Nutrition and Pain Relief for Dancers

Strawberry Smoothie from Crestock Images

I ordered a theracane from Amazon.com and really like it!  It’s great because you can reach trigger points without the aid of another person.  It can reach every trigger point in your body!  I highly recommend them.  I got one for my brother-in-law and he loves it.

Tomorrow I meet with my nutritionist who is going to give me meal plans!  Because I have fibromyalgia, she had me buy a water distiller (the $99 one that has stainless steel inside) and a nice blender so I can make smoothies, too.  Apparently this commercial blender will chop up avocado seeds and other seeds that hold a lot of nutrients.  Now I’ll be able to really start getting a handle on my nutrition and stop craving things I don’t need!  She said that eventually I will be able to go off some of the medication I take for chronic pain.  That would be wonderful!

Here are some nutrition tips she gave me:

• Water instead of Sodas, Kool Aid, etc.
• Eat at least 4 cups of cooked vegetables – include dark greens
• Eat 2-3 servings of fruit daily – don’t count juice
• Fish – 3 times a week (especially salmon and small fish)
• Good fats – olive, safflower, nuts & seeds, avocado
• Shop around the periphery of the grocery store
• Go natural – minimize salt, sugar, additives, preservatives
• Eat a variety of foods
• Nibble instead of gorge
• Stay away from foods that don’t rot or sprout
• Eat nutrient dense foods
• Choose high fiber foods
• Eat enough protein (100 grams if you weigh 150 lbs)
• Stay away from hard to digest foods
• Avoid grilling
• Keep bowels healthy – at least one bowel movement a day

At my first meeting with my nutitionist, she did say I should drink 2 cups of lukewarm distilled water first thing in the morning, before eating any food.  This gently awakens the digestive system.  She said to use skim milk instead of 2%, to eat two halves of a walnut everyday, to get Ezekiel bread, to drink water 15 minutes before a meal or 30 minutes after (but don’t drink during a meal!), to use coconut oil for stir frying, and that I should eat dates with grapefruit instead of alone as a snack.  Lastly, she said to eat two egg whites and one egg yolk for breakfast and that boiled or poached are best.  I didn’t know the protein was in the egg white and not the yolk!  I’ve been trying to do these things until I get my real meal plans from her on Thursday.

I hope everyone enjoys their holidays.  Maybe taking a look at my post about taking breaks would be helpful, since many dancers will be enjoying some needed time off this week and next!