Well, as a ballet dancer, YOU NEED CARBS Your brain requires glucose to function. Where do you get glucose?...from carbs. Bread, pasta, rice, fruit, granola, veggies, crackers, potatoes, cereal...all of these foods contain carbohydrates. Your brain actually requires glucose every 3-4 hours. That is why I eat 6 meal/snacks (I'm not even sure what to call them anymore...) all at around 250 calories everyday. This keeps my blood sugar stable, helping keep me from having those crash and burn mood swings or sugar highs. This keeps my blood sugar and insulin levels in the fat burning zone. (Think Goldilocks, the middle, everything in moderation)
Also, carbs are yummy! If you deprive yourself of them, you will crave them even more and then end up (if you're anything like me) binging on nothing but them later. So, you CAN have carbs. Just choose the right carbs and pair them with protein and fat to slow down your glycemic reaction. When you eat just simple carbs, your blood sugar spikes, then drops. When you eat for example an apple with peanut butter, your blood sugar stays in that fat-burning zone for few hours. Some examples of good complex carbs are:
- Whole wheat pasta
- rice
- whole wheat or whole grain bread
- quinoa
- whole wheat pita bread
you get the idea. Choose high fiber and whole wheat and whole grain. Also choose foods with low glycemic index. I like Luna bars for this reason. Organic natural ingredients, you get carbs protein and fat, calcium, vitamin D, iron, folic acid, and a low glycemic index. Oh and it tastes like a frickin' candy bar!!!
Anyways, just wanted to make sure that all you dancers out there are getting 50-60% of your daily calories from carbs. You need the fuel to keep dancing.
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