This is such an important topic in ballet ! It took me until after being expelled from my school BECAUSE of my low WEIGHT to acknowledge I had a problem. When you are so focused on improving and the perfectionism takes over , its hard to notice the position youve put yourself in . So many possible careers and beautiful dancers ruined because of eating disorders. So tragic . Definitely need to be discussed in schools more
I have my phase of eating disorder in my teenage year where instead of losing weight, I gained weight. Because of the stress and obsession of losing weight that I was experiencing, my mind kept on telling me to eat eat and eat. Maybe it's stress eating? Which was counterproductive to my goal at the time. I agree that mindset plays an important role in our relationship with food. Thank you for sharing this video, very insightful.
Former dancer here. Was always exhausted in my Youth, obsessively checked nutrition labels for fat because I thought it made you fat. Had constant brain fog, joint pain, tendonitis, etc which ultimately caused the end of my ballet career. Fast forward 15 years and was in very poor health, (brain fog, extreme joint inflammation, walked with a limp), despite my very balenced clean diet. For the last year I have been essentially zero carb/ high fat and feel amazing. I am now able to teach ballet again, brain fog is gone, and my chronic skin infections are also gone. There's way more than that for improvements, but after a year of research into diet and my life changing I can say saturated animal fat has saved my life and my brain. Oh and also, I lost 15 pounds without trying. Dancers generally have awful eating habits and it breaks my heart because we are athletes. Fat fuels, protein powers 💪
Thank you for sharing this story! It's like we have become conditioned by the ballerinas who are posting their diets online that veganism is the default "healthy" ballet diet. Except it's not. The vegan diet is so inadequate and lacking in nutrients maintain optimal health (such as collagen). I don't know how ballet dancers, who are high level athletes, even function, much less heal from injuries on the typical high carb, low fat vegan diet that seems to be so common amongst ballet dancers.
I'm a ballet dancer and 100% agree! When I was a vegan I felt terrible, I had a sunken in face, and my joints always hurt. When I switched to a more "balanced diet" (brown rice, lean chicken, nuts, lots of fruit and veg, dark chocolate occasionally) I still had the same issues. I also had massive foot swelling and metatarsal pain. It's my 5th month doing carnivore and I feel so much better now! No more joint pain, swelling is gone, I don't have brain fog anymore, and I have that vibrance in my skin and face again. When I am doing adagio or a developpe I feel strong and not like my leg is going to fall off!!!
Such an important topic, thank you for bringing it up. It’s so much shame attached to it and perfectionism is so common in ballet world and that could cause a disorder of eating or an eating disorder as well. Dancers should able to learn to talk about nutrition and body awareness at a very early ages at school.
This is a great interview! I burnt out at 16 years old because I was so focused on ‘looking right’ for ballet. I had no knowledge of nutrition. I developed osteoporosis and many other long lasting health issues because of dietary restriction. The saddest thing was that, like you both mentioned, I lost my love for ballet, food and body image completely took over. Now as an adult in my 30s I have rediscovered my love for ballet and am taking adult classes. It’s so great to feel so strong being well fuelled!
Eating disorders are genetic - it's really important for anyone struggling to remember this! That doesn't mean you can't get better, but it does mean you aren't "bad" or "choosing" an eating disorder. Ask for help, it can get better ❤️
I haven't seen any 'what I eat in a day' social media by dancers in which the amounts weren't woefully inadquate even for someone with a sedentary lifestyle. This is really a kind of eating disorder porn.
Good focus on the psychological aspects of disordered eating in dancers but very little about basic nutritional requirements. A second video that addresses the basics would help dancers make better choices.
The dancer have to start to ask the right to rest, the right to feed themself It can be an abusive invaiormant but when you are injured or sick you are on your on. So think about your long term health dear ballerinas.
What’s healthy for the body is healthy for the body. Tying it to dance performance is likely where unhealthy obsessions or peer(idol) influence becomes a problem. I can’t help but wonder what a specific activity has to do with it. The more simple and straightforward your diet is (Raw) the healthier you’re going to be. Period.
Good talk, but i wanna say that just eating bananas its a insane diet, and that isnot veganism. So you dont try vegsnism, you do a onlyfruitdiet. I see everywhere so much confusion about what be a vegan is
I did the vegan diet as well full of vegetables, legumes, grains and everything to have a nourishing diet. It didn’t suit me at all in the end. I love it though and I’m happy if it suits others. The fruit diet was just a period in my youth I was trying some crazy things that I fully admit are crazy!
This is such an important topic in ballet ! It took me until after being expelled from my school BECAUSE of my low WEIGHT to acknowledge I had a problem. When you are so focused on improving and the perfectionism takes over , its hard to notice the position youve put yourself in . So many possible careers and beautiful dancers ruined because of eating disorders. So tragic . Definitely need to be discussed in schools more
I have my phase of eating disorder in my teenage year where instead of losing weight, I gained weight. Because of the stress and obsession of losing weight that I was experiencing, my mind kept on telling me to eat eat and eat. Maybe it's stress eating? Which was counterproductive to my goal at the time. I agree that mindset plays an important role in our relationship with food. Thank you for sharing this video, very insightful.
I experienced the same issue. I did not have the stereotypical ballet body which added more stress and made me obsess over food.
Former dancer here. Was always exhausted in my Youth, obsessively checked nutrition labels for fat because I thought it made you fat. Had constant brain fog, joint pain, tendonitis, etc which ultimately caused the end of my ballet career. Fast forward 15 years and was in very poor health, (brain fog, extreme joint inflammation, walked with a limp), despite my very balenced clean diet. For the last year I have been essentially zero carb/ high fat and feel amazing. I am now able to teach ballet again, brain fog is gone, and my chronic skin infections are also gone. There's way more than that for improvements, but after a year of research into diet and my life changing I can say saturated animal fat has saved my life and my brain. Oh and also, I lost 15 pounds without trying. Dancers generally have awful eating habits and it breaks my heart because we are athletes. Fat fuels, protein powers 💪
Thank you for sharing this story! It's like we have become conditioned by the ballerinas who are posting their diets online that veganism is the default "healthy" ballet diet. Except it's not. The vegan diet is so inadequate and lacking in nutrients maintain optimal health (such as collagen). I don't know how ballet dancers, who are high level athletes, even function, much less heal from injuries on the typical high carb, low fat vegan diet that seems to be so common amongst ballet dancers.
I'm a ballet dancer and 100% agree! When I was a vegan I felt terrible, I had a sunken in face, and my joints always hurt. When I switched to a more "balanced diet" (brown rice, lean chicken, nuts, lots of fruit and veg, dark chocolate occasionally) I still had the same issues. I also had massive foot swelling and metatarsal pain. It's my 5th month doing carnivore and I feel so much better now! No more joint pain, swelling is gone, I don't have brain fog anymore, and I have that vibrance in my skin and face again. When I am doing adagio or a developpe I feel strong and not like my leg is going to fall off!!!
Such an important topic, thank you for bringing it up. It’s so much shame attached to it and perfectionism is so common in ballet world and that could cause a disorder of eating or an eating disorder as well.
Dancers should able to learn to talk about nutrition and body awareness at a very early ages at school.
One of the best videos I’ve seen. Excellent!
This is a great interview! I burnt out at 16 years old because I was so focused on ‘looking right’ for ballet. I had no knowledge of nutrition. I developed osteoporosis and many other long lasting health issues because of dietary restriction. The saddest thing was that, like you both mentioned, I lost my love for ballet, food and body image completely took over.
Now as an adult in my 30s I have rediscovered my love for ballet and am taking adult classes. It’s so great to feel so strong being well fuelled!
Splendid conversation. Thanks so much to both of you🙏 🌺🌺 🌺
Eating disorders are genetic - it's really important for anyone struggling to remember this! That doesn't mean you can't get better, but it does mean you aren't "bad" or "choosing" an eating disorder. Ask for help, it can get better ❤️
I haven't seen any 'what I eat in a day' social media by dancers in which the amounts weren't woefully inadquate even for someone with a sedentary lifestyle. This is really a kind of eating disorder porn.
Thank you to both of you. This is very good information. Appreciate this very much.😊💝💝
Thank you for this!
Good focus on the psychological aspects of disordered eating in dancers but very little about basic nutritional requirements. A second video that addresses the basics would help dancers make better choices.
The dancer have to start to ask the right to rest, the right to feed themself
It can be an abusive invaiormant but when you are injured or sick you are on your on. So think about your long term health dear ballerinas.
What’s healthy for the body is healthy for the body. Tying it to dance performance is likely where unhealthy obsessions or peer(idol) influence becomes a problem.
I can’t help but wonder what a specific activity has to do with it.
The more simple and straightforward your diet is (Raw) the healthier you’re going to be.
Period.
diet is key! 💪
Can you do a detailed video on Vaganova ballet school syllabus for all the grades explaining why and how they gradually improve the children?
Good talk, but i wanna say that just eating bananas its a insane diet, and that isnot veganism. So you dont try vegsnism, you do a onlyfruitdiet. I see everywhere so much confusion about what be a vegan is
I did the vegan diet as well full of vegetables, legumes, grains and everything to have a nourishing diet. It didn’t suit me at all in the end. I love it though and I’m happy if it suits others. The fruit diet was just a period in my youth I was trying some crazy things that I fully admit are crazy!