Gigi | Build Your Ideal Career After 40

This is me after an incredibly intense and stressful few days at work this week. See all the puffiness on my face? Especially on the eyelids/around the eyes?

If you've ever noticed something similar, you might have thought you had recently gained weight.
But chances are that you didn't - especially if you noticed this after a stressful week.

When you go through intense pressure — like a big event, deadlines, being “on” all day — your body increases cortisol, your main stress hormone.
Cortisol is not evil in itself. It’s designed to protect you, to help you survive.

But when it stays elevated for days:

• It increases water retention
• It shifts fluid balance
• It can raise insulin levels
• It makes your body hold onto sodium
• It promotes temporary fat storage (especially face + midsection)

That puffy face (and/or bloated belly)?
It’s often fluid retention driven by stress hormones. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say that it hits harder after 40... here's why:

As estrogen starts fluctuating in perimenopause, your body becomes:

– More sensitive to cortisol
– Less resilient to sleep disruption
– Slower to clear stress hormones

So what you used to smoothly bounce back from in your 30s now painfully lingers for days.
And the face is often the first place you see it.

The solution isn’t punishing workouts or cutting carbs immediately. It’s:
– regulating your nervous system
– prioritising deep sleep
– stabilising blood sugar
– actually recovering after high-output days

The good news is that once stress comes down, the puffiness usually does too.

If this week showed up on your face too, drop a 💙 in the comments so that we know we're not alone!

Follow for more suggestions on how to navigate work burnout and don't forget to download my free ebook about it via my Link in bio.

#burnout #cortisol #cortisolface #workstress