09 Nov Can You Lose Weight With Ballet?
Have you ever wondered if ballet could help you lose weight? While this may not be the main motivation for most of our students, it’s proven to yield great fitness goals, even for recreational dancers. If you still want to use ballet as a tool to jumpstart your weight loss journey, enjoy some straightforward tips for how to engage your ballet practice to reach your weight loss goals.
Build healthy habits
This is the key to healthy weight loss through diet and exercise. There are many women who are anxious about food and their bodies. Being kind to yourself goes a very long way to supporting your journey to better health!
Be consistent
As with any exercise and diet regimen, the most important aspect is CONSISTENCY. It is far better to do a little each day (or several times per week) than to binge exercise. Regular classes (especially when you throw cross training into the mix, such as Pilates or Barre a Terre) will do much more than days of several back-to-back classes or workouts. Setting a schedule is also a great way to remember your goals and help you measure your progress.
Set realistic expectations
The biggest killer of exercise enthusiasm is feeling overwhelmed physically and/or emotionally. Although you may think “I’m going to kill it!”, all you’re really doing is setting yourself up for a cycle of overload→ exhaustion or injury→ guilt→ resistance. All exercise (including ballet) should be approached progressively. As your body develops more ability, your confidence increases right along with your fitness level, giving you more satisfaction and motivation over the long haul.
Move your body whenever your mouth wants to sabotage your plans
When you feel the urge to break with the sensible dietary parameters you’ve established for yourself, especially if a sense of guilt starts creeping in, try moving your body a little, exercise, go for a walk or even dance. Oftentimes, just taking a pleasurable little “body break” can bring some happiness and perspective back to a hectic or anxious mind. Also, allowing yourself to connect with your body for a few moments is a wonderful step towards self-awareness and acceptance that will go a long way towards developing a kinder and more effective relationship between you and food, and you and exercise.
NO GUILT!
Instead, do what you naturally ENJOY and then use that empowerment to add to your program. You can choose to do something basic – such as our Beginner Class -, an intense workout – like Barre of the Floor -, or anything in between. It’s important to tune-in and give your body the exercise nourishment it craves. None of us can give 100% all the time, so don’t let yourself feel guilty! Instead, do what you can and acknowledge your effort. Feelings of pleasure, accomplishment, and satisfaction are what keep you coming back for more!
Focus on core strength
It’s not necessary to start a strict core workout regimen, but rather that you pay attention to your posture and core as you do each ballet movement. You will gain much more strength and ability while also flattening your tummy! If there is one secret to ballet, it is using your core to move. Your BFW teacher can help you develop proper posture and core engagement with every single exercise. Eventually, using your core becomes a muscle memory habit that’ll keep you toning your midsection without even having to think about it!
Make your joy a priority
Pleasure naturally keeps you coming back for more, so connecting with your body, exercise, and eating in ways that are enjoyable (instead of guilt-induced) will keep you on a healthy path. Please catch yourself if you are giving into negative comparisons that can hurt your self esteem
Over to you: What has worked for you in your weight loss journey? Share with our editors via contact@balletforwomen.com