Have you ever eaten a meal and felt satisfied… only to find yourself hungry again shortly afterward?
That’s where staying power comes in.
The staying power of a meal refers to how well it helps you feel comfortably satisfied and energized between eating opportunities. It’s not about making a meal “more filling” so you can eat less. Instead, it’s about building meals and snacks that provide the combination of nutrients your body needs to support sustained energy, satisfaction, and metabolic functioning.
I’ve previously discussed how to identify and honor fullness cues. Here, we’ll take that idea one step further by looking at how you can leverage the staying power of your meals, especially during a busy day of rehearsals, classes, and performances.
What Gives A Meal Staying Power?
Some foods are naturally less satiating when eaten on their own. Think of foods like:
- Cucumbers
- Celery
- Leafy greens
- Rice cakes
- Fruit
- Plain popcorn
- Nonfat dairy
- Crackers or bread
That doesn’t make these foods “bad,” unhealthy, or something you need to avoid. In fact, many of them provide important nutrients. Fruits and vegetables, for example, contribute vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, water, and fiber. The point is simply that a food doesn’t have to do everything on its own.
Pairing foods together can create a more satisfying eating experience. For example, an apple on its own might not carry you through a three-hour rehearsal. Add peanut butter and a granola bar, and you’ve created a snack with a combination of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber that may provide more sustained energy and satisfaction.
This is the beauty of gentle nutrition: instead of labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” we can ask, What could I add to make this meal or snack work better for me right now?
5 Simple Ways to Increase Your Meal’s Staying Power
#1: Build a Fuel Mix
One of the simplest ways to increase a meal’s staying power is to combine carbohydrates, protein, and fat. I call this combination a dancer’s fuel mix, and it’s an important component of The Healthy Dancer® Functional Fuel approach.
Carbohydrates are a preferred source of energy for working muscles. Protein supports muscle repair and recovery, while dietary fat provides concentrated energy and helps contribute to satisfaction. Think of these nutrients as complementary rather than competing.
For example, instead of a salad made primarily of leafy greens and vegetables, try adding:
- Grilled chicken or tofu
- Rice, quinoa, or potatoes
- Avocado or cheese
- An olive-oil-based dressing
The result is a meal that provides more than just volume. It provides a combination of nutrients that can help support energy and satisfaction.
#2: Include a Source of Protein
Protein can contribute to the staying power of a meal or snack by supporting satiety and slowing the rate at which food moves through digestion. Food rich in protein have been shown to increase levels of the hormones responsible for signaling fullness, like peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
Protein-rich foods include:
- Meat and poultry
- Fish
- Eggs
- Dairy foods
- Soy foods like tofu and edamame
- Beans and lentils
- Nuts and seeds
- Protein-rich dairy-free alternatives
You don’t need to turn every snack into a “high-protein” snack, though. For dancers, the goal isn’t to maximize protein intake. Most dancers can meet their protein needs without constantly adding protein powders, bars, or fortified products.
Instead, think about distribution and variety. Including some protein throughout the day can help create meals and snacks that feel more satisfying and support recovery between classes and rehearsals.
#3: Add Fiber When It Feels Good
Fiber is found naturally in plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds. Certain types of fiber can slow digestion and contribute to feelings of fullness. Fiber also supports digestive health and helps add texture and substance to meals.
A few simple ways to add fiber include:
- Adding berries to yogurt or oatmeal
- Choosing whole-grain bread or crackers
- Adding beans to rice or grain bowls
- Including vegetables alongside your main meal
- Topping cereal with nuts and seeds
That said, more fiber isn’t always better. Dancers sometimes overcorrect with enormous salads, raw vegetables, or excessive amounts of fiber in an attempt to feel full. This can leave you physically uncomfortable, especially before class or performance.
Your body doesn’t need the highest-fiber meal possible. It needs the meal that works for you, at that moment. Read more about fiber and the dancer diet here.
#4: Don’t Forget Dietary Fat
Fat has historically been demonized in diet culture, but it plays an important role in nutrition.
Dietary fat provides energy, supports the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and can contribute to the satisfaction and staying power of a meal. Try adding foods such as:
- Avocado
- Nuts and seeds
- Nut or seed butter
- Olive oil
- Cheese
- Whole-milk dairy
- Fatty fish
Again, this isn’t about adding as much fat as possible. It’s about recognizing that fat is one part of a balanced eating pattern, and including it can make meals more satisfying and enjoyable.
#5: Move Beyond “Portion Control”
This one is especially important for dancers. When a meal doesn’t feel satisfying, the answer isn’t necessarily to eat less, follow stricter portion guidelines, or distract yourself from hunger. Instead, try getting curious.
Ask yourself:
- How hungry am I?
- What sounds satisfying right now?
- What might help this meal carry me through until my next opportunity to eat?
- Do I need more food, or would adding a different component make this meal feel more complete?
This is where mindful and intuitive eating skills can be incredibly useful. As I discussed here, portion sizes aren’t universal. Your needs can change depending on your training load, schedule, appetite, recovery needs, and even what you ate earlier in the day.
And sometimes, you simply need more food.
That’s okay, too. The goal isn’t to make every meal keep you full for as long as possible. The goal is to learn what helps your body feel adequately fueled and satisfied.
Staying Power in Action
Here are a few easy ways to turn a lower-staying-power food into a more complete snack or meal:
- Instead of: Sliced vegetables; Try: Sliced vegetables + hummus + crackers
- Instead of: Fruit alone; Try: Fruit + yogurt + granola or nuts
- Instead of: Rice alone; Try: Rice + beans + avocado + vegetables
- Instead of: Cereal alone; Try: Cereal + milk or yogurt + fruit + nuts or seeds
- Instead of: Toast alone; Try: Toast + eggs + avocado
- Instead of: A salad made primarily of vegetables; Try: Vegetables + a carbohydrate + protein + dressing
Notice what’s happening here? We’re not removing foods. We’re adding to them.
Key Takeaways: Staying Power Isn’t About Eating Less
For dancers especially, the concept of “staying power” should never become another rule for how to make yourself eat less often. You don’t need to engineer every meal to keep you full for hours.
Dancers have high energy demands, and there are times when you’ll need to eat again sooner than expected. A pre-class snack might intentionally be smaller and easier to digest. A post-rehearsal meal might be more substantial. A long rehearsal day may require several meals and snacks.
Think of staying power as a tool for building satisfying meals, not a measure of whether you ate “enough.” The next time you finish a meal and find yourself hungry again sooner than expected, get curious rather than critical.
- Maybe your meal needed more carbohydrate.
- Maybe adding some protein or fat would have made it more satisfying.
- Maybe you simply needed more food.
There is no single formula. The goal is to use nutrition information as a tool while continuing to listen to your body.
