How to Tell What Makes You Fat

If you are a ballet dancer, or thinking of becoming a ballerina or a man in ballet, or any other style of dancer, you have probably not escaped the thought of what can make you fat. This one thought in and of itself is an occupational hazard in the realm of dance training. So how do you tell what makes you fat?

The idea that eating fats will make you fat is a basic mistake. For most people, excess insulin makes them fat and not the fat itself. Where does excess insulin come from? At what age are you susceptible to be cursed with excess insulin?

Whether you are ten years old or an adult, you need to understand what the glycemic index is. It's not too difficult a thing to learn. You eat carbohydrates, meaning starches such as bread, crackers, rice, corn and potatoes. These foods release sugars into our system and keep our bodies going. Processed carbohydrates, like cereal from boxes, flour products, candy bars, power bars, digest as sugars that get dumped into your bloodstream fairly quickly. In fact, the higher a food resides on the glycemic index, the faster it will release its sugars. In order to regulate your insulin levels, make sure that you are eating foods from the lower end of the glycemic. This pretty well eliminates fast foods and junk foods.

Complex carbohydrates such as multi-grain sprouted breads, beans and legumes, as examples, are foods that are not processed. They are left alone to be eaten as nature made them. They are full of vitamins and minerals and digest with the sugars releasing more slowly into your system. This requires less insulin to regulate the sugar levels in your blood.

When you eat processed carbohydrates that transform quickly into sugars, more insulin is needed to regulate your blood sugar. Eventually your body gets used to the high insulin levels, and ignores the insulin. This is called insulin resistance. Once you advance into this stage of metabolism, it is much easier to gain weight, and much harder to lose weight.

A couple of decades ago, this was considered a middle-aged condition, or an elderly condition, leading to Adult Onset Diabetes. Not any more!

Notice the word fat has nothing to do with any of this!

You may have heard someone lamenting "I have slow metabolism, so I cannot stay thin!". This is a result of eating the wrong sugars, not from eating fat. White sugar used to be the no-no. Now it is high fructose corn syrup, which overwhelms our bodies and makes us crave more carbs. Even worse, the calorie-free artificial sweeteners also make us crave carbs!

Is this some kind of trap?

Let's get back to fats, which are present in fresh, unprocessed, real foods made by nature. Meats, fish, vegetables, nuts, seeds, dairy products, eggs, and oils. FATS!

"Essential fatty acids, in a ratio of two (omega 3) to one (omega 6) and at levels of about twelve to fifteen percent of total caloric intake, increase the rate of metabolic reaction in the body. This increased rate burns more fat into carbon dioxide, water and energy (heat), which results in fat burn-off and a loss of excess weight." - Udo Erasmus, author of "Fats That Heal Fats That Kill".

You mean you can eat food that "results in fat burn-off and a loss of excess weight"? That is what this, and other doctors such as Al Sears, state. Dr Atkins of the Atkins Diet fame spread the same information.

For ballet and other dancers who need a high energy supply, regeneration of muscle mass on a daily basis, and endurance for performances, it is good to know how to tell what makes you fat, and what makes you strong. Stay well! For more on dancers and diet, visit The Ballet Store.