1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 You're stressed, you're exhausted, and the weight is climbing anyway. Everyone has an explanation. Almost all of them are wrong. The version you've heard stops at &quot;stress raises cortisol, cortisol adds weight.&quot; What's actually happening is stranger and far more useful to know. Chronic stress doesn't just raise cortisol — it scrambles the timing of it. It rewires which part of your brain is making decisions at six o'clock. It changes the hormones that tell you when you're full. And there's an enzyme in belly fat that manufactures its own cortisol supply, right there in the tissue. In this episode: why cravings hit hardest when you're most depleted, why stress moves fat toward the middle, why bad sleep may matter more than anything on your plate, and what should be ruled out before anyone blames your stress at all. Then the part that matters most — what actually works, and why rigid dieting makes it worse. Weight gain under stress isn't a character flaw. It's information. Here's how to read it. The Science of Self-Healing http://thescienceofselfhealing.libsyn.com/site <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/42377865/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/204961660