’Don't eat too much dessert!’
... and other statements we don't want to hear this festive season!
You’ve just finished a big week of rehearsals, grabbed your bag and you’re one foot out the studio, ready to head into a few days of rest and recovery. Just before the door shuts behind you, you hear a “don’t have too much dessert… “ in the distance. The words echo in your head as you leave the building, and resonate in your mind during the entire holidays, sending your thoughts spiralling.The end of the year is fast approaching and with it comes a smattering of holidays, no matter where you are and how you celebrate. Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa - you name it, there are a lot of festivities between now and the beginning of 2025.
This season is supposed to be one of enjoyment and gratitude, an opportunity to come together with friends and loved ones, celebrate the year that has been, rest, reflect and rejuvenate. Regardless of your beliefs, this time of year is centred around coming together, and more often than not, that’s at a dining table or with a drink in hand. What should be an enjoyable time can quickly turn into a minefield - regardless whether you’re a dancer or not, simply navigating a time of year can bring up a lot of mixed feelings.
From the teacher or staff member that drops a polite, yet totally uncalled for reminder that you still need to fit into your costume after the break, to the loving grandmother that takes personal offence to an unfinished plate, a jolly mood can very quickly become muddled with intrusive thoughts and leave you questioning your decisions.
This can manifest in different ways, but typically revolves around some version of this doubt trifecta:
1. Am I eating too much?
If the last thing you heard walking out of the studio was the above-mentioned reminder, no wonder you’ll head into a family dinner or celebration with friends feeling all out of sorts.
There seems to be a common belief that the only choice you can make during the festive season is complete over-indulgence and immediate weight gain, or anxiously controlling or restricting every single bite of food you take.
If you eat a healthy, balanced diet most of the time, a few days of slightly higher caloric intake and less exercise won’t have a visible impact on your body composition. In fact, your body is very likely in dire need of additional calories to adequately repair from a heavy rehearsal or performance load! Conversely, adopting a restrictive diet over a short period of time won’t have much of an impact beyond feeling cranky, sensitive and probably light-headed for the better part of your break!
Would you believe that many of the fad diets I’ve witnessed dancers trial during their downtime wouldn’t even cover the caloric requirements of an active person lying in bed all day, without taking a single trip to the bathroom, or a four year old toddler?!
Regardless whether you’re rugging up and heading on leisurely strolls to check out your neighbourhood’s festive decorations, or jumping in and out of the pool to cool off over the festive season, chances are you’re likely to underestimate the amount of unstructured physical activity you’re doing! Just because you’re not in a leotard and tights doesn’t mean you aren’t burning calories! In fact, your body will not only be burning fuel as usual. It’ll be maximising the time off to recover from a heavy workload, and if you’re heading into a busy Nutcracker or performance season, restore itself for an exhausting few weeks ahead - and that in itself requires loads of energy!
Carbs are often the first food group to get the nod when we fall into a restrictive cycle, and it is common for people to underestimate just how big of an impact they have on hormonal health and to avoid LEA (Low Energy Availability)/ RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport).
That’s an entire topic to unpack on its own, but if you feel so inclined, here is a fantastic data and fact driven read, as well as a blog post I wrote a while ago for the brilliant Jennifer Milner.
In summary: low carb diets can be even more detrimental to your health than overtraining, and this exact type of diet plays a huge, often overlooked part in developing LEAS/RED-S! Moral of the story? Eat your carbs to be healthy and happy!
2. What does everybody else think?
If there is one thing you take from this email, let it be this: When someone comments on your body or your food choices, it says a lot about them, but nothing about you.
Dancers are wired to pay close attention to the room’s opinion - after all, this mindset and ability to question every choice is what allows us to pick up and internalise corrections in order to improve.
When it comes to food and body image on the other hand, this exact mindset can increase anxious feelings, decrease trust and self-belief and up-regulate shame and guilt around food. How does it manifest? This differs between individuals, but some common, overarching signs can include: under or overeating, secretive eating and a developing a restrictive mindset which hinders your from finding joy in sharing meals with friends and family.
If you find these thoughts creeping up on you, the first thing you must remember is that you deserve to eat! Dancers are typically varying degrees of undernourished and overtrained throughout their careers! Growing up in such a restrictive eating environment, they often find themselves believing that they’ve overeaten, when in fact they’ve barely had the amount of calories their bodies require to maintain an energy balance rather than a constant energy deficit!
A few days of rest while enjoying nourishing, tasty food will only aid recovery and adaptation to training. The certainty of regular, balanced meals, as well as the enjoyment of foods that may not be part of your usual routine, enables your body to trust that it will be fed when it requires energy, thus regenerating, allowing you to recuperate and prepare for what lies ahead for the remainder of the year!
So what can you do when the uneasy thoughts creep in? A few days away from the studio and stage is the perfect time to reassess your self-care practices and connect with people who share your views and experiences. This could include:
Enjoy a daily cup of tea and a chat with a family member you rarely see
Developing a good nighttime routine of skin care (great to counteract the heavy stage makeup throughout the year!) and winding down with some breath work and meditation
Spending time outside and in nature, enjoying the fresh air and sunlight and being present in the moment
What about the comments, questions and advice from friends or relatives? The innate need to eat multiple times a day, doesn’t automatically make them an expert. In fact, they rarely have a clue of what they need, let alone what your requirements could be!
Best to arm yourself with a couple of great comebacks that’ll have them eating their words!
Whenever I receive an unsolicited remark about my food choices and whether my serving size is adequate, I whip out this one-liner: ’Pray tell, when exactly did you complete your degree in nutrition?’.
It may feel a tad awkward and you may need to muster up some courage, but I promise the crickets are well worth it and may actually prompt them to question whether such comments are necessary in the future!
If you’re feeling a little less feisty, I’ve here a few alternative responses you could use:
’Dancers are athletes and artists, we need to eat far more than is often believed.’
’Why don’t we just enjoy Thanksgiving together? I’ve come across some fantastic education on dancer nutrition, there’s no need to worry about me.’
’Thanks for looking out for me, but I’ve got this, I follow some great dance dietitians.’
’Oh look, it just started snowing……’
Regardless of the approach that you choose, it’s important that you stand your ground and let the other person know that if their opinions have the potential to do more harm than good, they are probably best kept to themselves.