat and how much you enjoyed that meal or not.

You can feel full but not satisfied — for example, eating a salad when what you really wanted was pasta. Your stomach may be full, but your mind is still hungry.

The Science Behind Feeling Full

Your body uses a complex mix of hormones, nerves, and gut signals to regulate appetite.

• Leptin: Released by fat cells, leptin tells your brain when you have enough stored energy. Chronic dieting can blunt leptin’s signal, so your brain might not “hear” that you’re full.

• CCK (Cholecystokinin): One of the first “I’ve eaten” signals, released when fat and protein enter your small intestine. It slows digestion and communicates fullness through the vagus nerve — part of the gut-brain connection.

• PYY and GLP-1: Released later in digestion, these hormones sustain fullness, slow gastric emptying, and help regulate appetite for hours after eating.

• Gut bacteria: The trillions of microbes in your gut ferment fiber to produce short-chain fatty acids (like acetate, propionate, and butyrate), which trigger PYY and GLP-1 release and strengthen your gut barrier.

If you’ve spent years dieting or eating in a calorie deficit, these hormones can become dysregulated. Your brain might misinterpret signals, making you feel hungry even when you’ve had enough.

Why Fullness Might Feel “Off”

There are a few reasons you might not feel full, even after eating:

• Chronic restriction: Dieting lowers leptin and disrupts fullness signaling.

• Irregular eating: Skipping meals makes it hard for your body to notice subtle hunger and fullness cues.

• Stress and sleep: Both can increase hunger hormones like ghrelin and blunt satiety hormones.

• Lack of satisfaction: When meals don’t taste good or meet cravings, your brain doesn’t register completion, even if your stomach is full.

How to Reconnect With Your Fullness and Satiety Cues

Here’s where you can start rebuilding trust with your body:

1. Ask yourself, “What do I really want to eat — and why?”Honor cravings and aim for meals that are both nourishing and satisfying.

2. Build balanced, flavorful plates.Include carbs, protein, fat, and fiber — but don’t forget about taste. Flavor helps the brain register satisfaction.

3. Eat regularly.Every 3–4 hours helps regulate blood sugar and prevent extreme hunger that leads to overeating.

4. Slow down.It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach and brain to sync up. Engaging your senses (taste, smell, texture) strengthens that connection.

5. Reflect on your relationship with restriction.If you’ve been dieting, your body may need time — sometimes months or years — to rebuild hunger and fullness trust.

6. Support your gut.Include a variety of fiber-rich foods (like beans, oats, apples, bananas, leeks, and barley) to nourish your microbiome and support hormone balance.

Remember: Your Body Isn’t Broken

If fullness feels unreliable right now, that’s okay. You’re not failing — your body is protecting you. With consistency, nourishment, and compassion, those signals can and will return.

Your body isn’t the enemy. It’s communicating. The more you listen, the more it learns to trust you back.

For more support, check out my free Hunger & Fullness Cues Guide or join my Empowered Eating Journey program — a step-by-step path to rebuilding trust with your body and food.

References

Chambers ES, Viardot A et al. Effects of targeted delivery of propionate to the human colon on appetite regulation, body weight maintenance and adiposity in overweight adults. Gut. 2015 Nov;64(11):1744-54. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2014-307913. Epub 2014 Dec 10. PMID: 25500202; PMCID: PMC4680171.

Nilsson AC, Johansson-Boll EV, Björck IME. Increased gut hormones and insulin sensitivity index following a 3-d intervention with a barley kernel-based product: a randomised cross-over study in healthy middle-aged subjects. British Journal of Nutrition. 2015;114(6):899-907. doi:10.1017/S0007114515002524

Rix I, Nexøe-Larsen C, Bergmann NC, et al. Glucagon Physiology. [Updated 2019 Jul 16]. In: Feingold KR, Ahmed SF, Anawalt B, et al., editors. Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279127/