If the scale has been stuck for weeks despite following your GLP. 1 protocol, the issue might not be the dose or the medication. Cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, directly affects how fat is stored and burned.
High cortisol can stall weight loss even on GLP-1 therapy. Learn how stress hormones interact with your treatment.
What cortisol does in the body
Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands and serves essential functions: regulating energy, inflammation, blood pressure, and immune response. During stressful situations, the body releases more cortisol to make energy available quickly. This mechanism is useful short. term, but when stress becomes chronic, elevated cortisol interferes with weight loss.
The problem is that high cortisol encourages the body to store fat in the abdominal area. At the same time, it increases hunger and cravings for sugary and fatty foods. In other words, stress and emotional eating create a feedback loop.
When you are on GLP. 1 therapy, the medication works as expected on digestion and appetite. But cortisol can counteract that effect. If the body interprets that it is in a situation of scarcity or threat, it resists losing weight even when you are eating less.
Registra tu sueño y ve cómo el protocolo afecta tu descanso.
Verlo en la appSigns of elevated cortisol during treatment
Some signs suggest cortisol is interfering with your progress. The first is the infamous plateau that does not budge despite dietary adjustments. The second is increased nighttime hunger, especially for carbohydrates. The third is persistent fluid retention that makes the scale fluctuate for no clear reason.
Irritability and anxiety are also important signals. Many people attribute these to the treatment itself, but they may reflect a dysregulated HPA axis, which is the system involving the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands.
People who use PeptPro can monitor these patterns more clearly. The app records not only weight and dose, but also symptoms like anxiety, sleep quality, and energy levels throughout the day. When you cross. reference this data with application times, you can see if there is a recurring pattern. Download here.
