Cortisol & Belly Fat: How Sleep and Stress Affect Your Love Handles

There are too many people training hard and eating well that hold belly fat in frustrating ways. They say you can’t out-train a poor diet, but that’s not all. You can’t out-train poor sleep and stress, either.

Chances are your belly fat is a cortisol issue. 

Cortisol is a stress hormone. And chronically high cortisol levels contribute directly to belly fat. That’s the science. Period. 

Now, some of modern human’s favorite ways to keep cortisol high is poor sleep and chronic stress. If you’re not able to sleep eight hours uninterrupted in a cool dark room your sleep is contributing to higher than helpful cortisol levels. If your lifestyle maintains mid-level stress without helpful coping mechanisms, you’re likely contributing to higher than helpful cortisol levels. 

For many, this frustrating belly fat is the last frontier of body change. While it’s counterintuitive, your next best plan of attack should be about improving sleep and minimizing life stress.