The Reset: What To Do When You Feel Bloated, Puffy, and ‘Not Like Yourself’
The Reset: What To Do When You Feel Bloated, Puffy, and ‘Not Like Yourself’
If you train regularly or semi-regularly, eat a solid 70/30 diet, and genuinely try to live a healthy lifestyle, it’s maddening when your body suddenly feels like it’s working against you. You’re waking up feeling puffy for no reason, your stomach looks six months pregnant by the early afternoon, your workout pump is MIA, and you’re convinced you’ve somehow gained 5kg overnight.
(Spoiler: you didn’t.)
But something is off, and it’s not random.
Most women hit this “I don’t feel like myself” phase more often than they admit.
And it’s not because training doesn’t work, or because you’re “not disciplined enough”, or because you somehow need to drop carbs to “debloat” (please don’t).
It usually comes down to a combination of predictable patterns, so let’s dive into a few of them today!
1. Stress + Your Cycle = The Perfect Storm
You probably already know stress affects your body, but you might not realise how literally your body holds onto it.
Cortisol shifts your fluid balance, digestion slows down, and your lymphatic system (your body’s fluid-clearing mechanism) struggles to keep up.
In the late luteal phase due to hormonal changes sodium–water balance can leave the chat.
so… your jeans feel tighter, your motivation dips, cravings kick in, and everything feels swollen.
Most women don’t have a strategy for those high-inflammation days, I have a tonne in a resource below, but for now you can try to avoid very high-fibre + very heavy meals the few days before your period.
Your gut is already moving slower, adding a ton of fibre or high-volume foods will make you feel more bloated, not less.
Minimise for 1–2 days:
big salads
more than 1 daily portion of lentils/beans
huge bowls of oats (keep portions moderate)
massive volume-eating meals
Choose instead:
cooked veg
simple carbs (rice, potatoes, sourdough)
easy proteins like slow cooked meats
lower-volume meals
2. Inconsistent Training = Inconsistent Fluid Balance
If you’ve ever taken a week off gym and then done a big leg day, you already know: you might see way more water retention the day after that first training day.
Muscle repair pulls water into the tissue as part of the inflammation–recovery process, which is good… until it’s happening sporadically, too intensely, or without proper recovery habits around it.
The issue for a lot of women?
Their training isn't actually structured.
It’s vibes, class passes, random YouTube workouts, and “what feels good today”, which doesn’t create predictable recovery patterns. Predictable recovery equals predictable fluid regulation.
3. You’re Hydrated, wellll….. sort of…
If you’re drinking 2–3L of water per day but still swollen, tired, crampy, or constipated you need to know that high water intake ≠ hydration.
Your electrolytes regulate how that water is actually used in your body.
If sodium, potassium, and magnesium are out of balance (which is extremely common for women who train regularly) your body holds onto water, your digestion slows, and your muscles feel flat even if you trained well.
Signs of imbalance?
Constant bloating
Puffy hands or face
Headaches
Fatigue after training
Constipation or loose stools
Feeling thirsty even when you drink enough
The solution isn’t “drink more”, it’s getting the correct mineral balance.
4. Your Core Might Be the Culprit
This one shocks soooo many women.
A lot of “chronic bloating” issues in women who already train aren’t digestive, they’re postural and pressure-based.
If your diaphragm isn’t moving well, your TVA isn’t firing, and your ribcage sits in a stressed position while your hunch over your desk or phone all day, your internal pressure can build up. From the outside, that looks like bloating.
On the inside, your digestion and lymph flow are compromised.
This is why women feel flatter in the morning but expand like a blowfish by dinner.
You can’t out-crunch this.
You have to fix the breathing and deep-core patterns that sit underneath it.
5. Your Body Might Be Stressed, Not “Broken”
Women love to blame themselves for feeling off, like they’ve had some kind of moral failing.
Sooo many times though this is simply your body trying to communicate in the only way it knows how.
If you:
train hard but don’t recover enough
eat well but not consistently
drink water but not balance minerals
“relax” but never actually calm your nervous system
count your macros but neglect your micros
lift weights but sit for hours outside the gym
Your body will show you with bloating, inflammation, water retention, and fatigue.
So What’s the First Step?
Here’s the truth: you don’t need a full lifestyle overhaul.
You just need a reset!
A short, structured circuit-breaker that addresses the patterns you might not have ever been taught:
I’ll give you predictable training structure that calms inflammation
Teach you hydration + mineral balance that actually works
TVA and diaphragm drills that change your deep core within days
Simple habits and foods that will improve your digestion
Daily routines that lower stress and regulate fluid
Simple food-mapping
That’s exactly what I built the 7-Day Hourglass Reset for!
Not a detox, not a diet, and not a hardcore challenge, just a science-based system to clear water retention, reduce bloating, calm inflammation, and help you reconnect with your body again.
If you're tired of feeling puffy, swollen, or “off” for no clear reason, this is your sign to join my Reset and give your body the structure it’s been asking for.
Hey there, I’m Rachel!
NUTRITIONIST, PERSONAL TRAINER, WELLNESS COACH
If you’re ready to ditch the all-or-nothing mindset and build a strong, confident body—you're in the right place.
✨ Start with my free 5-day Mini Mindset Reset to design a healthy lifestyle that actually fits your life.
🍑 Or join The Power Curve Method, my signature hourglass training program built to shape your glutes, waist, and mindset from the inside out.
While we make every effort to make sure the information in this website is accurate and informative, the information does not take the place of medical advice.
