diet for very low body-fat (for a dancer)

Hi Ann,

I think this person was evil to send you to rec.climbing.

Thanks for the laughs.

Actually, some climbers do meet the above description and many do not. I'm 6' tall and over the course of my climbing career have been as light as 149 pounds with a body fat below 8%. But I was healthier and climbed better and harder at about 160 pounds and 10% body fat.

I've tried no fat plans, low fat plans, high protein, low carbo plans and more. I'm not convinced of the value of any of these plans in the long term. Short term gains can lead to injury later on. I've tried catabolic routines since I've always been well endowed of the thigh region and was never very successful. I'd like to know more about if there are healthy catabolic schemes and/or what the consequences are. I've read that they are overly stressful on the cardio system.

I wish I could be more helpful. When I want to reduce body fat, I eat low-fat cottage cheese, tuna and other foods high in protein and low in fat. I won't feel good if I don't eat fruits and veggies, but I try to keep the total calories from carbos down to maybe 35% of the total (that's a challenge for any lenght of time). LSD is good for fat metabolism. That's 'long slow distance' to bike riders. Doing loads of aerobics at the bottom end, say 70% of max heart rate will not only burn fat but keep your system making the enzymes that burn fat. If you go to a zero fat diet, some say you run the risk of no longer producing these enzymes.

Hopefully, a climber/dietician or climber/doctor in the know will answer with more facts and specifics than I have.

Rigorous dieting for someone your age can stunt your growth and lead to other health problems in the future. Eating only an apple a day will put your body into famine mode and will only help store more fat. The only safe way that I am aware of to drop weight is a healty diet and low intensity aerobic exercise 3-5 times per week. It might help to purchase a heart rate monitor because you should be exercising at around 60-70% of your max heartrate for about 30 minutes or longer per session. I would recommend the heart rate monitor because it is very easy to exercise above the targeted range. I am not an expert in the field but in my experience this has been the most effective method in dropping fat and staying healthy at the same time.

I agree with all of the PARK1231's comments. I'd also think of taking some flax seed oil (for your omega 3, 6, and 9), multivitamins, and spiranela to ensure you are getting all of the nutrients you require.

The low intensity exercise you select should be one that won't bulk you up. I'd suggest running, fast walking, cross country skiing, rowing on an ergo (at a light setting), or cycling (you need to use gears that enable you to spin your legs at a high rate (~80-120rpm) else you might bulk up). If you do this exercise often enough you should be able to eat a good diet. Most elite long distance runners eat a fair amount of food yet have very low body fat and are not bulky.

Seeing a sports dietician would be an invaluable investment at this stage of your life, and would most likely prevent many problems that could crop up later.

For further suggestions I'd recommend posting the rec.running newsgroup.

Cheers,

Hi Anne!

Like serious dancers, many climbers risk certain health problems for the sake of higher standards of performance. I don't know of many top climbers, for instance, that haven't had tenden problems, but it beats pro-football.

It's obvious enough from all the approaches that people take that there is no concensus on what you should do to stay thin as a rail and be strong enough to jump like an panther! You will just have to try sane approaches and monitor yourself for negative consequences in their early stages.

Be sure to question some assumptions though. Some people's body's just can't be healthy at 100 lbs. Muscle weighs more than fat so there are a whole lot of different ways to be 100lbs as well. You could be 110 pounds with more muscles and stretch more, or 100 lbs, weak from pushing your numbers ahead of nature, and be the same size as a strong 110 Can you strengthen your feet so a few extra pounds don't cause injury?

Good Luck, Discipline is hard for me, so I just type!

Peace

interesting stuff including..

Just out of curiosity, what does your staff nutritionist have to say about the caloric intake vs. exercise level of yourself and your peers?

David, have you ever read what David Graham eats in one day. He packs the food down like an animal, eating 2-3x more than the average human. Most other world class climbers have so much muscle that they have to eat a lot to stay in shape and keep that muscle healthy.

I don't like the idea of cutting back fat percentages in a severely calorie restricted diet. In fact, I would specifically add some well chosen fatty foods like olives, nuts, peanuts, and fish to my diet if I were trying to severly limit calories. Obviously you can't add a lot without increasing calories, but a little fat is likely to make meals more satisfying, provide more even energy delivery, and provide the body with essential nutrients. Also, by explicitely adding healthy sources of fats, cravings for less healthy sources will be reduced.

Basically, I'm worried that someone like Ann, who (as a ballet dancer) is at high risk for developing eating disorders, might obsess on reducing fat to levels that threaten her health. To be honest, I'm worried that the type of diet she is contemplating will do this regardless. The body form required of today's ballerinas is simply not healthy.

Actually, I'd ditch the sugar and eat a little fruit instead. I avoided sugar for a while and didn't really miss it (I actually came to dislike the taste of overly sweet foods).

Right. I think we pretty much agree about fat. I just wanted to emphasize the need for it in moderate amounts, and encourage Ann to get it from healthy whole food sources.

However, climbers know a whole bunch about strength to mass ratio and getting maximum strength for the least mass.

Also, try a web search for Dr. Squat and take a look at the Zig-Zag Diet. This may help you.

Finally, years ago I used to fast to lose weight. This started me on a cycle to obseity since I was losing muscle. Trying to lose too much at once can be a big long term problem.

A few years ago, one of the coaches for the US Olymic Cycling Team had a website wherein he summarized different methodologies used by competitors in a number of different sports. In his mind, many doctors and coaches were agreeing that cutting fats below about 20% of the total caloric intake was a mistake. He mentioned increased suceptability to soft tissue injury as one problem. He also mentioned that many athletes on low fat diets actually increase their body fat.

Alas, the web site went inactive a few years ago and I deleted the link. I don't know how much of his message was fact and how much was opinion, but it was pretty convincing. It did convince me to avoid beef for the most part and that people that buy expensive protein suppliments are wasting money. He claimed that skim milk is by far the best protein suppliment for serious athletes. Since then, I've seen other trainers and dieticians agree with this last point.

I met Linus Pauling back when his vitamin C campaign was getting some support in the medical community. He was really down on refined sugar, prefering a T Bone to sweets.

Ditto. Same thing for caffeine, and I get up pretty early, 7 days a week.

As long as you get the right mix of protein, this is true WRT veg fat, but realize that the body does need some fat for health, not just a full feeling belly.