Diet help?

[Fire Lily]

As a little girl. I did ballet. I quit when I was about 15. Never took it seriously though. Never even got up on to pointe. So consequently my ‘diet’ was never an issue.
Now, at 24, I’m back dancing again. Only this time it’s cabaret fusion belly dance.
I was wondering. Does anyone have a particular dietary routine they maintain? Or do you just eat what you want without becoming bulimic?

I try and vary my diet with a mix of fish and red and white meat. Plus veggies, rice and pasta.
And of course my dairy intake includes; milk, cheese and eggs, and fruit

I do like to indulge in a snickers bar once each week for a little treat.
I’m really more of a savoury foods person though…

Should I cut out the snickers from my diet?

What do you find works best for you? :think:

 

[gwinity]

Hi Fire Lily,

I've recently started 'dieting' (although I hate that word), and combined with dancing hope to lose a few kilos and generally tone up.

Because I have the motivation and willpower of a sloth, I signed up to a website called Calorie King, as I'd seen the fantastic results it gave for family members. With measurements etc entered in, along with desired weight, it calculated how many calories I'm allowed per day, and how much exercise I need to do in order to meet my goals. And it still lets me have my daily Bertie Beetle.

I don't actually know how successful it is (I don't own a set of scales), but I feel better for doing it, and don't feel as tempted by a bag of crisps (my personal weakness) or skipping class because I can see what it does to my calories for the day! I've got a maximum of 1480 calories per day. Any exercise reduces how much you've consumed, so half an hour walking, or 2 hours of dancing means I'm using a lot less than that, and in theory losing weight! I can't explain it very well, but it was recommended to me, and I'm now recommending it to you!

 

[Nat242]

Yeah, a bag of crisps is my weakness too..

I actually eat a fair amount (hypoglycemic) and I don't put on weight very easily (I'm young, though, I don't expect to have this situation forever). I do however eat pretty carefully because of the hypoglycemia and health problems in my family history. Also, just to feel good.

I'm probably not the best informed when it comes to 'diets', my overall attitude is eat as many fresh/lightly cooked fruit and vegetables as you can, eat fairly small amounts of meat, supplement protein with lentils and beans, nuts and seeds, fish a couple of times a week. I have the philosophy that it is okay to treat yourself if you don't have any serious health problems that you're worried about - it's better to have a little and really enjoy it rather than denying yourself for ages and then bingeing.

Try to make healthier choices if you don't want to radically change your habits - switch to brown rice, wholemeal pasta...reduce your intake of meat just a little (smaller portions).

That's my approach - but I'm not trying to lose weight or anything, just stay healthy.

 

[charity]

sounds like you have a pretty good diet going already.

dont deny yourself the snickers bar. you deserve it for all your other sacrifices.

i agree with nat242. its very reasonable.

and one website i really like is sparkpeople.com. you can even keep an online diet/fitness journal. they have exercises for each body part, diet/meal plans, calorie counters, recipes i think, a forum for partnering up with someone to be your diet buddy. or well thats up to you.

but they have articles on nutrition and exercise...etc etc.

good luck.

 

[MiaMi]

I need to get myself on a better eating plan. I must have gained 10 lbs in three months!!! Not good...

I don't sleep much either, which doesn't help the situation.

 

[belly_dancer]

hey gwinity (fellow sloths unite!!!!)
I checked out the calorie King.... but they say you must be in australia to join...
DOES ANYONE KNOW OF SIMILAR WEB PAGE... US BASED....
I just LOVE the idea of someone figuring it ALL out for me.... now if only they would do the work too..........

 

[gwinity]

Belly Dancer (hurrah for sloths!!),

I linked to the Australian one, but there is a US-based one, too: Calorie King International. Fantastic site, I can't recommend it enough! The hardest part I find with it, though, is if you are making home-made foods: it's hard to find an equivalent in their extensive database (unless you want to go through and figure out the nutritional information yourself).