You hear a lot about diet and exercise, but what if that's not the only thing to blame for your belly fat?

If you've got some extra fat around your belly and your hips, there might be another culprit that goes beyond what you're eating.

Cortisol belly.

This is a term that usually refers to fat build up around your stomach, hips, and between your shoulder blades.

This is usually linked with a harder time putting on or maintaining muscle.

And is also linked to other more serious health issues.

Cortisol is a necessary hormone that supports your body in a lot of ways.

But as with anything, too much is not a good thing.

And apparently, there's an actual term for it now with 'cortisol belly'.

So if you've found yourself trying to lose the gut through diet and exercise alone, without much change in your midsection, then it's time for a different approach.

That doesn't mean diet and exercise aren't important, and we'll get to that in a minute.

But first let me explain why cortisol can lead to more belly fat in the first place, and why it's even more problematic than a spare tire around your midsection.

Cortisol is commonly referred to as the stress hormone.

It does a lot more than that, but cortisol is a big driver in your response to stress.

Your body wasn't designed to be in a constant state of stress.

There are absolutely times where you want a surge of stress to kick in.

This adrenaline can save your life when you face a dangerous situation.

But rarely are you running for your life these days.

Yet low level stressors - bills, relationships, jobs, and everyday life responsibilities - can cause cortisol to be 'on' all the time and behind the scenes.

When this happens, you might notice...

• More anxiety or difficulty relaxing
• Racing thoughts
• Elevated blood pressure and blood sugar
• Increased heart rate
• Trouble focusing

Just to name a few.

And when cortisol is on all the time, you know what else is effected?

• Your ability to burn fat
• Your ability to build muscle
• Your ability to produce other hormones, like testosterone, which help with burning fat and building muscle

So if you've tried the whole eat less and exercise more thing, yet you still find yourself with more belly fat than you'd like, it might not be your exercise program or your diet after all...

At least not entirely.

Let's talk about what you can do to help reverse your symptoms.

I already mentioned some of the telltale signs of elevated cortisol.

If you're struggling to lose belly fat, always 'wired but tired', difficulty sleeping, have a low libido, or finding your health slipping in other areas - you might be dealing with high cortisol.

Here are some practical steps you can start doing right away to help with cortisol management:

1. Find healthy ways to deal with stress. Only you know what this is for you, but a meditation or breathing practice, some journaling, or time away from electronics and out in nature are some great places to start. If you're looking for some encouragement in God's word, this is one of my favorites.
2. Exercise, but don't overdo it either. Working out can be a great way to mitigate elevated cortisol, but too much can actually increase your cortisol even more. If you're dealing with these symptoms, I would recommend 2-3x/week of strength training and low level activity on your other days as a starting point.
3. Clean up your diet. Yes, I know I said earlier that diet might not be the culprit for your weight gain, but the types of foods that you're eating will certainly impact your cortisol levels. Eat at consistent times, increase your protein/healthy fats, decrease your sugar and processed foods, and limit caffeine.
4. Get 7-9 hours of sleep. That might sound like crazy for some of you, but it's one of the key things you can do to get better results with your physical and mental performance. So figure out a way to get to bed and wake up at consistent times, even on the weekends, to set your hormones up for success.
5. Get outside for regular sunlight. Seeing the sun has a whole host of benefits for regulating cortisol. 5-15 minutes of sunlight first thing, mid day, and around sunset will work wonders for your mood and cortisol.
6. Limit work, screens, and stressful activities before bed and first thing in the morning. Allow your body to ease into a good night of sleep and ease into the day without being bombarded by notifications.

Simple, but definitely not easy.

And here's the good and the bad news.

I dealt with all of those initial symptoms of high cortisol, until my adrenals got so burned out I was hardly showing up at all.

My mood was all over the place.

My energy was tanked.

My workout recovery sucked.

And I was tired all the time despite how much I rested.

If that sounds like anything you've experienced, you can't just wait for it to get better.

I'm thankful I started turning that ship around as soon as I realized what was happening.

It wasn't enough for me to follow some simple steps.

I had to get bloodwork done, cortisol testing, and a handful of other things to get to the root of what was going on.

That's why I'm passionate about helping other men get to the root of their health, fitness, and performance struggles.

If you need any help, click here and we can set up a time to chat.

Don't keep sacrificing your health for your career or your full schedule.

I'd love to help you address the real reasons you're not performing the way that you want to be.

Dr. Dave