The Cortisol Coach is an actual person. As is the Cortisol Reducing Coach. And the Lower Cortisol Coach. And the Hormone & Cortisol Coach. 
 
‘Wellness coaches’ are again telling us that our hormones are out to get us. That spikes in certain hormones are the reason for our belly fat, our struggle to lose weight, our choice in men...
 
I have to admit that I hadn’t been targeted by any of this content myself, but the legends at ETPHD mentoring brought it to my attention and someone asked us on the EIQ live – what’s the deal with cortisol and fat loss?
 
 Listen to that conversation here
 
 What’s happened with cortisol is what generally happens in the dark insidious realms of biohacking. People have taken a small element of truth and run with it like Usain Bolt because they’ve seen a glimmer of capitalistic potential
 
They know they can make money by selling you a worrying narrative that your body is incapable of self-regulation, homeostasis and basic physiological processes to keep itself alive and thriving. They prey on people who feel like they’ve tried everything else. That there must be something wrong with them. They sell a story that in order to truly thrive (and lose fat), you must fix your body by rebalancing your hormones with specific foods, exercise modalities and often, supplements that taste like fish
 
 
What’s the truth?
 
 
Cortisol has been linked with visceral adiposity (the fat around our mid-section and organs) such that those with relatively higher visceral fat appear to experience elevated cortisol secretion 
 
We don’t know the exact mechanistic reasons for this abdominal adiposity distribution-cortisol relationship, but it’s potentially due to variations in the sensitivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (part of our nervous and endocrine system involved in the stress response), location of glucocorticoid receptors (around abdominal fat), and variations in blood flow around this area. We may see mobilisation and relocation of body fat stores in response to cortisol too.
 
This association is really pretty small and by no means definitive
 
Cortisol is also linked with BMI and overall body fat, but in a U-shaped curve that suggests both low and high BMI values are associated with cortisol measures
 
What this highlights is that cortisol doesn’t cause us to instantly gain fat, alter our metabolic rate or increase fat storage (yet again, nothing overrides the laws of thermodynamics and energy in vs. energy out)
 
 
The reality is that body fat levels are more likely related to the behaviours that come alongside high stress, as opposed to the impact of cortisol itself, whether those behaviours look like increasing our calorie intake, mindless overeating and avoiding healthful coping mechanisms like exercise, or reducing our appetite, calorie intake and increasing our anxious fidgeting and NEAT.
 
Your habits, emotions and behaviours – they matter to your body composition. They are the biggest contributor to why you’re not losing fat. 
 
Shockingly, stress has a huge impact on your habits, emotions and behaviours. Of course, it impacts your cortisol levels too. But cortisol is the wrong target. We need to look upstream. It just sounds sexier than managing your lifestyle, especially if you’ve been trying to ‘manage’ your lifestyle for years and it’s only lead to yo-yo dieting and feeling like a failure.
 
And that my friends, is why this bullshit hormone balancing remains popular. It’s must more digestible to blame hormones than look at our behaviours. It’s much easier to take a supplement than change our dietary and movement patterns. It’s cooler to talk about hacking your hormones than it is to say you’ve started mindfulness meditation and spending time in nature.
 
Most of us would like a bigger reason for why we struggle, as if there is shame in the reality that it’s more likely that our own thoughts, feelings and behaviours are getting in the way of us achieving our goals
 
Cortisol, much like insulin, is not our enemy. It isn’t something we have to meticulously monitor and manage and it’s just another distraction technique from doing the real (moderately boring) work that will support your health
 
Avoid cortisol balancing coaches at all costs
 
 Have a great weekend,
I can’t wait to see some of you tomorrow in Liverpool

If you’re free get your last minute ticket here, no prep or props required
I’m always here,
Em