HOW HIGH CORTISOL IS KEEPING YOU STUCK

If you’re a midlife woman in perimenopause or menopause doing all the things, eating clean(ish), walking, maybe even lifting weights, skipping the wine, skipping the sugar, being 'good'… and yet your body still feels off, there’s a good chance cortisol may be the culprit.

Cortisol, aka your stress and fat storage hormone, is often painted as the villain, but it's actually essential for our survival. It’s your body's main stress response hormone, designed to protect you in the event of danger. The problem is, most of us aren’t being chased by tigers every time we step out the front door. We’re just living modern, high-stress lives with zero recovery time. And that means our cortisol never gets the memo that the “danger” has passed.

Too much of a good thing is never a good thing. When cortisol stays high for too long, it keeps you stuck in your symptoms, in your body, and mind, living in a cycle that no diet, bootcamp, or pill can fix.

Here are 15 signs I see on repeat in the women I work with that are worth noting.

• Weight gain around the middle

• Puffy,flushed face, bloated

• Mood swings

• Memory problems or brain fog

• Anxiousness

• Fatigue, poor sleep (wired but tired)

• Frequent urination

• Irregular periods, fertility struggles

• Gets sick often

• Elevated blood pressure

• Acne/skin issues (even in your 40s, 50s!)

• Muscle, joint pain

• Low libido

• Excessive thirst

If you nodded to two or more of those, cortisol is likely playing a role. These symptoms don’t just “go away” when life calms down either. When your body has adapted to living in survival mode, it rewires everything: how your hormones function, how your brain thinks, even how your gut digests, absorbs, and communicates.

Normal cortisol pattern rises gently in the morning, helping you feel alert and ready, and gradually tapers down through the day. When stress hits, cortisol spikes, then comes down once the event passes.

In chronic stress cortisol just stays high. You start the day at full throttle and never fully come out of fight-or-flight. That long-term elevation leads to chronic inflammation, the silent fire behind everything from belly fat and burnout to autoimmunity, anxiety and metabolic disease like diabetes and even some cancers.

It’s like putting the pedal to the metal every time you drive your car. At some point, things will begin to break down. And the first things to go are often your gut, sleep, energy, and your ability to regulate other hormones.

Anytime your body perceives stress, cortisol is dispatched. Emotional or mental stress (relationships, jobs, caregiving, etc.), physical stress (injury, overexercising, lack of sleep), environmental stress (toxins, processed foods, dehydration), medications like corticosteroids, even underlying conditions (thyroid, autoimmune, PCOS) can all cause a cortisol response.

Your body cannot differentiate between an imminent threat, like a tiger chasing you, or a perceived threat, like the pile of work waiting on your desk at work. The stress response is the same. And without tools and practices to calm that response, you end up stuck in a continuous cortisol loop.

If this is resonating, the answer isn’t to do more. In fact, most women need to do less, but with more intentionality. 

How you start your day matters. Your cortisol is highest in the morning. So the way you start your day matters more than you think. Are you waking up and diving into email, kids, errands, or stress? Or are you giving your body a calm, nourishing signal that it’s safe?

Even 5–10 minutes of quiet time, sunlight, breathwork, or gentle movement can reset the tone for your whole day.

Set boundaries. This is a big one. If your stress is coming from people, commitments, or patterns that drain you—your cortisol isn’t going to regulate until you set some boundaries. It’s not selfish; it’s necessary. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Clean eating and hydration are foundational. Stay away from diets, they are part of the problem. Remember: nothing thrives in a deficit, especially not your hormones. But reducing processed foods, stabilizing blood sugar, and drinking more water than coffee? That’s a solid start.

Hydration is key. Cortisol dehydrates the body. And dehydration raises cortisol even more. It’s a vicious cycle. Increase your intake to at least 2.5 to 3L per day and make water your primary liquid especially in the first half of your day.

If you’ve been in this pattern for a while, you need to go deeper. Cortisol is a hormone, yes—but did you know a huge portion of your cortisol production and regulation happens in the gut?

Your gut and brain are in constant conversation. And if your gut is inflamed, leaky, or depleted from years of stress, your brain won’t get the signal to tell the body to calm down—even if your life is “better.” This is where functional healing and targeted, clinically proven, holistic supplements can really make a difference. There is no magic fix, but it’s a game-changer when used alongside the lifestyle changes we talked about above.

So even if your body feels like it’s working against you, it’s not. It’s actually working for you… based on the stress and signals it’s been receiving.

The good news? You can change those signals. And when you do, your body responds. Your hormones rebalance. Your energy returns. Your mind clears. And you remember what it feels like to feel like you again.

It’s not just about managing stress. It’s about healing what stress broke, and giving your body the message that it’s finally safe to thrive.

If you're ready to get you body back into balance, watch Tania's video and book a free call to learn more about how you can bring down cortisol, put your body back into balance, and keep it there.