Meal Plan for a Dancer

There are lots of different types and styles of dance ranging from ballet to street dance. However, all, like any sport, require a lot of physical activity and practice, often for long periods and this requires optimum nutrition. In addition to two or three hours dance practice per day, dancers often also perform some cardiovascular exercise or even light weight training a couple of times per week. A well structured nutrition programme will help you keep fit and full of energy for long practice sessions. Good nutrition will also help lengthy concentration, in order to maximise your skill potential.

Here's a sample meal plan which a dancer could follow for a typical day:

This plan is based around sustained slow released low glycaemic carbohydrates to help provide energy for long practice sessions. The structure of food in the plan is to help replenish stores and help attain top physical fitness.

The above plan provides sufficient levels of all nutrients; however, the plan is merely a general guide, and there is no mention of portion sizes; adapt it to suit your own needs according to the amount of exercise you're doing, age, gender and lifestyle; remember men will generally require larger portions than women. You must eat a variety of different meats/fish, complex carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables every day, and drink plenty of water.