People generally want to lose weight to be happier in some way, feel better about themselves and their value on the dating market, etc. not as an end in itself.

People generally want to lose weight to be happier in some way, feel better about themselves and their value on the dating market, etc. not as an end in itself. If you swap negative feelings about your body for constant hunger, you're not improving the situation. And personally, I'd take the self-esteem issues. You can at least make an attempt to talk and think yourself out of that box. Hunger is a deep, primal thing that can't really be addressed by a therapist or tuned out by reading a good book.