Ballerina diet: how to lose weight using the methods of famous dancers

Graceful, fragile ballerinas have known the secret of being slim since childhood and today they share it with you. Get 5 effective diets and learn 8 rules, the observance of which will save you from the problem of excess weight forever!

Author: Kristina Lobanovskaya, doctor, practicing nutritionist Article updated: 11/10/2020

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The grace and lightness of ballerinas are admired by many, but a chiseled figure is the result of hard physical labor. Often, girls have to go on strict diets to stay in shape, and today you will find out which of them are the most effective and what results can be achieved with their help.

General rules

Light, graceful ballerinas amaze with their grace and control of the body, it seems that this is given to them by nature, but not everyone thinks about what a strict schedule and diet they have.

Ballerina diet for 4 days: eat what you want and lose weight

Does everyday training really allow you to eat whatever you want? No, the ideal figure, and for ballerinas it requires strict prohibitions and recommendations. Despite long training sessions of 5-6 hours, ballerinas are required to follow a few simple rules:

• high-calorie foods only in the first half of the day, and the energy value is provided only by complex carbohydrates, for example, porridge with water or lean rye whole grain bread - this gives the necessary boost of vivacity and energy for training;
• a glass of water is a must - even if you don’t expect to eat, water is your best friend, which will restore the water-salt balance ;
• half portions - portions of ballerinas are smaller than our usual usual diet, it is better to eat 5-7 times when you want before or after the intensive, but not to starve;
• balanced diet - the diet should contain mainly proteins, complex carbohydrates, but we also must not forget about unsaturated fatty acids - season the salad with olive oil and introduce regular dishes into the menu with freshly prepared sea fish, steamed, boiled, oven-baked or grilled;
• the principles of Chinese or Mediterranean cuisine - seafood cocktails, rice, conducting a meal according to all the rules - the key to a beautiful figure;
• less salt - this will reduce the load on the kidneys and provide lightness by eliminating general swelling.

2 preliminary fasting days, at least 4 days of diet and you are guaranteed to lose 4-5 kg. Since the proposed nutrition is complete, you can repeat the ballerina’s diet after 1 month.

Recipes

The diet menu of ballerinas is usually quite strict, and therefore, you will have to be patient in order to pamper yourself with new organoleptic impressions. At the same time, at the exit stage, you can still organize a small unloading for your taste buds. Next, we offer you several recipes for dietary dishes that will give you the desired benefits and excellent impressions of a non-trivial taste.

Cauliflower puree

To prepare it you will need:

Name	Quantity
Cauliflower	1 kg
Milk	300 ml
Processed cheese with a fat content of no more than 3.2%	2 pcs.

To begin, separate the cabbage into florets. Next, wash them and remove the thick stalks. Place the rest in salted boiling water. Cook the cabbage for 10 minutes. Then tip it into a colander, and then transfer it to a large, dry saucepan.

While the cabbage is still hot, crush it with a fork. Having done this, grate the processed cheese and place it on the stove over low heat. Melt the product until it becomes sour cream, and then add to the cabbage. The resulting mass must be thoroughly mixed with a blender and then served.

Cold soup with cucumbers, kefir and crab sticks

Preparing the dish will require the following ingredients:

Name	Quantity
Kefir	200 ml
Crab sticks	100 g
cucumbers	1 PC.
Dill, parsley and salt	Taste

First, chop all the greens. Next, grate the cucumber on a fine grater and chop the crab sticks separately. Next, mix all the ingredients together and pour in kefir. All that remains is to add salt, mix again and serve.

The diet of ballerinas requires special sacrifices in terms of food consumed, so it is better to choose a period without holidays and other events that involve noisy feasts.

Crucian carp baked in foil

To create a dish you will need:

Name	Quantity
crucian carp	500 g
Onion	1 PC.
Vegetable oil	2 tbsp. l.
Pepper and salt	Taste

Initially, clean the fish from the insides and remove the gills. Next, coat it inside and outside with oil, pepper and salt. Then all that remains is to cut the onion into half rings and stuff the carcass with it. Wrap the dish prepared for baking in greased foil and place in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. When the time is up, pull out the fish, remove the foil from its top and put it back in the oven for 15 minutes.

Authorized Products

Due to regular exercise, a diet for ballerinas is mandatory, because dancers need to eat not only properly, balanced, but also nutritiously so that the body can withstand such stress as rehearsals, runs and tours.

It is necessary to consume calories not only before rehearsals, but also after, this is necessary to maintain normal weight, saturate the respiratory, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and other organ systems and tissues with all the necessary substances. A ballerina’s diet must include:

• complex carbohydrates - the diet should contain in abundance various cereals with water and bread made from all kinds of whole grain cereals and seeds;
• protein - the building material of muscles is best obtained from lean dietary meat, boiled or grilled fish, mushrooms;
• fiber is the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, healthy peristalsis , vitamins and microelements - fresh salads with herbs, a variety of varieties of cabbage, lettuce (iceberg, romaine), arugula, spinach, watercress, etc.;
• fats should enter the body only through fish and olive oil, butter.

Table of permitted products

Proteins, g	Fats, g	Carbohydrates, g	Calories, kcal
Vegetables and greens
boiled broccoli	3,0	0,4	4,0	27
Brussels sprouts	4,8	0,0	8,0	43
cabbage	1,2	0,2	2,0	16
carrot	1,3	0,1	6,9	32
cucumbers	0,8	0,1	2,8	15
salad pepper	1,3	0,0	5,3	27
iceberg lettuce	0,9	0,1	1,8	14
tomatoes	0,6	0,2	4,2	20
zucchini	1,5	0,2	3,0	16
Fruits
avocado	2,0	20,0	7,4	208
oranges	0,9	0,2	8,1	36
grapefruit	0,7	0,2	6,5	29
kiwi	1,0	0,6	10,3	48
apples	0,4	0,4	9,8	47
Mushrooms
mushrooms	3,5	2,0	2,5	30
Nuts and dried fruits
dried fruits	2,3	0,6	68,2	286
raisin	2,9	0,6	66,0	264
Cereals and porridges
viscous buckwheat porridge on water	3,2	0,8	17,1	90
boiled wild rice	4,0	0,3	21,1	100
Bakery products
Rye bread	6,6	1,2	34,2	165
whole grain bread	10,1	2,3	57,1	295
Chocolate
dark chocolate	6,2	35,4	48,2	539
Raw materials and seasonings
acacia honey	0,8	0,0	71,0	288
Dairy
milk 1.5%	2,8	1,5	4,7	44
kefir 1%	2,8	1,0	4,0	40
sour cream 10% (low-fat)	3,0	10,0	2,9	115
natural yogurt 2%	4,3	2,0	6,2	60
Cheeses and cottage cheese
cottage cheese 1.8% (low-fat)	18,0	1,8	3,3	101
Bird
steamed chicken breast	23,6	1,9	0,0	113
Fish and seafood
boiled fish	17,3	5,0	0,0	116
dorado	18,0	3,0	0,0	96
shrimps	22,0	1,0	0,0	97
seafood	15,5	1,0	0,1	85
Oils and fats
butter	0,5	82,5	0,8	748
olive oil	0,0	99,8	0,0	898
Juices and compotes
tomato juice	1,1	0,2	3,8	21
* data is per 100 g of product

Fully or partially limited products

Despite the fact that the intense exercise of ballerinas allows you to eat whatever you want, you need to forget about the following foods:

• mayonnaise, ketchup and other canned sauces rich in preservatives, starches, dyes and sugars;
• It is better to season food with fermented milk products, olive oil, lemon juice or balsamic vinegar;
• bread, even if you eat salad or soup, it is better not to eat bread, say “no” to sandwiches, it is better to use green lettuce or spinach as the basis of the salad;
• any products with a fat content over 3% - study information about kefir, fermented baked milk or other favorite food and drink and feel free to include it in your diet;
• It is better to limit the consumption of legumes and other foods that cause gas formation in the intestines and bloating, so as not to feel discomfort during many hours of rehearsals;
• sugar and confectionery in limited quantities, glucose and fructose can be obtained from fruits, but sometimes you can treat yourself to extra dark chocolate.

Table of prohibited products

Proteins, g	Fats, g	Carbohydrates, g	Calories, kcal
Vegetables and greens
boiled peas	6,0	0,0	9,0	60
potato	2,0	0,4	18,1	80
beans	7,8	0,5	21,5	123
Fruits
canned pineapples	0,1	0,1	14,0	57
Snacks
salted popcorn	7,3	13,5	62,7	407
Flour and pasta
pasta	10,4	1,1	69,7	337
ravioli	15,5	8,0	29,7	245
vareniki	7,6	2,3	18,7	155
Bakery products
loaf	7,5	2,9	50,9	264
buns	7,2	6,2	51,0	317
pita	8,1	0,7	57,1	274
Confectionery
candies	4,3	19,8	67,5	453
cookie	7,5	11,8	74,9	417
cake	3,8	22,6	47,0	397
dough	7,9	1,4	50,6	234
Ice cream
ice cream	3,7	6,9	22,1	189
Cakes
cake	4,4	23,4	45,2	407
Chocolate
white chocolate	4,2	30,4	62,2	541
milk chocolate	6,9	35,7	54,4	550
Dairy
cream	2,8	20,0	3,7	205
Meat products
pork	16,0	21,6	0,0	259
Sausages
boiled sausage	13,7	22,8	0,0	260
smoked grain sausage	9,9	63,2	0,3	608
sausages	10,1	31,6	1,9	332
sausages	12,3	25,3	0,0	277
Fish and seafood
hot smoked mackerel	22,1	23,8	4,1	317
* data is per 100 g of product

Ksenia Ryzhkova, 20 years old

Parties:

Nikia (“La Bayadère”), Masha the Princess (“The Nutcracker”), Fleur De Lys (“Esmeralda”), Vilisa (“Giselle”), Dryad (“Don Quixote”).

Weight:

45-48 kg.

Height:

168 cm.

Breakfast: porridge (about 2 tbsp.)/coffee with glazed cheese.

Dinner:

fruit/chocolate.

Dinner:

meat and salad / stewed vegetables / after the performance - salad and dessert / pasta
classes in choreography and rehearsals from 2 to 6 hours a day + performances.
Pilates, gym. Trains 7 days a week. Vitamins and dietary supplements:

B vitamins, amino acids, vitamins with ginseng extract, effervescent vitamins with taurine and l-carnitine.

If you need to lose weight:

reduces portions, limits the consumption of carbohydrates, sweets, does Pilates and goes to the gym.

Prohibited products:

allows himself everything.

Favorite dish/cuisine:

Dessert.

Always have in the refrigerator:

cheese, meat, vegetables, fruits, sometimes sausage.

“Ballerinas eat everything. Very often before performances I treat myself to something that I really love. I can afford a cake in the evening and a plate of pasta in the afternoon to recharge my energy. But if I feel like I’m getting out of shape, I try to limit myself and don’t eat in the evening. But with our workloads, there is no point in going on a very strict diet - everything burns out. Ballerinas rarely have lunch, this is due to their schedule. If there is less than half an hour between rehearsals and you eat, then the food will not have time to be digested in such a short period of time, and then you feel discomfort, dancing with a full stomach.

Once upon a time - while still in college - I gained a lot of weight and had to lose weight. I pulled myself together and tried to eat in small portions - literally 2-3 tablespoons of food at one time. But at the same time, she allowed herself everything: she could come home at lunch and eat soup, meat with buckwheat. She ate at a measured pace - about an hour.

At the ballet school, our weight was strictly controlled and we were weighed once or twice every six months. Now, in the theater, no one especially watches this, my form is on my conscience. But, of course, if the ballerina has let herself go, then she can hear comments from the artistic director or teachers about this.

At a fairly early age I started having problems with my stomach and intestines. At ballet school, girls try to lose weight in every possible way, and I was no exception. Sometimes I didn’t eat after 14:00. There were breakdowns, then another diet. And this, of course, affected the gastrointestinal tract.”

Menu (Meal Schedule)

Menu example No. 1

For breakfast	eat 150 g of low-fat cottage cheese and a cup of slightly warmed milk or kefir with a fat content of 2.5%.
Snack after 1.5-2 hours	natural coffee with acacia or other honey; a pair of rye toasts with butter (no more than 30 g).
For lunch	50 g brown cooked rice; 250 g fish soup, without adding potatoes and moderate salting.
Snack	one non-starchy fruit, preferably an apple, grapefruit, citron or orange.
For dinner	boiled veal and vegetable salad; 250 ml low-fat milk or kefir; for acute hunger - herbal tea with flower honey.

Menu example No. 2

For breakfast	100 g of low-fat cottage cheese with a spoon of sour cream and honey, you can add a handful of dried fruits or fresh berries and nuts.
Snack after 1.5-2 hours	250 ml of freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice; one apple and pure homemade low-fat yogurt.
For lunch	100 g of buckwheat in water and slices of boiled chicken fillet; fresh vegetable salad; a slice of dark chocolate.
Afternoon snack	vegetable broth or carrot-apple juice.
For dinner	dorado and grilled vegetables, baked in the oven, sprinkled with lemon juice and olive oil; assorted green vegetables and lettuce.

Advantages and disadvantages

pros

Minuses

The proposed diet, subject to intensive daily exercise, gives at least minus 4-5 kg ​​on the scale (ideally, the number of calories received should not exceed the number of calories burned per day). Appetite and stomach volume are normalized, which allows you to maintain the results for a long time. The diet is not considered starvation or strict, the main thing is to endure and properly prepare the body for weight loss. Thanks to a healthy diet and the exclusion of harmful foods, the functioning of all organs, well-being and mood improves.

You can lose weight on such a diet only if you do grueling workouts every day. It is difficult to survive the first two days of fasting on tomato juice and kefir, but this is a prerequisite for rebooting and preparing the body. You need to cook food every day, stock up on scales, a toaster and a juicer.

Recommendations for successful weight loss

If necessary, ballerinas can use various methods to lose weight. Some are more rigid, while others, on the contrary, are gentle.

It’s worth mentioning what is recommended for ballerinas to lose weight and stay in shape:

• The daily fluid intake is 2 liters. However, soups, various drinks such as tea, herbal infusions and coffee are not included in this volume. In order not to forget that you need to drink a certain amount of liquid, it is recommended to fill 7-8 glasses with clean water in the morning. They should be placed in such a way that they are always visible;
• You need to create the most balanced menu for yourself. The body must receive a certain amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, otherwise various health problems may arise;
• try to limit or completely eliminate salt. The thing is that it does not allow excess fluid to leave the body. If used, then a very small volume, or replacing it with lemon juice and some spices;
• Protein foods should be divided by type. For example, one day it’s cottage cheese, another day it’s meat, the third it’s fish. Otherwise, the digestive system may fail;
• You need to halve your usual portions. Moreover, this should be done in favor of dividing the portion into several different parts, for example, divide the old portion of breakfast into 2 times, getting breakfast and a snack. This will help the body readjust and begin to consume significantly less food;
• You should avoid various flavor enhancers, such as mayonnaise and sauces. This will reduce your appetite, which means you will feel full much faster;
• You should not drink water immediately after eating. It is recommended to do this 30 minutes before and 1-2 hours after meals;
• It’s worth paying attention to sports and exercise in particular. Remember that an ideal figure can only appear through physical exercise of varying degrees of intensity.

If you follow these recommendations on an ongoing basis, you will not have to organize sudden assaults and use grueling hunger strikes. The ballerina diet for weight loss will work well if you follow the above rules and eat right.

Before you start losing weight, you should visit your doctor's office and get advice about whether you can use this system or not. The thing is that there are serious restrictions, for example, the presence of various chronic diseases. Especially those related to the gastrointestinal tract.

The ballerina diet for weight loss is contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women, since the body does not receive as many nutrients as it needs for the normal development of the child.

Important Terms

One of the most important conditions for successfully completing the ballerina diet is considered to be proper two-day preparation for it. It includes a special diet for a ballerina, while the daily diet is a regular mono-diet:

Diet of the first fasting day

250 ml freshly squeezed tomato juice.

after 3-4 hours, another 250 ml of freshly squeezed tomato juice with a piece of rye bread.

a few hours before bedtime, the third serving is 250 ml of freshly squeezed tomato juice.

Diet of the second fasting day

one glass of low-fat kefir, fermented baked milk or milk.

after 5-6 hours, another glass of kefir and a piece of black bread.

herbal mixture, for example, soothing chamomile, mint, lemon balm and St. John's wort.

Video materials

When considering certain variations of dietary diets, be it the popular protein diet or the equally popular Hollywood diet, try to surround yourself with a sufficient amount of additional information. The more up-to-date data on the nutrition program you have at your disposal, the more effective and safe the menu you will be able to implement.

Next, we bring to your attention thematic video materials dedicated to the diet of ballerinas. In them, experienced nutritionists give direct recommendations on how the menu should be formed in accordance with the principles of the described system. Therefore, you will definitely adjust your diet to achieve your goal.

Have you set a goal to lose weight in a short time? Do you want to use only time-tested techniques, an example of which is the model diet? Try the principles of the ballerina nutrition program for yourself. Thanks to a thoughtful and responsibly implemented diet, you will lose a significant amount of body fat and feel great at the same time. Today, thousands of representatives of the fair sex from all over the world use this program, and in practice, the number of admirers of the method of combating excess weight is systematically growing. Start organizing an effective menu now and go to the store for quality products that will allow you to adhere to its effective tenets.

Reviews and results

Reviews about the diet of ballerinas are only positive, because the proposed diet is balanced and correct. Thanks to clear recommendations, you can not only remove extra centimeters from your waist and hips, but also improve your health, improve your immunity and normalize your gastrointestinal tract.

The only drawback is the need for regular, long hours of physical activity. If you are a homebody or lead a sedentary lifestyle , then the proposed diet is not for you. Of course, it won’t hurt your health to get into the habit of eating cereals, lean meats, and fresh vegetables, but you shouldn’t expect stunning results on the scale.

• “... I do fitness every day, after 10 days of the diet my figure became athletic, lean and toned”;
• “... It’s a pity that it doesn’t suit me, I can’t exercise for 4-6 hours every day, but I like the nutritional recommendations”;
• “... In 4 days - minus 1.8 kg. I really wanted to, and allowed myself to eat a lot of bread”;
• “... An excellent nutrition system - eat meat, vegetables and cereals, maybe I’ll really become as graceful as a ballerina.”

Tatyana Melnik, 27 years old

soloist of the Musical Academic Theater named after. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko

Parties:

Kitri (Don Quixote), The First Shadow (La Bayadère), Masha the Princess and the Doll (The Nutcracker).

Weight:

43 kg.

Height:

161 cm.

Breakfast:

black coffee and glazed cheese.

Lunch (13:00 – 14:00)

: coffee with a small cake/chocolate/piece of chicken with salad.

Dinner (21:00 – 24:00)

: meat (often chicken or chicken hearts) with salad/spaghetti.
choreography classes and rehearsals from 2 to 6 hours a day, 6 days a week + performances.
Vitamins and dietary supplements

: “Energy tonic.”

If you need to lose weight:

he simply tries to eat less, especially if during this period of time there is less pressure on rehearsals.

Prohibited products:

flour, including bread.

Favorite dish/cuisine

: Russian kitchen.

Always have in the refrigerator:

glazed curds, sausage, cheese, fruit

“To be honest, I don’t weigh myself at all. My body burns everything unnecessary while working. I track my shape by the reflection in the mirror. When there is little load, I can gain a little weight. But this is noticeable only to me; those around me do not see the difference.

I can’t eat much in the morning because then it’s hard to work out with a full stomach. Lunch itself is also rare. Often there is no time for this, and the workload of rehearsals makes you want to drink more than you eat. The main meal of the day is dinner.

A standard working day for a ballerina looks like this: class starts at 11 o’clock, where we warm up for an hour; then a short break and start rehearsing - solo, with the masses (ballet) or with a partner. The performance starts at 7 pm, usually these days after classes we are free and we manage to eat something light, such as chicken, in the cafeteria. There are still two hours left to sleep before the performance, and you have to run to make-up and hair. After the performance, dinner happens around twelve o'clock in the morning. I don’t feel any particular feeling of hunger – I feel adrenaline and I’m really thirsty. I love the “nasty” thing – Coca-Cola.

At one time I had stomach problems; after eating salty or fatty foods, pain began. I had to undergo a course of treatment. The diet of ballerinas is not ideal; we do not eat only spinach. We love cakes, chocolate, sweets and indulge ourselves with pleasure.”

Diet price

The first two fasting days are real budget savings: a liter of tomato juice and a liter of kefir cost no more than 200 rubles. Of course, it is better to take fresh tomatoes and squeeze the juice yourself, using a little pulp and adding a little salt, because sealed juices contain too much salt, dyes, preservatives, and sometimes starch and flavor enhancers.

At least 4 days on a nutritious diet will cost a little more, but will not significantly affect your pocket, because the portions should be small. In addition to the offered fish, chicken, cereals, rye bread, vegetables, lettuce and fruits, you should also buy herbal tea, green tea, ground coffee, natural honey, low-fat kefir, cottage cheese and cheese.

Pay special attention to the butter, if it is butter, then it is 100% from milk, if it is olive, then it is without impurities and cold pressed. Thus, for another 4 days you will have to spend at least 1000 rubles. The diet can be extended up to 10 days by alternating the proposed menu examples.