Popular Posts

‘What I Eat In A Day’ As A Dancer and Nutritionist

I bet I caught your attention. With over 15 billion views (and counting) on the hashtag, “What I Eat In A Day” vlogs are everywhere and dancers need to understand their impact. Oftentimes the intent is harmless. ‘What I Eat In A Day” vlogs are short-form videos that display everything a dancer eats throughout their […]

What are “fun” foods and can dancers eat them?

Restrictive dieting behaviors, whether obvious (like calorie counting) or subtle (like “clean” eating) strip the fun from food― turning eating experiences into math equations riddled with angst and guilt. As discussed in this article, however, even “fun foods” that are technically considered to be less nutrient-dense can (and should) be included in your dance fueling […]

Holistic Nutrition for Dancers

[UPDATED] A holistic approach to nutrition is not prescriptive but rather, guided. Dancers utilize self-discovery to inform their decisions around food and movement. Ultimately, this supports a dancer’s whole being, including their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

Overcoming The Orthorexic Identity

Mental Health, Nutrition

What is The Orthorexic Identity? Dancers who experience a history of disordered eating, including orthorexia, commonly face the struggle of overcoming the orthorexic identity. Perhaps family members have labeled you as “the healthy one”. Or friends consider you the “good dancer” for eating “right” and keeping up with your demanding cross-training schedule. For dancers who […]

Superfoods For Dancers

Superfoods are a buzzy topic in the New Year. But what actually deems a food to be a “superfood?” The Healthy Dancer® Functional Fuel technique identifies options to to refuel, rebuild and recover.

What “Should” a Dancer Eat in A Day?

An adequate meal plan has the ability to enhance jump height, build endurance, improve aerobic capacity, and reduce injury risk. A well-fueled dancer is better equipped to build sustainable habits and a supportive relationship with food. But when compared to the general population, dancers are 3 times more likely to develop an eating disorder — this article will break down one of the most common reasons why.

How To Build New Years Resolutions That Last

Mental Health, Nutrition

Intentions encompass habit-building steps that work into your day-to-day life. Here are my top 3 tips to start the year with actionable intentions to reach your biggest resolutions.

What should dancers eat before an audition?

A successful audition is a fueled audition, and there are several key strategies that dancers can implement to promote this. This article will provide you with actionable tips to move through our audition season seamlessly.

Should dancers eat less when not dancing?

Mental Health, Nutrition

Rest days provide your body with the time needed to recover; this means your muscles heal from intense training, your energy replenishes to prevent chronic fatigue, your mindset resets to prevent the onset of burnout, and ultimately, you reduce your risk for injuries (especially chronic overuse injuries). Here are key strategies to effortlessly navigate time away from the studio.

Understanding RED-S in Dancers

Mental Health, Nutrition

With at least 10-12 percent of dancers weighing below ideal body weight for health, it’s critical to take steps to reduce your risk of RED-S and thus, your risk of injury. Here are 3 effortless strategies to ensure your meal plan supports energy balance.

Dancers need to stop weighing themselves

The dos and don’ts of how can dancers track their progress without relying on the scale or other body-checking behaviors. As intuitive eating continues to reign in popularity, we see wellness culture attempt to twist tracking behaviors (particularly body weighing and food journaling) and reframe these actions as tools to help consumers regain trust in their bodies.

Balanced and Guilt-Free Holiday Eating Tips for Dancers

Mental Health, Nutrition

Actionable tips for a healthy and balanced approach to eating on the holidays. Consider these 5 tips to not only build confidence around your dinner table but to also find more freedom and enjoyment throughout the season.

A Dancer’s Diet: Nutrition Supplements

Should dancers use protein powders? How about multivitamins? If not consuming a well-rounded diet that is sufficient in both calories and nutrients, dancers are at risk for developing key micronutrient and macronutrient deficiencies. Before deciding whether or not you can benefit from a nutrition supplement, consider the following 5 tips.

A Functional Approach to Food- Is it better?

Much of functional medicine is centered around an approach that supposedly challenges the roots of conventional medicine—instead of treating bodily systems independently from one another, functional medicine “seeks to identify and address the root causes of disease and views the body as one integrated system.” Dancers who look for integrative, holistic, alternative, and functional approaches should never feel shameful or invalidated by their experiences. But it is important to understand the risks involved.

Get More Energy- Tips for Dancers

Energizing and balanced dancer meals are essential to a strong performance. Dancers can utilize these 5 strategies to honor the functional components of food in a way that is flexible and sustainable. We assess the intent behind our food choices, honoring cravings, and being mindful of what is accessible at any given moment. Functional fuel, meal timing, hydration, caffeine, and food flexibility are key.

Dealing With Diet Talk- Your Ultimate Guide

Mental Health, Nutrition

Since we cannot control or prevent all instances of criticism, it helps to equip yourself with the tools to educate and set boundaries as needed. But how? The first step is to decide if it’s worth the energy to educate others about your lifestyle decisions.

Raise A Healthy Dancer

Mental Health, Nutrition

As a dance parent, your role in fundamental to the success of your dancer’s career. This article provides first-hand experience and 5 key strategies to consider to support your dancer’s passion.

The Most Common Nutrition Concerns Amongst Dancers

Dancers face unique nutritional challenges because of rigorous training schedules; combined with undeniable body ideals that unfortunately saturate the industry. The need to consume adequate amounts of food to support strength and endurance is not only challenged by busy schedules, but also, by misinformation from diet culture. This article will discuss the most common nutritional concerns dancers face, and how both individuals and their clinicians can help to navigate them.

Nutrient Density for Dancers

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.

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.