Back to my old starting weight and ponderings on hunger

I am now at the weight I was when I started in January 2011. I look at that and shake my head. HOW did I gain it all back (plus some). HOW?

Why does my body like to stabilize at that weight? I have spent a bulk of my adult life within those 20 pounds. I don't feel good at that weight. My blood pressure isn't good at that weight. I hate how I look at that weight. I start to have more problems with restless legs at this weight and I start snoring at this weight. Yet, that's where I go.

I don't believe in set point weights - exactly. But I do think that's around the weight where my wild, out of control eating, and my activity level tend to match up. That level of caloric intake and activity level become even and then that is the weight I sit at - fluctuating up and down a bit with more or less activity.

I have yet to find the lower end stable weight. And that is something I need to work on - where is the weight where I can maintain without having to exercise an hour a day and eat so that I don't feel like I'm starving?

When I got close to goal (past where my goal is now), I was always, always hungry and I found that if I ate around 1450-1500 calories a day and DIDN'T exercise (daily), my weight was at maintenance. I didn't lose or gain. At that point I was only losing by exercise and I couldn't eat less because I was already hungry.  THAT is not maintainable. Always feeling hungry is not cool.

YET, why was I so hungry? I am eating that or less now and I'm not hungry. More muscle weight then and less now? Does my body know it has reserves to draw from where it had so little before?

I need to figure that out. WHY does it get harder to stick to a plan the longer you are on it? For now, I feel I could do this and eat this way FOREVER. Come 10 months when I'm close to goal, I'll be thinking of food every waking moment.  I need to find a happy medium that isn't out of control, but also so difficult to stick to that drives me crazy too.

Restart 5/18/15
Down 8.9 pounds