Message sent by: Andrea
Hi Elisabetta, cortisol has been renamed the "stress hormone" because its levels increase a lot due to psycho-physical stress. These stressful stimuli also include the strict diet and prolonged fasting, so it is very likely that the blood levels of cortisol and ACTH are increased simply because of the restrictive diet you underwent.
Of the effects that cortisol exerts on the body I have been able to speak in several articles; without going into details you just need to know that as far as weight loss is concerned, cortisol has a positive and negative role for some aspects. It is therefore good to try to keep this hormone under control, because if on the one hand it facilitates weight loss on the other hand it reduces muscle mass by slowing down the basal metabolism.
The bad news I have to give you at this point is that probably most of the kilograms you have lost are not represented by body fat but by muscle and water. Unfortunately having reduced your muscle mass now you need less calories than when you started the diet that led you to lose weight.
At this point I invite you to read carefully the following article Special weight loss, where you will find all the useful information to try to improve your situation.
I recommend physical activity should never miss, focus on aerobics (just a few more stairs, a walk of an hour in the park every 2 days) but don't forget to add some toning exercises (see Keeping fit without going to the gym).
Sincerely
