Thrive Zone Academy · Quick help · Digestion & a sensitive stomach

When your stomach is playing up

Bloating, pressure, everything sitting heavy. On a bad day there are a few very simple things that help — for anything that persists, see your GP.

A sluggish day usually has simple triggers: portions too big, eaten too fast, too little movement, too little fluid, an unusually large jump in fibre — or stress, which dials digestion down.

Your gut works best when the rest of you is calm. Anything that settles your nervous system — sitting quietly, chewing slowly, walking afterwards instead of lying down — helps here too.

What you can do right now

  1. Smaller portions, more often. Halve today's portion size and add one more meal instead.
  2. Eat slowly and actually chew. The most underrated point on this list. Digestion starts in your mouth, and speed is the most common trigger.
  3. Walk ten minutes after eating. Staying upright and moving gently is far more comfortable with bloating than lying down.
  4. Warm and mild rather than raw and spicy. Steamed vegetables, soup, potatoes, rice — easier on a sensitive day than a big raw salad.
  5. Sip steadily through the day. Rather than large amounts with meals.

What can wait until tomorrow

  • The very large evening meal. It sits with you into the night and costs you sleep quality on top.
  • The sudden jump in fibre. More fibre is the right direction — but step by step over two or three weeks, and with enough fluid.
  • Alcohol and heavily spiced food. Both add irritation on a day when your gut has nothing spare.
  • Lying down straight after eating. Staying upright is clearly the better call here.

Meals that fit

Mild, warm, short ingredient lists.

Moro Carrot Soup20 Min Boiled Potatoes with Herb Quark36 g protein · 470 kcal · 10 Min Bone Broth Soup with Chicken55 g protein · 445 kcal · 15 Min Bone Broth Soup with Fish47 g protein · 355 kcal · 15 Min Quark with Honey15 g protein · 120 kcal · 1 Min Quark with Fruit37 g protein · 270 kcal · 3 Min

If you want to go deeper

The 10-Minute Lever After EatingWhat if one of the most effective things you can do for your blood sugar isn't a feat of discipline — but a walk that costs … Resistant Starch — the fibre that ordinary starch turns intoThe same potato can behave differently inside your body: cook it, then chill it. What forms in the process is resistant … Calming your nervous system — what actually turns on rest-and-digestConstant stress keeps the sympathetic system overactive: tense, wired, eating on autopilot. The parasympathetic system — … How much water do you really need?Almost everyone carries a number around — "two litres a day". But where does it actually come from? In this lesson we take … The switch to your nervous systemYou breathe around 20,000 times a day — almost always without thinking about it. That's exactly what makes breathing … Carbohydrates in PracticeThis macronutrient is debated more hotly than any other — and few are as misunderstood. Yet carbohydrates are above all one …
When this page is no longer the right place

Get medical advice for: blood in your stool, unintended weight loss, persistent or night-time pain, fever, vomiting, trouble swallowing, and any clear change in your digestion lasting more than two or three weeks. That goes double from around 45 onwards and if bowel disease runs in your family.

Recurring symptoms without those signs are worth a visit too — there are often treatable causes behind them, and cutting foods on a hunch is rarely the best first move.

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This page is general information drawn from 19 years of coaching practice. It is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If something worries you, see a doctor.

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