Diet for Dancers: A Complete Guide to Nutrition and Weight Control

I bought this book wondering what I would find. Too many of the reviews here would like to make this book out to be a guide to starving oneself thin. The book is very complex, offering the physiology of how food breaks down in the body, how starvation and very low calorie consumption adversely effects the body, and how to calculate proper caloric intake based on weight and activity level. The recommened diet is the Exchange Program, that would be the American Diabetic Assoc. diet. The very same one physicians instruct persons with type 2 diabetes to use. This diet ensures that you eat a variety of foods (starches, meat, veggies, fruits, milk/dairy, and fat) and do not have to directly count calories. This is not a quick weight-loss plan, in fact the book testifies to the fact that this is a slow proccess. I couldn't find anything in this book that recommended unhealthy practices to lose weight.Bottom Line:This diet WILL work and is not encouraging dangerous behavior in dancers or everyday folks!

I found it shocking and irresponsible that in his review of Chmelar and Fitt's Diet for Dancers, Matthew McCarthy chose to take a few phrases out of context to paint a completely inaccurate portrait of what is the best book I've read on diet and nutrition for dancers.Chmelar and Fitt are not telling dancers they have to be thin; rather they are reporting the realities that face most dancers who pursue careers in theatrical performing dance and encourage dancers who do not fit the body composition standards for being a professional ballet dancer to seek a style of dance that suits their bodies. Chmelar and Fitt are the only authors I know of who have assembled actual research on the body compositions of15 female professional and university, ballet and modern dancers and compared them to those of five kinds of female athletes. These results show that such dancers need to fit into a pretty narrow range of percent body fat and weight relative to height. For example, university female ballet dancers have a percent body fat range of 9.6% to 20.5% , an average weight of 117.7 +/- 10.4 pounds, and an average height of 65.3 +/-2.0 inches. Similar values are given for female university modern dancers as well as professional ballet and modern dancers. These values are substantially below what is considered an average healthy weight for nondance women. Yet the values for these same categories of male dancers are very similar to those of healthy nondance men. So it is the research that shows that female dancers have to maintain a lower than healthy average body weight; Chmelar and Fitt are simply reporting the facts. Mr. McCarthy seems to be shooting the messenger. Yet C & F do more than simply report the facts; they also give their opinions on how to promote healthy weight expectations for female dancers. In the section "Professional Realities and Ethical Considerations" p43 C & F write, "In no way can this or any other book dictate what a school or company's weight standards should be...We can offer guidelines based on our current knowledge, but any dancer who reaches professional status is bound to be met by strict standards.... Directors, faculty, and students in university programs should ask themselves a number of questions (some of which mighght also be considered by professional companies) such as: Should we have weight standards? If so, how strict should they be for performing-emphasis students? Should we have weight standards for students going into nonperformance dance fields? What kind of policy should we have for students who don't meet weight standards? Are we familiar with appropriate referral sources for students with eating disorders? How do we strike a health balance between ensuring our dancers are healthy yet meet the aesthetic standards of dance? And what are those aesthetic standards?There are obviously a variety of answers to these questions; however, the important thing is that they be discussed openly among faculty and s

This is an awesome little gem of a book. My family are very learned in health/nutrition stuff, but the scientific explanations here are in-depth and important to understanding weight-loss physiology.What's wonderful about this book is that, while most fat-loss books address the needs of someone who is medically overweight and needs to slim down, this book focuses on people who are already medically thin to begin with, but need to slim down further. Even more importantly, it does this while putting a paramount on your body's health and keeping a watchful eye over eating disorders, which it addresses in a straightforward manner and honestly. A+++ !!

This book not only helped me loose weight, it also gave me an understanding of my metabolism, digestion, and nutritional needs. More than simply loosing weight I gained a healthier diet and more energy. The majority of the book discuses the body's nutritional needs and how it metabolizes various foods. Helpful charts and illustrations are provided for the more complex passages. At the end various meal plans and suggestions are listed for diets ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 calorie diets. One of the best things about this book is that rather than ignoring the fact that some dancers are anorexic (or borderline), it adresses this possibility and provides the healthiest options for such people. This book offers advice for all and is suitable for the dancer, dieter, or anyone who just wants to eat healthier.

this book is a necessity for all serious and recreational dancers! It helped me reach a new level in my dancing by giving me guidelines in how to maintain a healthy weight and how to acheive an optimum state of health required in both the professional and pre-profession dance worlds. Even those who are not dancers but want to achieve a healthy body and sustain a healthy lifestyle will benifit greatly from this book. It not only outlines dietary necessities but also stresses the importance of excerise and keeping a well balanced lifestyle.