Another question - high baseline cortisol

[lauren921]

I've been seeing an endocrinologist for about 8 months and when I went for my follow-up visit earlier this week, he told me that I had a high baseline cortisol which can cause me to hang to fat. He did a suppression test and the results were normal, so he thinks I'm just a type A personality. I really don't have a stressful life, but I do worry a lot. Anyway, if I have this tendency to hang to fat, is there anything I need to change about my routine? I currently do a 3 day full body workout that Kim4 sent me, plus I'm on a high protein diet for my reactive hypo. Lifting is 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps. Cardio is 4 days a week, with 2 of those being HIIT. Goal is to lose fat. Currently eat about 1650-1750 cals a day. Thanks in advance!

[Marius_Ursus]

How's your sleep? There's a cortisol flush that happens during deep sleep cycles. If those get interrupted, you can end up not ever getting back to normal levels.

[drudixon]

I've been seeing an endocrinologist for about 8 months and when I went for my follow-up visit earlier this week, he told me that I had a high baseline cortisol which can cause me to hang to fat. He did a suppression test and the results were normal, so he thinks I'm just a type A personality. I really don't have a stressful life, but I do worry a lot. Anyway, if I have this tendency to hang to fat, is there anything I need to change about my routine? I currently do a 3 day full body workout that Kim4 sent me, plus I'm on a high protein diet for my reactive hypo. Lifting is 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps. Cardio is 4 days a week, with 2 of those being HIIT. Goal is to lose fat. Currently eat about 1650-1750 cals a day. Thanks in advance!

Are you taking any asthma or allergy medicines? Those can artificially elevate cortisol. Cortisol does more than just make you store fat / lose muscle, it's an anti-inflammatory. You're body will release it in response to an injury in some cases.

[ChocoChick]

Have you considered adding yoga or taichi into your routine? These have both been shown to help lower cortisol levels.

It's generally recommended that people who lean toward high cortisol should work out hard and short -- long workouts prime cortisol release. I have better results with LISS than HIIT for fat loss. Have you tried experimenting -- give it a month, take notes, etc. -- to see what your body responds to best?

Finally, how many rest days per week do you have?

[DaddyR]

Could it not also be that your regular exercise regimen causes your "baseline" cortisol level to be above that of the average sedentary fat slob? Could be this is just normal for someone who doesn't sit on their butt eating pork rinds all day, though of course anything to try to better manage cortisol would be beneficial to us all in that case.

[lauren921]

Thanks for the responses - I just got back from the Caribbean so that's why I'm just now responding. My sleep has been less than great lately. I average 5-6.5 hours a night and I know it's not good. I take melatonin, and did do yoga for the first time on my vacation. My doc thinks I'm a closet type A personality, too. Most think I'm laid back, but oh not so!

[ironwill2008]

Have you discussed this with Kim?

[lauren921]

I haven't

[ironwill2008]

I haven't

In that case, you know what to do next.

[the3dwizard]

As stated getting enough sleep is critical to establishing good cortisol. Slowly change the time that you go to bed until you get to 7-8 hours of sleep. Phosphatidyl Serine has shown to help reduce it too.

Make sure to do the saliva test where it is measure 4x through out the day. Your cortisol cycles throughout the day so critical see how it rises in the morning and falls in the evening.

I would suggest you read this book:

The Cortisol Connection: Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your Health - and What You Can Do About It

http://www.amazon.com/Cortisol-Conne.../dp/0897933915

It helped me to get mine under control. BTW This supplement has some of what is suggested in the book: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/now/scs.html

But sleep is key.