Wellness culture is sneaky and oftentimes seemingly harmless habits can be a guise for very disordered eating behaviors. I’ve previously discussed how “clean” eating and diets like Noom can make it difficult to spot diet culture. But there are even subtler ways in which the dieting mentality shows up for dancers and this article will discuss them.
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Cultivate A Healthy Summer Intensive
Summer intensives offer an incredible opportunity for dancers. Food is the body’s fuel. Without enough fuel, a dancer risks low energy, inability to concentrate, injury, and burnout.
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The 80/20 Rule: Debunked
What is the 80/20 rule around food? There was a time when I believed in the 80/20 diet rule. As both a dancer and as a dietitian, the 80/20 rule offered a clearer and more concrete definition for the old “eat in moderation” advice. But I soon realized that this approach was not helping my relationship with food.
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10 Foods to Support Hormone Health
For dancers, balanced hormones support strong bones. These ten foods will boost your hormone health. If you’re looking to support hormonal balance, start by adding these foods to your next grocery list.
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Dancers and Bone Health
A dancer’s bone density is one of the most important factors when it comes to preventing injuries. Learn about bone health for dancers!
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Nutrition for Dancers: What You Need To Know For Training
Nutrition is an important aspect of dance training. Learn what you should eat before dancing and why! Get tips on what foods are best for dancers and why they’re important.
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What’s the best protein bar for a dancer?
Protein bars are a convenient way for dancers to optimize post-performance recovery windows, especially when their next meal surpasses the hour after dancing. Bars can also provide easy snack options prior to dancing. The nutrition profile of your bar comes next. This is where we can optimize your choice in a way that best supports your dance performance.
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The Healthy Dancer® Dancer Testimonial
Disordered eating is a struggle for many dancers (here’s why). An influx of misinformation from self-proclaimed nutrition experts is often the reason. Those misinformed about how dancers can fuse the principles of intuitve eating with the fundamentals of sports nutrition translate recommendations into polarizing ideas like “eat whatever you want, when you want” and “clean” […]
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A Dancer’s Guide to Dairy- and Plant-Based Milk
Dancers often consider alternatives to dairy even without the presence of a diagnosed intolerance or allergy. Now, I’ve detangled why dancers need not fear the protein- and calcium-rich dairy option in this article. But what about dancers with a medially-diagnosed intolerance? Or those struggling with a milk allergy? And for the dancers who simply prefer dairy-free alternatives, is there a best option? This article will break it down.
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Dance Nutrition Workshops- Everything you need to know
Nutrition workshops for dancers are a key element of a dance school or company’s training efforts. Nutrition workshops from qualified dietitians are encouraged to combat common challenges that exist for both the dancers and the educators.
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How Can Dancers Eat Healthy When Traveling?
When on vacation, on holiday, or even on tour, dancers must learn how to navigate a new environment while listening to and trusting their body’s cues of hunger, fullness, and satisfaction. This articles teaches you how to eat healthfully and intuitively while traveling.
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How To Create A Healthy Relationship with Food
Dancers can create a healthy relationship with food by using this 5-step guide. As a dancer, your relationship with food plays a key role in the sustainability of your career. Learn how to ditch the dieting mentality, give yourself unconditional permission around food, use food neutrality, practice food flexibility, and integrate mindful eating.
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Sustainable Cross-Training for Dancers
Featured post by Maya Marian Bryant, MPH Candidate, NASM-CPT, Certified Barre Instructor. Founder & CEO of Raise The Barre Fitness Has your dance teacher suggested that you cross-train? Perhaps, it was a suggestion to strength train? With a rigorous dance schedule, this may seem like a daunting task. This article teaches dancers about building a […]
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Body Image Support for Dancers
How can dancers build a supportive body image? They need to consider tools that will support the journey. But with terms like “body positivity,” “body neutrality,” “body acceptance,” and “body image resilience” being tossed around social platforms, it can be difficult to decipher which to focus on. This article will deconstruct these various terms to help dancers strategize their journey towards body confidence.
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Dancers and Dessert- is it okay?
Dancers often question whether dessert can be a staple in their diet or not. This article will not only answer this question for you but also, shift your perspective in a way that supports your abilities on stage and off. Gentle nutrition and food flexibility, as tools of The Healthy Dancer® framework, can help you in your decision-making around dessert. This includes those deemed “healthy” (like fruit) and those more indulgent options (I’m talking about that brownie sundae with EXTRA fudge!)
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Navigate Cravings while Intuitive Eating
As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I want you to learn how to fuel your body in a way that supports your health. And as a Certified Counselor of Intuitive Eating, I want you to do this in a way that supports the entirety of your wellbeing. This article will dive into why dancers experience cravings, what are the different types of cravings, and how dancers can navigate them in a way that doesn’t derail the work of both performance nutrition and their relationship with food.
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What Does It Mean to Have Unconditional Permission To Eat?
Relying on “willpower,” striving for “moderation,” “avoiding trigger foods,” and “crowding out” foods are divisive forms of deprivation. Intuitive eaters, however, learn how to demolish the point of deprivation. To do this, let’s address three steps for how you can begin to gift yourself unconditional permission to eat your favorite (and yes, more “triggering”) foods.
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The Best Breakfast Cereal for Dancers
If you’re a dancer who is debating breakfast cereal as an option to start the day, then you’ve come to the perfect place! A culturally-constructed fear of carbohydrate-rich foods makes breakfast cereal the target of debate. But breakfast cereals (and carbs in general) can be a nutrient-packed addition to a dancer’s diet. This article will […]
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Dancers & Disordered Eating
Has your interest in healthy eating become more of an obsession? Dancers are at risk to perfectionism, which can drive rates of disordered eating and eating disorders. Orthorexia describes the unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. Learn more about orthorexia and disordered eating among dancers.
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How to Handle Rejection at Your Dance Audition
How can dancers navigate audition disappointment and rejection? With diet culture especially prominent in the dance industry, the urge for dancers to regain any semblance of control often translates into unsustainable behaviors like restricting food intake or partaking in excessive cross-training routines. But using food as a tool for self-control, rather than self-care, quickly backfires as restrictive dieting leads to exhaustion, burnout, and even injury.
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