People ask me all the time how I keep my body in tip-top shape. This can be especially hard with all of our traveling! I want to help dancers and others, just like you, to develop some sound principles when it comes to diet and exercise. In this blog post series, we are going to explore some of the best principles to swear by when designing or starting on a new diet. These are the 8 most basic rules for dancers diets.
Earlier, I wrote a post about the 5 most common fitness myths about dancers. In this series, we are going to dig deeply into these dieting rules. I want to give you the best tools possible to help you build your own diet so you can achieve the results you’re looking for. Dancers diets can be hard. However, I can promise one thing. If you follow these rules, you will definitely see results!
Dancers Diets Rule 1
Educate Yourself
If you really want to change your non-skeletal body structure, you need to be educated! For very effective dancers diets, you need to have a firm grasp on the basics. That means understanding how to track your macros. You need to learn how to read nutrition labels. Do you know how to measure liquid volume versus dry volume? You also need to be able to quickly look up the calorie content of different foods.
Understanding yourself is just as important as understanding the foods that you eat. Learn how to determine your body type. Take time to discover which foods work well for you and which ones don’t. Everybody is different and unique. What works for me might not work for you. Education is key. Jump ahead to read more about this rule in my post titled “Dieting 101”.
Dancers Diets Rule 2
Learn to be Objective
I cannot stress this point enough! Our bodies are such an emotional topic for us all. After all, negative self image leads so many people to anxiety and stress. When it comes to dieting, learning to approach your body shape with objectivity is one of the most important skills to master. With objectivity comes true results.
The key to developing an objective mindset is to put in place objective methods by which to measure your progress. I, for one, have the worst self image when I am not actively on a diet or workout plan. My self image does not accurately reflect reality. The truth is, I don’t gain two inches on my waist or lose my abs after two days of not following my diet. But I feel like I do. And that is the crux of the problem. We can’t trust our feelings.
Dancers Diets Rule 3
Memorize the 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule is simple. Developing and maintaining a beautiful body is 80% diet and 20% fitness. Or in other words, abs are made in the kitchen.
Dancers Diets Rule 4
Know the Desired Outcome
Different diets achieve different results. Do you want to build muscle or trim down? Eat for energy or improve the quality of your skin? Furthermore, the word “diet” does not automatically mean a short-term diet change for a short-term result. The word, alone, can mean simply “the way you eat”. You have to have a clear idea in your head about your desired outcome when structuring or choosing a diet.
Dancers Diets Rule 5
Understand the Difference Between Short-term and Long-term Diets
The easiest way to explain this would be: appearance or overall health? Maintenance or drastic change? Sometimes you’ve got a big competition just around the corner and you want to cut and shape your legs. Or bikini-season is coming up. Other times, you’re just looking for a healthier way to live. Perhaps you’ve been fighting acne and want to help clear up your complexion from the inside out.
Following along with rule 4, you have to know your desired outcome. A certain diet might be great for a 10-week slimdown but not necessarily healthy to continue long-term. Some diets may even be impossible to continue long-term. A big thing for me is also quality of life. I might follow a highly restrictive diet right before a major comp and for a short time that’s ok. However, if I spent my entire life consuming nothing but chicken veggies, and green tea, I wouldn’t be very happy. And isn’t happiness what we’re after? But I’m realistic as to what length of time I expect to remain on my diet.
Dancers Diets Rule 6
Drink Lots of Green Tea and Water
Honestly, you should be doing this whether you’re on a diet or not. Your body is composed of 60% water. From the elasticity of your skin to the plumpness of your muscles, down to the very walls of each cell in your body, you need water! Now, this doesn’t mean just blindly chugging canteens of water. There is a fairly easy way to calculate the amount of water you should be drinking.
But green tea? Doesn’t green tea have caffeine? And isn’t caffeine dehydrating? Well, yes, but green tea has so many other qualities to it that far exceeds any negative impact from caffeine. If you haven’t already added green tea to your daily liquids, you should start that today!
Dancers Diets Rule 7
Track Your Macros
What are macros, you ask? Macronutrients are the major nutritional components that nourish our bodies. There are three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fat (lipids). In a simplified way of explaining this, your ratio of macronutrients strongly influences the efficacy of your diet. Ever feel confused about the differences between Ketogenic, Atkins or Low-Carb diets? Much of the difference has to do with the ratio of macronutrients. The best way of objectively measuring your intake and measuring over time whether your diet is effective is by watching your macronutrients so you can make changes or tweaks as needed.
Dancers Diets Rule 8
Be True to Yourself
The only person who can benefit or lose from your discipline is you! I’ve known students to lie on their food diaries or convince themselves that they’ve earned that second slice of cake. Hey… I’ve been known to justify a bad choice of food from time to time! But really, if you lie to yourself or justify one too many times, the only person who’s going to lose is you. If you want to keep your food diary private, fine! If you are celebrating your sister’s birthday and truly want another slice of cake, go for it! Just be honest with yourself. Without honesty, you will never have the results you want.
Dancers Diets Continued
In the next few posts, I will be delving into all of these rules with more details in order to help you design or choose diets with better education at your fingertips. If you liked this post, please subscribe to our email list! That way, you won’t miss a post!
