Dance is not just activity, exercise, hobby, job... its a life style!
Dance is how I live, how I sleep, how I eat... That’s why they call me DANCER, not just someone who does dance! :-)
I get many letter by email and Facebook with questions how do I stay fit, how to loose weight, how to get a nice muscle definition and so on... Thats why I decided to write a blog on that subject so I can answer to all your questions at once and then you can ask more detailed question to discuss it further.
The reason I started out with those specific few sentences is because in order to change something, like your diet, which is not an easy thing to do, you need to look in to your life style, because to make a big improvement on how you look and feel you may need to change how you live.
For example, if you have your nights free and usually you sit home and watch tv or do homework, or computer work... there is this routine we all like to do is to keep going to the kitchen and open the refrigerator to see whats inside :-) And we do that sometimes every 5 min, like we don’t know whats in there. And than we take this, take that...by the end of the night we end up eating everything in a row. So in that case, it would be hard to put a lock on a fridge or a picture of a beautiful body to stop you from opening. Much better solution would be to fill up your evenings with activities. Take a dance class, go to the gym, go jogging.. after a good exercise, we feel so much energy and lightness, the last thing we want to do is to ruin that feeling by eating too much or eating junk. If you have computer work to do or homework, take it somewhere else, like nice library or park, change the environment... basically we want to brake the chain of this binge eating.
Talking specifically about us ballroom dancers, I believe we are lucky that we don’t have to follow specific body stereotype or model like for example ballet dancers do. We can look amazing on a dance floor at any height, shape or size as long as we feel fit, healthy and beautiful! :-)
We all have our ideal weight and everybody’s definition of fit could be slightly different. But that’s ok! You want to look and feel your best than you can be a strong and confident dancer.
How I stay in my shape?
Through out the years and many experiments :-) I got to know my body better. I know when to listed to what it needs and when I have to take over the control of it :-)
I have tried many diets in the past and I came up with conclusion not to forbid myself from certain foods. I don’t divide foods in to good and bad, I only eat more of some and less of others. I think we should eat a little bit of everything. I do believe in changing mind. For example, if McDonald’s cheeseburger is my daily lunch meal, I would analyze its benefits for my body and find a healthier alternative, like a nice salad or seafood risotto... whatever you like the most, just better and healthier option. I would think how good this meal taste, how good I feel after eating it, how many nutrients my body will receive, and how it will not affect my weight... And I would ask do I really love McDonald’s so much? Really? So I would just change my mind about it :-)
I honestly love the foods I eat!
When I eat healthy foods, I enjoy the feeling of lightness, fast digestion and the amount of energy my body gains.
Just diet or healthy eating, same as just exercise doesn’t work effectively by itself, you have to combine both.
I intensively dance at least 6 days a week. I practice with my partner, I take ballet, pilates, gyrotonic, contemporary...classes. On top of all these activities, I teach dancing, which is also physical. My life is very active, so I get plenty of exercise daily.
Can I still gain weight with this amount of exercise?
The answer is YES! My body is used to working this hard so I pretty much know by now how much it needs energy to work at its best. If I start eating more than I need, heavy foods, late night dinners...I will gain some weight.
I personally feel comfortable whey my body feels light and toned, between 110-112 pounds.
p.s. It doesn’t mean that it’s an ideal weight for you! We all have different bone structure, muscle mass, height... Your ideal weight, when you look at your best, could be much higher than mine or lower. Its not about the number, its about you feeling and looking at your best!
How I eat.
I always eat breakfast! There is a theory that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So many people interpretate it as it has to be big, heavy, filling.... If I eat too much in the morning I feel heavy, tired and sleepy. My breakfast is usually light. I may have oatmeal with nuts, dried fruits, some sugar and sliced banana, or cereal, or farmers cheese with yogurt, nuts, sliced banana and honey, or a sandwich on a multi grained bread or bagel with cream cheese... There is always a banana :-) Love bananas! And of course a big cup of coffee, never leave my house without having coffee! :-)
I always snack in between my meals. That way I don’t feel hunger so I don’t have to have big main meals. My snacks usually are: bananas, nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews) fruit cup, bag of dried fruits, yogurt....
My lunch isn’t usually big either because I don’t have too much time to eat it and I can’t eat much because I usually dance after, don’t want to feel sick after eating.
For lunch I like, soups, salads, wraps, meat with vegetables.. Would have something similar for dinner. I try not to eat late. Usually I do have a very good appetite at night so I do control how much I eat because sometimes I feel that I could just eat non stop :-)
It that case at nights I eat lots of fruits like oranges, apples, tangerines, apple pears...watermelon when its in season. And I also drink a lot of tea. I make a big pot every single night.
p.s. During the day I drink lots of liquids, mainly water and coffee of course :-)
If you have more specific questions to me about this topic, ask and we will discuss it!
Labels: Diet
, healthy eating