{"id":16142,"date":"2020-09-23T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T13:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=16142"},"modified":"2020-09-10T10:56:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T14:56:29","slug":"my-vegan-diet-as-a-dancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2020\/09\/23\/my-vegan-diet-as-a-dancer\/","title":{"rendered":"My Vegan Diet as a Dancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Audrey Hunt, VRG Intern<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the days\nof long, rigorous rehearsals, pushing all my physical capacities, it is\nimportant to maintain a balanced and healthy diet as a dancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     I\u2019ve been dancing for over half my life and\nfor the majority of that time,\nI have maintained a vegetarian or vegan diet. I would\ntrain for at least four hours\na day, on top of hours of rehearsals.\nI mainly trained in ballet\/pointe and modern dance since I was\nfour years old. For being from\nan urban city in Alaska, I have received\ndoubts on how I will be able to\nmaintain strength and stamina\nas a vegan dancer. Common\nquestions I would get\nwould be, \u201cWhere are you getting your   protein?\u201d\nand \u201cHow do you have enough\nenergy to last you through your\nday on just vegetables?\u201d   I came\nto realize that it wasn\u2019t\nas hard as people were\nmaking it out to\nbe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Before going out to get\nmy day started, I make sure\nI have breakfast. Breakfast is definitely\nmy favorite and most important meal. I like to start with lots of water\nright when I wake up with something citrus, either a mandarin\nor a slice of lime. I always\nmake up a hot beverage right after\nI\u2019m done chugging my\nwater.  For breakfast, I always have to have some\nfruit, mainly a mixture of\nberries. I like to put them on top of a bowl\nof oatmeal and chia seeds,\nwhich will help me stay full all morning. On top of that, I\nadd a spoon full of cashew milk yogurt for some creaminess\nand some pumpkin seeds\nfor extra fiber and protein.\nA breakfast like this is guaranteed to keep me filled up and energized until lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     For me, lunch is the\nmost diverse meal. It always varies on\nhow much I am physically\ndancing that day and how much time I have. When I\u2019m packing for\nlunch, I like to make something\nthe night before, so I don\u2019t need to\nhurry in the mornings. I\u2019m a huge fan of baked sweet potatoes  and greens for the middle of\nthe day. Sometimes if I know I\u2019ll\nbe working out extra hard that\nday   \nI\u2019ll add some baked tofu\nas well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     As a\ndancer, I live on snacks.\nSome days I don\u2019t have enough time to fit in a properly sized\nlunch. Sliced green apples with some almond butter are my go-to when\nI am stuck at the studio\nfor 10+ hours on a Saturday.\nCashews and almonds are\nmy favorite source of fuel to pack\nfor the   middle of\nthe day. My favorite brand of energy bars is Larabars which are sold\nat most Fred Meyers\u2019 and Natural Pantry\u2019s\u2019 in flavors including apple pie and cookie dough. Other brands that I\u2019m fond of are\nLenny\u2019s and Larry\u2019s plant-based cookies. Basic chocolate\nchip or peanut butter is my\nfavorite late-night studio treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     By the time I get home\nfrom a long day, it\u2019s typically\naround 9:00 at night. I\u2019m starving\nat this point and I usually try to make a dinner that won\u2019t\ntake more than twenty minutes to make.\nI love buying Don Lee\u2019s organic chipotle\nfrozen black bean burgers.\nThey are always well seasoned and you can heat it up in the microwave.\nI usually complement that\nwith some sliced avocado,\nlime, quinoa, and brown rice. If I\u2019m extra hungry that night,\nI\u2019ll also have half\na baked sweet potato with coconut oil\nand maple syrup. It\u2019s the perfect amount\nof sweetness; it\u2019s like a dessert. If I don\u2019t want something as filling, but still craving something sweet,\nI\u2019ll eat a bowl\nof frozen grapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     As a dancer and performer, it is very important to obtain\nthe right amount of daily nutrients within your diet. I\u2019ve never felt fatigued\nor malnourished while being a vegan. This lifestyle change has actually made me\nlighter on my feet as a dancer. As I keep on dancing, I will always be\nexpanding my pantry to what plants will have to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For additional\ninformation, ideas, and perspectives, see:
\nhttps:\/\/www.vrg.org\/teen\/#athletes<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.vrg.org\/athlete\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contents of this website\nand our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to\nprovide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a\nqualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient\ninformation from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a\nstatement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be\nmade. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for\nyou. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Audrey Hunt, VRG Intern With the days of long, rigorous rehearsals, pushing all my physical capacities, it is important to maintain a balanced and healthy diet as a dancer.      I\u2019ve been dancing for over half my life and for the majority of that time, I have maintained a vegetarian or vegan diet. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16144,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16142\/revisions\/16144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}