Diet for very high Cortisol levels/ need help with weight loss

[Flossiefoo]

Hi, anyone else have extreme levels of Cortisol ? Mine are way, way above the level deemed ‘high’.
I’ve been told to eat green veg, lots of beans & pulses etc but not being a goody, I’m looking for a meal plan/ specific diet to lower my levels. Ive put on over 2st in recent years & although exercise daily (Walking + either indoor rowing, cycling or aqua pool resistance exercises) I’ve lost very little weight.
Any good books or websites out there to help with food planning/ meals?

I did. The most effective thing for me was to reduce my stress levels. So that meant therapy to tackle underlying things plus regular meditation and massages. Plus just looking after myself better- more sleep, less caffeine, less sugar, not forcing myself to keep going so much.

Once I got that right, it was easy to work in portion size and meal spacing. So 70g-100g of a lean protein source like fish or chicken, small portion of a starchy carb like rice or potatoes (to amount to 20-30g of carbs) plus a couple of portions of whatever vegetables I fancy with some olive oil as a healthy fat. I try to eat a variety of colours of veggies over a day. I eat four meals like that a day, about four hours apart, as going to long between meals can cause your cortisol to rise. That plus a good multi-vitamin helped.

Once I got into that pattern, coupled with some exercise most days, the weight just dropped off. I lost a stone and a half in just over a month, plus my shape really changed, my waist came back. Lost another half stone over the next couple of months and that was it.