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.
Read More...Balanced and Guilt-Free Holiday Eating Tips for Dancers
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.
Read More...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.
Read More...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.
Read More...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.
Read More...Dealing With Diet Talk- Your Ultimate Guide
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.
Read More...Raise A Healthy Dancer
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.
Read More...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.
Read More...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.
Read More...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.
Read More...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.
Read More...Mindful Eating For Dancers
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.
Read More...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.
Read More...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.
Read More...Get Started With Gentle Nutrition
From pre-performance snacks to post-performance recovery, nutrition education is essential to a dancer’s training. But as I’ve discussed previously, dancers must juggle aspects of performance nutrition and meal planning, both of which can hover the realms of diet culture, with the goal of avoiding restrictive eating habits. To balance the importance of performance nutrition with the fundamentals of a non-diet lifestyle, we must recognize the tenth principle of intuitive eating: “gentle nutrition.”
Read More...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.
Read More...From Dancer to Dietitian – The Roadmap
Do you have an interest in nutrition, food, or helping others? Many dancers inquire about the road to becoming an expert in nutrition for dancers. This article will share tips for you to consider if interested in blending your passions for dance and wellness.
Read More...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!
Read More...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.
Read More...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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