A dancer’s diet should consist of at least 55–60% carbohydrate, 12–15% protein and 30% fat. Carbohydrate is the major energy source for an active dancer. Honoring cravings and prioritizing a dancer’s relationship with food is essential.
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What Is Nutrient Density?
Nutrient density can be a helpful concept for dancers looking to build a meal plan that supports their elevated needs as athletes. But too often, nutrient density is used to categorize foods with labels like “good” and “bad”- In the process, many foods are vilified and eating those deemed “bad” and “unhealthy” becomes an experience flooded with stress and food guilt.
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The Healthy Dancer® Diet Detox
January means two things: audition season is right around the corner AND it’s prime time for diet poachers to hunt! For dancers, this often looks like a set of meal plans and food rules that aim to reduce caloric intake for the sake of meeting a weight requirement. But here’s the thing… restrictive dieting does […]
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Is Organic Food Healthier?
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases an annual list of the ‘“Dirty Dozen,” which includes a list of 12 types of produce known to be most contaminated with pesticides. But some feel the EWG largely fabricates their findings to fear-monger consumers with phrases like “toxic” and “cancer-causing” chemicals.
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5 Signs Your Meal Plan Isn’t Working- And how to fix it!
Is your current eating plan supporting your dancing? There are specific signs to look out for. Once identified, you’ll be better equipped to build an eating plan that supports your dance goals. This article will uncover the five most common eating pitfalls among dancers and how to prevent and resolve them.
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Mindful Eating For Dancers
[UPDATED] When you begin to utilize the tool of mindful eating, you add back a major nutrient to your balanced plate: experience. From that experience, whether it is positive, negative, or neutral, blooms a unique learning opportunity that allows you to move forward with building trust with your body’s intrinsic cues of hunger, fullness, and satisfaction.
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Healthy Diet For Ballet Dancers
A ballerina diet focuses consistency and balance. Ballet dancers need to optimize their food choices to support their energy to dance. As a result, a varied and non-restrictive diet is key. Add foods like colorful fruits and veggies, whole grains, eggs, potatoes, blueberries, to name a few.
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Rehydration for dancers: what’s best?
If you’re dancing for 90 minutes or longer, then you’ll want to consider additional rehydration therapies. This is especially important for dancers during the hot and humid summer months when sweat rates are higher. In this article, we will discuss the most popular types of rehydration therapies available to dancers and what to consider for each.
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5 Signs The Dieting Mentality Is Holding You Back
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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A Dancer’s Complete Guide to Hormone Balance
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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What does it mean to be a Healthy Dancer?
I’ve had the honor of writing an article for Dance Magazine about what it means to be a healthy dancer. Here’s a snippet: “A healthy dancer has a healthy relationship with their body, food, themself, and others. They know when to take a break or rest and participate in key health behaviors, including sleep, hydration, nutrition, […]
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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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