The Cortisol Handbook is Live Tessa & Ajay’s Story Research-Backed Instant Download The Cortisol Handbook is Live Tessa & Ajay’s Story Research-Backed Instant Download
A Body By A Handbook

What we wish we knew about cortisol — before we wasted $1,400 trying to fix it.

Tessa’s cortisol story, the research that finally moved the needle, and the supplement, sleep, and training changes that actually work — written by the two people who lived it. No fear-mongering. No TikTok. No supplement company sponsorships.

Get the Handbook — $37 → See what’s inside

Instant PDF download  ·  ~85 pages  ·  Read in one sitting

Research-first

Every claim cited. Every dose specified.

No sponsors

Zero supplement brands paid to be in this book.

Honest about what doesn’t work

Five popular “cortisol hacks” the data doesn’t support.

Lived, not theorized

Tessa’s actual blood panels, supplements, and protocol.

Why we wrote this

Tessa’s “everything is fine” year wasn’t fine.

For two years, Tessa kept hitting the gym, eating clean, and waking up exhausted. Her labs came back “normal.” Three different doctors told her she was healthy. She didn’t feel healthy.

It took us nine months, four supplement protocols, two trainers, and an embarrassing amount of money to figure out what was actually going on: her cortisol pattern was inverted. The basic morning-spike-into-evening-decline that most healthy women run on had quietly flipped. Her highest cortisol of the day was at 11pm. That’s why she couldn’t sleep. That’s why she couldn’t recover. That’s why “eating clean” wasn’t fixing it.

The Cortisol Handbook is the book we wish someone had handed us in month one.

— Ajay & Tessa

See the actual stack Tessa takes today →

What’s inside

Eight chapters. Roughly 85 pages. Built to be re-read.

Each chapter ends with a one-page “What to do this week” checklist so you can start before you finish the book.

Chapter 01

What cortisol actually is (and why most people get it wrong)

The two-curve model. Why “high cortisol” and “low cortisol” are usually the wrong question. The chart your doctor probably won’t show you.

Chapter 02

The four signals that yours is off

Without bloodwork. The morning-energy test. The 3pm crash. The bedtime second-wind. The sleep-quality vs. sleep-quantity gap.

Chapter 03

Tessa’s nine-month timeline

The actual labs, the four protocols she tried, what worked, what didn’t, and the one supplement that finally moved the needle (it wasn’t ashwagandha).

Chapter 04

Five “cortisol hacks” the data doesn’t support

Cold plunges. Adrenal cocktails. “Adrenal fatigue” supplements. The viral salt-water trick. The pink salt under the tongue thing. What the research actually shows.

Chapter 05

The supplement stack that works

Forms, doses, timing. Magnesium glycinate vs. threonate vs. citrate (and why it matters). Sensoril vs. KSM-66 ashwagandha. What to take in the morning, what to take at night.

Chapter 06

The training pivot

Why traditional “harder is better” programming makes cortisol-disrupted bodies worse. The 4-week training pattern Tessa used to break the cycle.

Chapter 07

The sleep stack

Bedtime cortisol is the hidden lever. The two non-negotiable evening rituals, the sleep environment changes that compound, and the supplement timing that pulled Tessa’s cortisol curve back into a normal pattern.

Chapter 08

The 30-day reset

Pull it all together. Day-by-day. What to add, what to remove, what to track. Includes a printable tracker.

From Chapter 04

Five things the internet says fix cortisol. The data says four of them don’t.

We’re going to pick a fight with a few sacred cows. Some of these we tried. Some we paid for. Some we recommended to friends before the data caught up with us. We’re going to be specific about the studies, the doses, and the populations they were tested in — because “it works for some people” isn’t a recommendation, it’s a horoscope.

The full chapter walks through the research, the doses, and what to do instead.

The Handbook + Bundles

Two ways to start.

If cortisol is the only thing on your mind, the standalone Handbook does the job. If you’ve been waiting to overhaul your training and supplements alongside it, the Hormone-Smart Library bundles the Handbook with our two best-selling guides at a steep discount.

  • Instant PDF download — no shipping, no waitlist
  • Lifetime updates — new editions free for buyers
  • 30-day refund policy — no questions asked
  • Read on phone, tablet, laptop, or print at home

The Cortisol Handbook

Just the book. ~85 pages. Lifetime updates.

$37

The Full Library

Cortisol Handbook + Train With Your Cycle + Starter Protocol + every future guide.

$97$101

Questions you might have

Is this for women, men, or both?

Both. Tessa’s story is the spine of the book, but the cortisol biology, the supplement stack, the training framework, and the sleep protocol all apply to anyone. We flag a few sections where the female-specific cycle interaction matters; everything else is universal.

Do I need labs to follow the protocol?

No. Chapter 02 is built around four no-lab signals you can self-assess in a week. We do recommend a four-point salivary cortisol panel for anyone who’s been struggling for more than six months, and we list the two providers we’ve used and which we recommend.

Will this work if I’m on medication?

The supplement and training advice is meant to complement, not replace, medical treatment. The book includes a section on which supplement-medication interactions to discuss with your doctor before starting. It’s a conversation tool, not a substitute for medical advice.

How long until I feel different?

Most people who follow the 30-day reset notice the bedtime second-wind softening within 7–10 days. Sleep quality typically shifts in 2–3 weeks. Energy flatlines fill in around the four-week mark. Tessa’s full pattern reset took 11 weeks.

Why $37 instead of free?

Two reasons. First, free guides get scanned and forgotten; people who paid $37 actually read the book. Second, this is research we did over two years and several thousand dollars in labs and supplements. Pricing it at zero would devalue the work and force us to monetize through ads or sponsorships, which is the opposite of what Body By A is.

What if I don’t love it?

30-day refund, no questions asked. Email hello@bodybya.com.