Want to lose weight for dance

beanbean · Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

I am a dance student and I am at a healthy weight, around 125 to 130 lbs 5'10", however I'd like to lose some weight, to be more like 120 to 125 lbs. I want to do this in a healthy way though.

Currently I eat a vegetarian diet (as I have for almost 3 yrs now) and will continue to do so. Should I increase my intake of veg. and fruit and protein and cut back on carbs and fats? What particular foods should I eat and should I avoid?

As for exercise, I dance about 7 hours a week, skate for 3 hours a week and try to fit in a run or a swim when I can. What should I be focussing on? Will I lose more weight with some activities than others?

Boss · Joined: 27 Mar 2008 Posts: 96 Location: The end of a wire.

The thing is you may well be doing too much exercise.

You dance 7 hours a week, which if it's not 1 hour a day, must be around 1.5 hours a day, and a 1hr session, maiking 5 days of dancing.

You're also doing the skating too, which adds the activity levels in some respects.

Swimming is good,resistance exercise, but unless you regularly vary speed or technique, the body can almost certainly become adapted to it, making it less effective in the long-term.

Firstly, I would like to ask a few questions which might help.

How many sessions a week do you dance? For how long at any one time? As 7 hours a week doesn't give a definitive picture.

Do you dance for competition, or just to be active?

What meals do you eat and what times do you eat them?

This just gives me a chance to assess your situation better.

beanbean · Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

In regards to your questions...

-I dance 4 sessions a week (3 x 2h, 1 x 1h)
-I dance competitively
-I eat 3 meals a day, breakfest (typically oatmeal, yogurt and fruit), lunch (typically milk, leftovers or a sandwich, and dessert of a whole wheat muffin or a fruit salad), and dinner (usually milk, a bean or lentil or tofu dish, a cassorle, or a stirfry plus a dessert similar to as mentioned in lunch)
-I have 3 or 4 snacks a day consisting of any of fruit/veggies/yogurt/crackers/ etc.

-Times:
Breakfest around 7 am
Snack around 10 am
Lunch around 12 pm
Snack around 2 pm
Snack around 4 pm
Dinner around 6 pm
snack around 9 pm

Boss · Joined: 27 Mar 2008 Posts: 96 Location: The end of a wire.

Firstly I'd like to thank you for your candid responses, and say your methodology regarding your meal frequency is very good.

I would say, try not to Eat Fruit directly with a meal, as it can get trapped in the Stomach and putrify slightly, losing nutrition.

Try eating it 10-15 minutes, or as much as 30 before Breakfast, and then you'll get better digestion of the Fruit.

You are also getting a very good level of Carbs from the Yoghurt, Fruit, and Oatmeal, and whilst you do have lower Bloodsugar first thing, and can have a higher bloodsugar spike than usual, I think you're potentially overcarbing a bit.

So I would perhaps substitute some of the calories instead. You could perhaps have a small piece of Fruit like a Tangerine, or Satsuma, or possibly 1/2 an Apple, and compensate for the Carb calories, with something like a Scrambled or Boiled Egg.

This gives you things like more Fat Soluable Vitamins, Lutein, and a bit more Protein, because a Pot of Yoghurt is only around 5-6g anyway, Oatmeal possibly a little, but Whole-grain is typically incomplete Protein, (not a full Amino Acid chain), and very low Protein anyway most often, if not in all occasions.

You could probably do with a bit more Protein, becasue dancing could be a little anabolic, so more Protein would just give you a bit better chance of gaining a mild amount of extra strength, which would be healthy, and better for posture, and also for old age too.

You could possibly add a bit of Ground Nutmeg or Cinnamon to your Cereal if you wish, to add a bit of something else.

I would favour other Carb sources in the PM, over Fruit. Fruit has Fructose, and Simple Carbohydrate can in part convert to Fat in the Liver, which although you're active and will use more energy, thus theoretically using more Fruit energy, there's other sources of Carbs you could have, and with 2 hour spacings, and the Fruit digestion speed, you risk having Fruit trying to digest in the Intestines, with part of the previous meal.

So I'd limit Fruit to the first two meals. This goes for Fruit Yoghurts, owing the Fruit content getting hindered digestion by the Yoghurt.

You could include Low Fat Cheese as a possibility for snacks.

A good example, might be to take 2-3 large Mushrooms, topped with some Low Fat Cheese, and Grilled. A simple and easy way to get Fat Soluable Vits, Protein, Carbs, healthy Fats, B Vits, Calcium etc etc.

Lunch would be better being structured. Leftovers doesn't make for a good base of nutrition, as it's potentially too inconsistent.

You can go fo a Sandwhich, with thinly sliced Whole-grain Bread, perhaps a little Low Fat Cheese, and maybe bits of Sliced Tomato, or maybe you could make a small salad, with some Lentils or Beans in it, and perhaps a few Nuts afterwards for Fats, or a bit of Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive
Oil on it as well.

You could have Veggies for Lunch, with Beans or Lentils perhaps.

Alternative might be two thinly sliced Whole-grain Pieces, Low Fat Cheese on Top, and grilled, so a simple Cheese on Toast.

Another possibility, A Piece of Low Fat Cheese on Toast, and then have a Yoghurt. You can include Nut Yoghurts in here, as Nut are a good source of things like Copper and Selenium and Magnesium, so the Magensium, along with the Calcium and Vit D, makes nut Yoghurts a pretty good Bone formula.

I like your Dinner options too.

If you want an another option, you could try Kefir. Which is often grown and sent to people free. It's a grain you put in Milk, leave for around 12-36 hours, and it dissolves the Lactose content, and converts the Milk into a yoghurty substance.

You can also get something called Nattokinase. A Fermented Soy product, with a Bifidus culture in it. Not sure how you would get it though.

You might also find sometimes you like to add a bit of Whole-wheat or Protein enriched Pasta to meals or Brown and Wild Rice too, as occasional options.

Just remember that Rice is not just Amino Acid packed, but also pretty Carb rich, that if you have another Carb source with it, to potentially keep that one lower, to not go too carb high, and keep the main focus for Protein on the Rice.

So you certainly have options there, and dieas that might help you.

Good luck, and best wishes.