Caloric deficit and Dancing (Leigh and whoever wants to help)

[jstpierre22]

Hi everyone, its me again. I'm finishing week 9, heading into week 10 of OPT and my caloric deficit is now about 35-40%.

Last night I took my weekly very intense (advanced level) salsa dancing class where I was continuously dancing at a fast pace for about an hour. I was really dizzy, lightheaded, and clumsy to the point of extreme embarrassment- this is not a usual occurence, of course.

Does anyone have any advice as to how to strategize making sure I get enough calories in on my dancing days so that I am not falling over and endangering my partners? For instance, should I eat at maintenance that one day or reduce my deficit to 20% or something?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[LaraT]

I would lower the deficit on days you know you will have a hard workout so that you have enough energy to do the class and actually enjoy it (and not pass out!)

[jstpierre22]

Hw much do you think? I do want to dance well I looked like total sh*t.

[Leigh P.]

You could...

-Eat at maintenance
-Eat at a smaller deficit
-Hoard your calories until around 2 hours before your dancing. If you aren't really doing anything strenuous during your early day, save the calorie to when you need them.

[jstpierre22]

Okay, I'll pick one of those options and see how it goes! I was amazed at how horrible I was.

[AnnetteW]

Putting food aside for a moment, dancing for an hour straight, even with little breaks, is an endurance activity/sport. So you have to treat it as such. You can't go from no dancing to full on dancing without building up.

My dancing has improved tremendously (we only dance 2x a week, sometimes more for 2+ hours) just from starting my long daily walks, and occasional harder cardio workouts at the gym.

No matter how you look at it, you have to build up the endurance to dance for the period of time and you have to fuel your body for an endurance sport.

Though I tend to fuel my dancing with gin and tonics...but I don't spin straight once I've had a 2nd.

[jstpierre22]

Hey A- yeah, I've been dancing for over 3 years now (with a break during pregnancy).. its not an endurance thing, more of a low blood sugar thing. I've noticed pretty much the same feeling even with a light walk (or towards the end of the day if I haven't spread my calories out correctly), and its only during these super low calorie days, and especially on days when the calories I did consume weren't perhaps made up of the best choices.

So.. next time I take class- chicken, veggies, and a sweet potato will be on the menu!