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correlation between pole and nutrition
I was just interested in finding out if any dancers here have changed their diet up because of pole–and if you have noticed any correlation between your nutritional changes and improvements in pole.
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10 Replies
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Yes! I actually just made a change a couple weeks ago. I started getting 6-7 servings of fresh fruit/veg per day and I upped my protein intake while reducing my simple carb intake. It’s made a difference! I’ve trimmed up a little but more importantly I *feel* lighter. My goal is not to lose weight but to feel lighter means flipping myself around is easier! Fried foods (which I’ve now sworn off) and simple carbs were making me feel heavy. I make a super food smoothie every day, sometimes twice. That includes orange juice, banana, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, spinach/kale, plain nonfat Greek yogurt, one scoop whey protein (sometimes two depending on the demands of the day) and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. They’re delicious and at this point it just feels good to drink one! 🙂
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How much of each type of fruit do you put in to each smoothie?
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I did have to change eating habits too. Eating a good breakfast ( usually oatmeal with various berries) and lots of lean protein and veggies. Again, my goal is not to lose weight but just to feel better while doing pole. You can't eat eggs and bacon or pizza and then invert comfortably! Weight loss may just be a positive side effect! 🙂
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How is the meat intake for you guys? Im wondering about protein powders and such, and I pole around 5 days a week, 3-4 hours a day, but I am a pretty guilty meat eater, so Im not sure if those will even be necessary for me unless I cut back on the meat.
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My diet had changed since I started pole 22 months ago. I have always eaten relatively healthy when i have made food for myself but liked takeaways at weekends and chocolate (sugar generally) was a big part of my life.
When I started pole I noticed muscle forming and because I had a layer of ‘chub’ over the muscle I was starting to look a bit bulky (in my eyes) and I wanted to see the product of all my hard work on the pole so I started making changes to my diet. I also got a lot of indigestion. Now this is pretty much where I am:
Breakfast – weetabix / toast (occasionally a bacon butty, it used to be both days on the weekends, now it’s maybe once/twice a month)
Lunch- I make my lunch for work now rather than buy a sandwich. I usually take tuna or chicken with a variation of salad / vegetables and sometimes add low amount of brown carbs (pasta/ cous cous/ 2 slices brown bread/ potatoe)
Tea – meat and vegetable based food with max 40g brown carbs. I don’t restrict fats such as those found in oils or dairy because they taste good and as long as you are eating the lower fat or better fat (olive oil vs vegetable) and not eating the entire tub they don’t make a difference to me!!
I have cut out processed sugar where I can- all drinks are sugar free, no pre made fruit yogurts, ice cream, sweets, choc are all no no through my working week then I can have anything at weekend. At first I binged now I’m not bothered as my taste buds seem to have changed?! It has taken me 2.5 months to get to this point with regards to the sugar thing.
Anyway, all of this has been for the same reasons as above, I want to feel light not heavy for pole, Feel like i have energy, and i have lost weight but that wasn’t my goal. However I have achieved losing the bulky feeling and I can now see most of my abs! Another bonus has been that I don’t suffer from indigestion anymore, and have found that it is directly linked to processed sugar for me, so that’s a super reason to keep it out of my belly!
Oh and I feel generally loads better with much more energy 🙂
I defo think the processed sugar reduction has made a massive difference to my pole performance, so I would suggest trying that for anyone who suffers from sugar addiction like I do or did! It was very hard to do, harder than giving up smoking for me! -
Rylonn,
I would eat meat over protein powder. Stuck to your lean meats, like chicken, fish, lean red meats. Grill it, bake it… Cook it as healthy as possible. You need the protein and if you are not a vegetarian, it is better to eat actual meat than processes protein powders. Powders are not regulated, so it is not promised what you get in that bag. Also, try to go as natural/organic with your meats.
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moarrr
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This is such a great question. I started eating differently in the beginning of this year, because I was feeling sluggish and wanted to lose a few pounds, pole dancing aside. I completely cut out all processed carbohydrates, dairy, as well as junk food of course. Fast forward 4 months and I lost 20 pounds, okay done. Then I started getting real serious about strength training, in efforts to improve my pole progress, naturally. I had lost the weight, but wanted to focus now more on changing my physique as well as getting stronger. Part of this required me to eat for fuel, not so much pleasure anymore. I realized I was not getting enough calories and this made my energy levels pretty low. So I went from 1,450 cals to 2,050 overnight. The change, while scary- has made such improvements to my pole progress it's not even funny. I keep my protein very high, about 150g a day, as well as enough fat and moderate carbs. I do not eat any grains (any excess fat on my stomach comes right back when I do), so this can make getting in carbs difficult. Lots of sweet potatoes usually fixes it though. I am not afraid to eat bacon, or avocados, and never buy low-fat anything. The only form of sugar I eat is through fruits. Lots and lots of vegetables, as well as lean meats. I try my best to also buy organic produce and grass-fed meat, for health reasons.
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For me, breakfast hasn't changed. I've become more health-conscious as a result of pole, and am moving towards more of a vegetarian diet (haven't eaten lamb or steak for years). I try to eat more healthily during the day when I'm at work, and if there's a "morning tea" on at work, I now limit myself to one savory item and one sweet item, and I don't eat pies, pasties, sausage rolls etc. now. I recently tried eating salads for the first time in my adult life (I am 57!) I've always hated the traditional type of salad (can't stand tomato or beetroot, don't like cucumber either). I still find it difficult to eat enough vegetables, but fruit isn't such a problem.
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Hm, diet has changed slightly. Mainly because it was quite overwhelming. I used to non stop eat junk food and have big portions. I've cut back dramatically (no second helpings! and sticking to serving size) and started eating breakfast again. I used to wake up so late and it'd be a long time before I actually had something. I'll do meatless once a week. I enjoy meat quite a bit, that's never going to change. :). But I'm more conscious of how its prepared. Rather than frying, I'll bake or broil and remove skin from chicken, or cut fat off beef or lamb. A lot more veggies though. I eat broccoli soooooooo much. Roma tomatoes, which I used to hate. Red onions, also used to hate. And avocadoes. Ugh. Now I'm hungry. Damn it. Lol.
In the beginning of pole, I did none of this. I'd take a class, come home starving and stuff my face. All that hard work got ruined quite quickly.
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