The Great “Weight” Debate:
The Ballet Body
I’m sitting here trying to start this blog and already feel
torn over what I am going to say about how to achieve the perfect “ballet
body.” The thing about the subject is
I’ve got so many questions asking, “How can I get skinny for ballet?” or “I’m
having weight issues, can you help?” It
already nerves me thinking about answering them because majority of the time
they come from very young girls, typically 13-17 years old. My blood actually starts to boil as I read
them because I’m thinking to myself, how can a child actually be worrying about
this? Unfortunately, in our beautiful
art form, how we look sometimes overpowers artistry and talent. I am obviously not a doctor, but I am a high
performance athlete who has managed to steer clear from any serious injury thus
far in my professional career. I
attribute that to not only my physical activity but also my diet; and I don’t
mean “diet” in the fashion magazine quick way to lose 10lbs way, I mean
actually what I eat for nutrition to stay healthy. I would like you to stop thinking about
things in terms of getting “skinny” for ballet, but getting “healthy” for
ballet.
I am going to be careful what I say here, because I do not
want to offend anyone and I do not want to steer any young child who is reading
this in the wrong direction. People ask
me about how I eat all time. I reply
that I do not really constrict myself from much and I get the old response of,
“Well, you’re just lucky you have that body naturally.” I could not disagree with that statement
more. I’ll tell you about the many
“bodies” I have gone through in my 30yrs of life. I was a string bean as a kid. When I turned
15 my body completely changed. I grew to
be 5’9” and I started to gain weight for the first time in my life. If you’ve read my previous blog, you would
know that during that time I was not dancing full time. I had taken time off. When I went back to ballet is when I started
to become very VERY aware of how my body looked. It was when I was 17, turning
18 that I decided to go on my very first “diet.” I thought I knew it all. It was when the Atkins thing was taking off
and I thought to myself it would be the perfect way to lose the 10-15 extra
teenage baby pounds. I almost completely cut out all carbs from my diet. The only carbs I was really eating were from
vegetables. Everything was going great
at first; I lost weight fast and my muscle tone was really starting to
show. It wasn’t too long before I
noticed that my energy levels were becoming low and I started to get very bad
tendonitis in my Achilles, which I never had before. It was opening week of the Nutcracker at my
school and I was to be dancing the role of Sugar Plum Fairy. My teacher flew in a professional male dancer
from Ballet Arizona to be my partner. We
were in rehearsal and I remember telling my mom that I felt like my Achilles
was a rubber band. The next thing I
knew, I felt a sharp and very hot pain in my leg. I had torn where my calf and Achilles
meet.
The doctor was surprised that someone as young as me would
sustain such an injury. He started
asking me questions and when he got to the bottom of it, he told me that a
large part in the breakdown of my body was that I was not fueling it properly for
the amount of physical activity I was doing.
NO CARBS was A VERY BAD IDEA.
After my injury I started to eat a well-rounded diet and felt great! Then, I left for college the next year. Freshman 15? That would have been nice, try
freshman 25 for me! I ate like crap, to
be frank. Pizza late at night and
Snickers for a snack from the vending machine.
I was in college on my own for the first time and didn’t have much
money. It wasn’t until I was 23 and at
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre that I finally started to figure out how to treat my
body well. I made two very major
decisions— I was cutting out fried foods and cutting out alcohol (for all of
you who are over 21 years old and up). I
started eating small portions of food, but at least six times a day, and was
very religious about taking a multi-vitamin and B-Complex. For the past 7 years of my life, I have
really not changed how my body looks or my weight much. I have figured out how to maintain a healthy
and strong body for ballet through healthy eating and moderation.
So here are my thoughts.
If you are a young girl or boy reading this, you have absolutely no
business depriving your body of anything.
A “diet” shouldn’t ever be in your vocabulary. You can, however, start learning how to eat
healthy to maintain an athlete’s body.
You will obviously need your parent’s help, but for example; instead of eating french fries at school for
lunch, consider packing your lunch with a nice turkey sandwich and some fruit
and veggies. It’s also OK to eat ice
cream and pizza with your friends, but you don’t have to be excessive. I truly believe that moderation is key. One awful trend that I have seen from
teaching around the country is being in front of a herd of 13 year old kids and
halfway through barre struggling to get them to respond to combinations let
alone get through them. I always ask if
they have had breakfast, and more often than not, I hear “NO.” Breakfast is the most important meal of the
day because it jump starts your metabolism and gives you energy for the
day! Try eating some scrambled eggs with
cheese and avocado or oatmeal like I do EVERYDAY.
Another problem I see is young students are not taught how
to “snack” between classes and rehearsals.
I do not mean cookies and cakes.
I would suggest bringing some crackers or fruits and veggies with ranch
to have on breaks. It keeps you
energized in the body but also the brain!
I always drink a high protein shake after every ballet class I
take. I wouldn’t suggest that for young
kids, but an alternative would be to pack a 2% chocolate milk with you. When you get older, maybe 17 or 18, drinking
a protein shake would work! For a major
meal like dinner try to be as balanced as you can be. Eat a protein like chicken or beef, a
vegetable and maybe a bit of pasta. I
promise you that if you maintain a well-balanced diet your body will respond in
the way you want it to. Like me, pass up
the French fries for a salad or soup and maybe eat 1 cookie instead of 5, but
do not totally restrict yourself from foods that will feed your mind and body.
Xoxo
Allison
