How Many Calories Should I Eat In A Day

How many calories should I eat in a day to lose weight?

If you're a teen, please don't ask yourself that question - ever!

I have written a lot about healthy diets, especially for teens, teens in ballet training.

Healthy weight control diets don't involve restricting calories.

 Eat The Right Calories 

Don't bother counting them,

I was delighted to read an article in Pointe Magazine about delayed puberty in dancers.

" During puberty, you may have to adjust to inconvenient changes: normal weight gain, a bigger chest, wider hips, acne, pubic hair, body odors, plus a new clumsiness that can suddenly emerge as your body develops. In addition, dancers' bodies are under extra scrutiny, as late adolescence often coincides with their first auditions or early career."

Weight control is different from weight loss. You are inevitably going to gain weight as you grow as your bone mass increases, your muscles grow to catch up with your bones, and your hormones fluctuate.

As a teen ballet student, you should focus on nutrition. You don't need to count calories if you eat plenty of:

• High quality protein (fresh meats/fish)

• Fresh vegetables and salads

• Omega 3 fatty acid bearing nuts for snacks and "the crunch factor"

• Butter and cheeses

If you can get organic and pasture-fed sourced foods, all the better. Herbicides and pesticides are hormone mimickers and can throw your balance off.

What you can restrict is:

• Breads

• Crackers

• Sweets

• Pastas

• All grains

Notice I said restrict, not deprive!

If you are chubby and can't stay slim, get some blood tests for your hormones. You may be hypothyroid, or have some other condition that you can fix.

Puberty isn't easy. You go through growth spurts - and yay! "Im losing weight!" 

Then your growth will wane for a while and suddenly you realize you're a little rounder.

That is when you can restrict the calorie-laden breads, sweets etc. Puberty is

 " The process is dictated by hormones that affect both your body and mind. While these hormones may be vilified for increasing the curves of your body and altering your moods, they make it possible for you to build up adequate bone mass and eventually bear children."

You can read the whole article HERE.

When I was a twenty year old teacher at the National Ballet School I had a dancer friend (also twenty) who was shocked to find out she was pregnant. She got that way not through carelessness, but because she had never had periods. So she wasn't using birth control.

She ended up miscarrying because she didn't have the hormone levels to complete the pregnancy.

She also had gone through puberty while training intensively and staying very thin.

I am also happy to see that Candace Thompson, the author of the Pointe article mentions calcium and Vitamin D supplementation. These are important for bone building.

Please teens, stay healthy!

Effective diet habits will keep you as thin as you want to be, with healthy hormones and no danger from stress fractures.

Eating healthy fats will also contribute to your brain power and good moods.

Eating well will contribute to a sustained career in ballet, and for you young ladies, healthy pregnancies when you're ready for those.

To your health!

D. Buxton is a writing partner with Vone Deporter, of The Sedona Series, about a surfer girl in pointe shoes.

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