Cortisol and body fat

In my years of working with women, many have shared that even if they eat like a bird and exercise like crazy—they still gain body fat.

And according to the calories consumed versus calories burned theory, this doesn’t make sense to them.

After all, why aren’t they ‘rewarded’ for all their effort?

It’s because, in many cases, they’re pulling the wrong levers. Despite good intentions, they’re giving their body the wrong instructions when it comes to asking it to burn body fat effectively.

They are unknowingly suffering from a major effect of too much cortisol.

Cortisol is a stress hormone, and our body produces this when it believes we’ve been experiencing persistent stress. It might be our response to our overflowing inbox or to-do list, how we feel about our finances and relationships or just the result of never slowing down to give our body a chance to rest. We might not even realise our body is stressed—sometimes our brain can be more capable of coping with our lives than our body.  

When we churn out cortisol, our body believes we’re in danger and that food could be scarce, so it stores fat, rather than burning it. It doesn’t know why you’re churning out cortisol, it only interprets the hormones that are being produced and acts accordingly—in its best effort to save your life.

And, for many women, over time, this leads to an increase in body fat.

In my Weight Loss for Women course, I discuss this in much more detail. I also offer you lots of insights, tips and strategies on how to reverse this process, get your body into balance and burn body fat effectively.

Join me for the next intake and learn:

• Why body fat around our middle region can increase and how to mobilise this
• What foods might be driving an increase in body fat
• The importance of the liver in burning body fat as fuel
• The role the thyroid plays in body fat mobilisation, how to know if yours is out of balance, and ways to support it naturally
• Tips and strategies to manage emotional eating
• How to improve your digestion

If you feel that you could benefit from some support in these areas, you might like to take a look at my online Weight Loss for Women course. We only run a few intakes per year. You’ll be supported and guided for nine weeks as I teach you the things you need to know about your body and the levers to pull that can help it achieve long-term, sustainable weight loss.

Your body is yours for life. Knowing how to work with it and how to interpret its messages can completely change your whole experience of life.