How I Build a Gut-Healing Plate in 3 Steps (Even When I’m Traveling or Burnt Out)

Because your gut still needs love when you’re running on rice cakes and rage.

Whether I’m traveling, working late, emotionally over it, or just not in the mood to try, I always come back to this simple 3-step formula.

It works when I’m cooking.
It works when I’m grabbing groceries.
It works when I’m piecing together leftovers like a gut-friendly jigsaw puzzle.

Because gut healing isn’t about perfection — it’s about consistency and strategy.
And that’s exactly what this plate formula delivers.

🍽️ The 3-Step Gut-Healing Plate Formula

1. Start with a gentle protein

Your gut lining needs amino acids to rebuild, and your blood sugar needs steady protein to stay off the rollercoaster.

✅ Think:

• Poached chicken thighs

• Canned wild salmon or sardines

• Soft-cooked eggs

• Slow-cooked lamb, turkey, or beef

• Meat stock (as a bonus, not the main event)

🛑 Avoid:

• Super lean, dry meats (harder to digest)

• Highly processed proteins (deli slices etc)

• Raw large fish (ie Tuna, high in heavy metals)

2. Add easy-to-digest carbs or cooked veg

These are your gut’s comfort foods. They keep things moving and reduce irritation.

✅ Think:

• White rice

• Cooked root veg (carrots, beets, sweet potato)

• Zucchini, fennel, or squash

• Mashed pumpkin or parsnips

• Ripe plantains (if tolerated)

🛑 Avoid:

• Raw salads (especially on flare days)

• Cold or crunchy veggies

• Beans/legumes if bloated

3. Top with healthy fats + functional extras

Fat helps you absorb nutrients, supports hormones, and keeps you full — plus, certain fats actively support gut lining + bile flow.

✅ Think:

• Extra Virgin Olive oil or ghee

• Avocado (if tolerated)

• Goat cheese or sheep’s milk feta

• Sprinkle of sea salt + herbs

• Squeeze of lemon or drizzle of ACV

✨ Bonus Extras:

• Add meat stock instead of water for cooking your carbs

• Throw on a scoop of fermented veg if your gut tolerates it

• Crumble in seaweed or fresh herbs for minerals

🛫 What this looks like when I’m traveling or too tired to think:

👉 Example 1: Hotel Kitchenette Plate

• Canned salmon + microwaved sweet potato + drizzle of olive oil + sea salt

• Add steamed spinach or fennel if available

👉 Example 2: Grocery Store Grab-and-Go

• Roast chicken (dark meat) + precooked white rice or quinoa

• Box of cooked beets or carrots

• Olive oil packets + lemon wedge from the salad bar = done

👉 Example 3: Flare Day Bowl

• Bone broth + white rice + poached egg + steamed zucchini

• Tiny pinch of sea salt, cumin, and ghee on top
  → Literally feels like a gut hug in a bowl

🧠 TL;DR:

Healing your gut isn’t about making perfect meals.
It’s about knowing how to build a functional plate — wherever you are, however you feel.

This formula has saved me (and my clients) from:

• Emergency takeout regret

• Under-eating and wondering why we’re bloated

• “Clean” meals that secretly wreck digestion

Use it. Adapt it. Come back to it when things feel complicated.

With love and perfectly layered bowls,
Ksenia 🍽️💪🥬