Cortisol

Sarakay81

So, after seeing a therapist regarding a recent diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and depression, I have learned a lot about my body chemistry. To sum it up, stress of any kind triggers cortisol production in your body. With my recent diagnosis, I have discovered my body is flooded with this horrible hormone. Is it true that having high cortisol levels can prevent weight loss and actually promote weight gain? If so, what on earth do you do about it? Weight loss is one of the key solutions to getting my health back to, well, a healthy place. Not to mention my self esteem and overall sanity. Stress relief has been a serious struggle, and if I have one more person tell me to relax and De-stress I may consider taking them out all together. Believe me, I do not like being stressed out and fatigued all the time. If I could shut it off, I would. I think more information about cortisol would help me put a dent in my mental block. Any takers?

fairygirl716

http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

This may not be of any help to you....but I know that I'm going to do more "stress reliever" activities from now on. I do notice that my scale responds to stress.

Drunkadelic

Cortisol is bad news, especially when it comes to your weight.

I think the first step would be to get more sleep. Optimally, you'd be able to sleep long enough that you could wake up without an alarm clock (but that's not always easy, I know!). You should AT LEAST be getting 7 hours of sleep if not more (8 to 9 would probably be optimal).

Also, extended cardio has been shown to increase cortisol, so instead of doing long periods moderate cardio, I suggest doing shorter, interval type workouts and lifting weights.

This is all just conclusions of my own research. I feel like I have this same problem (only not nearly as severe as yours). What has really helped the most is getting more sleep. The scale always knows when I'm not sleeping enough.

Good luck to you!!