Can’t Lose Fat? Cortisol, Poor Sleep & Burnout.

You’ve cleaned up your diet, you are eating your protein, your plate is full of greens, maybe you are even tracking your macros. You’re walking, doing Pilates, maybe some strength training, yet the scale won’t move …. or worse, it creeps up.

If this sounds familiar, it’s not your willpower or your diet that’s causing it; the truth is, it’s stress hormones, poor sleep, and burnout. They can completely block fat loss, no matter how “perfect” your meals look and how hard you try.

Cortisol

Cortisol is produced by your adrenal glands in response to stress. In small doses, it’s helpful—it wakes you up in the morning, helps regulate blood sugar, and keeps inflammation in check. However, when it’s chronically high (from work stress, overexercising, undereating, too much HIIT, late nights, caffeine overload, or lack of rest), your body interprets it as danger and signals your body to hold onto fat, especially around the belly. It also makes you crave sugar and carbs, pushing you out of balance.

It means:

• Increased belly fat storage (especially visceral fat around your organs).
• Blood sugar spikes and crashes, leading to cravings.
• Muscle breakdown, slowing metabolism.
• Suppressed reproductive and thyroid hormones.

So, even if your calories are in check, cortisol can put the brakes on fat loss.

Poor Sleep

This is where fat burning actually happens. Sleep isn’t just rest; it’s your body’s repair lab. 

During deep sleep, growth hormone peaks, helping burn fat and build lean muscle. If you’re getting less than 7 hours a night or your sleep is restless, then this happens:

• Leptin (your satiety hormone) drops → you feel hungrier.
• Ghrelin (your hunger hormone) rises → you crave carbs and sugar.
• Insulin sensitivity declines → your body stores more fat from the same meals.
• Evening cortisol stays high → making it harder to switch into fat-burning mode.

Research shows just one week of poor sleep can be like pre-diabetes in healthy people.

Burnout

Burnout is when you’re running on empty; your nervous system is constantly in “fight or flight,” and so it’s prioritising survival, not fat loss. 

Your body literally thinks it’s unsafe to let go of extra weight. Women are notorious for pushing harder, doing more workouts, less food, no carbs, binging, fasting, HIIT, cold water therapy, sauna, and heated yoga all in a day. Does this sound familiar?

Signs of burnout include:

• Afternoon crashes and brain fog.
• Reliance on coffee to function.
• Feeling “wired but tired” at night.
• Plateauing in fat loss despite a calorie deficit.

My Approach and Recommendation

Fat loss isn’t only about what you eat. 

To unlock results, you need:

• Manage stress → dial it down, sleep more, rest more, and just let go. Daily rituals like walking, breathwork, or journaling.
• Get qualirt sleep → aim for 7–9 hours, in bed before 10pm for deep repair.
• Balanced exercise → workouts that energise, not exhaust (explore Pilates, strength training, and walking).
• Rest and recovery → permission to slow down is part of the plan, not a weakness.
• Focus on nutrient density and nourishment—fewer meals but more dense. Keep it simple. 
• Saffron, ashwagandha, magnesium, NRF2 are my top female supplements. 

✨ When your hormones, stress, and sleep align, your “perfect diet” finally works the way it should.

My approach doesn’t just help you eat better—it helps you create the conditions your body needs to feel safe, resilient, and ready to release excess fat.

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