Thanks again to Ritual for sponsoring this video! I love their vitamins because they are third party tested. Remember to use my code 10ABBEY for 10% off your first three months! ritual.com/10ABBEY
Yay! I’m glad to know this is a good protein, I was thinking of ordering it but after your protein powder video I wasn’t sure if this one would be good. Thanks for sharing Abbey 😊
My ballet teacher was so lovely. She taught me from 5 until I left dance at about 16ish. She never once told me I was too big or commented on my food, unless it was to say that my mum's homemade snacks looked tasty. I'm naturally short and stocky too, but that was never commented on. One girl tried picking on me for being busy, but she had words. I was never going to go pro. I did do exams though, but there was never a pressure. I don't think she ever raised her voice to us once. She praised achievement. If a girl did a beautiful pirouette, she'd say how good it was. If someone made a mistake, she'd gently correct it. She praised effort too, not just the girls who had natural talent. It worked. Several girls went on to the royal ballet school. Lots went pro. None had eating disorders. It is a testament to her teaching and it shows that the abusive tactics are unnecessary. You can get the same result or better through kindness. Body shaming isn't necessary.
Wow I’m so glad that you had such a wonderful teacher who fostered a healthy passion for dance! It’s so sad to hear so many experiences from people who had a real passion but it became unhealthy for their body and body image. I wish more adults could have this approach with young people they are mentoring and teaching! Kindness and encouragement makes such a huge difference 🥰
She seems lovely, I wish that I had encountered a teacher like that (actually I did but she taught the younger levels more often), maybe if more of teachers were like that then I wouldn’t have struggled so much with my body image or dropped ballet so early
as an athlete who found themselves severely underfueling I think it's important to emphasize that often intense exercise kills your hunger cues, so you can genuinely be "listening to your body" and be eating less than half of what you need and doing immense damage. I was eating maybe 1200 calories a day and I honestly felt good. It wasn't until I ended up in the hospital due to malnourishment that I realized the amount I was eating wasn't adequate.
this is so interesting and makes so much sense. I think it's pretty evident in Scout's video too, since it looks like her diet works so well for her. Thanks for sharing
Yep!!! And the damaging effects on hunger cues last a long time. I did this to myself in high school playing soccer and still have issues with hunger cues to this day. Making sure I eat enough so my body doesn’t go into starvation mode is a constant struggle for me. And it’s been almost 10 years since I stopped restricting
As someone who did ballet for 10 years, I still remember how shocked I was when my teacher said we shouldn't eat peanut butter because it was "too fat." Thank goodness my mom raised me right. I would just roll my eyes and then go home and eat an entire rotisserie chicken after a 5 hour rehearsal.
Lol this comment made me laugh because my ballet teacher used to tell us that she was super poor when she was a dance major in college, so she would literally eat peanut butter out of the jar as her meals because it was cheap! Guess her philosophy was a bit different than your teacher's. 😂
Abbey: 12% of ballet dancers have eating disorders Me, an 18 year old ballet dancer who has witnessed disordered eating and behaviours since the age of 8: ONLY 12%??????????????
I came out of that world when I injured my spine at the ripe old age of 23... thankfully I went to grad school and did something else- at 5’9.5, I was 140 lb and “fat”
I attended a professional ballet school in italy from 11 to 15 yo. Its such a toxic world. I am just now recovering from years of binge eating disorder ( i am 27) I was always considered overweight for ballet ( when in reality i was underweight). Our teachers would weight us each week in front of everybody else and ask us every day what we ate for breakfast and lunch that day. I remember that once the teacher got really mad at a friend of mine bc she said she had a banana for snack. She said that a banana is not a snack, it is a dinner ( keep in Mind that we were Young teens who would practice 2 hours a day, 6 days a week).Once i got called fat by the teacher in front of the whole class and i still remember that moment as the most humiliating moments of my life. To this day i still dont know why my parents thought this was ok. I would come home basically every day crying and crying. I used to binge and restrict, binge and restrict. I thought i was broken. I thought i didnt have Any self control. At 15 i was finally brave enough to tell my parents i wanted to quit, they were not happy but respected my decision. Thanks to the help of professionals and ppl like abbey i am only now- after over 10 years of quitting ballet - finding freedom in food
My limited experience with those in the ballet world is that though they are in love with dance they are emotionally pressured into being abnormally thin. The thinner/ lighter the better. The same with injuries which they ignore /cover up so as to be able to perform.
How horrible that these monsters who teach children are so mean-spirited ...Any ( dance ) teacher that shames and berates children for their weight or Performance should be FIRED.
You are so strong at such a young age to advocate for yourself to get your parents to allow you to quit dance even though they were disappointed. People have so much hatred over girl's body's if they can't control their body and will shame them so harshly, like they are as bad as child molesters. It's sexual harassment and it's demeaning. Not just in ballet, but the world in general. I hope the dance and sports world moves forward to allowing different sizes and shapes to be accepted and respected. There are alot of talented dancers we are missing out on seeing due to these arbitrary and narrow standards of dancer's body.
I work as a pianist at a major ballet company, and I just want to say that the break between morning class and rehearsal is SO SHORT! They have 15 minutes to collect all their stuff, go to the bathroom if they need, grab whatever costume or rehearsal outfit they need and get to the next rehearsal. And whatever food they can shove down in that time has to be something that’s not going to cramp up in their stomach while they work. As a pianist too I only get the 15 minutes and then have to wait until 3 for lunch. It took some getting used to but now I also only eat a light lunch because dinner is only a few hours after that! Haha
Yeah I was going to say, it's hard to have a full stomach while exercising (esp if you're bobbing up and down?) and physically stressed, which would naturally reinforce smaller meals during the day. She sort of acknowledges this by eating quite a lot more in the evening time when she can relax.
Yeah I mean...the puffy chickpea snacks are great because it’s voluminous but won’t make you feel too full. I do powerlifting and I can’t even handle a banana a few minutes before a workout. What more if you do ballet where you have to twirl around and look like you’re gracefully dancing.
My daughter who has told me they get 5 min breaks in between dance classes said they got an email that there is no eating in the building. They are there all day! I could go on.
Yeah. I think having nutrient dense foods to maintain energy is a good idea bc having heavy meals while dancing can be uncomfortable. Like some trail mixes, dried fruit, some protein bars. They can pack in energy without all the bulk
I remember eating lunch with a friend in high school who did ballet. I brought pasta and she insulted my meal saying it was too fatting and bad for me. I was underweight and it was something I enjoyed. She had a food journal and always stressed about food, body and presentation. We need to celebrate healthy strong bodies. Eating very little is not sustainable or safe.
@@teacup3370 pasta was only a small part of my meal for lunch that day. I always had veggies and fruit too. Our friends found her puking up her food after lunch once. I do not think she was focused on “nutrient dense” food when making her comment. I think she had an ED.
I'm sorry you had that happen. I wish people would mind their own business and keep their neuroses to themselves. Don't sploosh your food trauma onto me, Heather. 😂
What a shame. Ballet is so fun (assuming you were enjoying it) and can be so good in the long term and who know how many people this one toxic teacher ruined it for.
FYI for historical context: we can blame George Balanchine for the horrifying body standards in ballet. The stereotypical ballet body used to be a shorter, more built, and muscular frame before he started NYC ballet and was dubbed the father of American ballet. He was also a racist who married and dated his lead dancers on a rotating basis. He decided he wanted impossibly thin, meticulously controllable, tall white dancers because that’s what he was into dating. This shit is still really hard to watch. A lot of that skinny pressure I know from personal experience comes from home. My own mother has had meltdowns at me that at my age she was 98 pounds so I am therefor overweight despite the fact that I’ve got more muscle than she could have dreamed of at my age. My cousin recently started dating a dancer in college, her mother has an ED and is intent on monitoring and restricting what her daughter eats as well. I swear it was like college schedules for dance were built around restricting food as well. 8:30 am ballet, 10am gen Ed, 11:30 modern, 3:00 pm rehearsals that could go up until 10pm with no more than a 10 minute break for a snack. And most girls brought broth. I was looked at like I had three heads for not cutting out gluten and downing broth. And god forbid you got an injury and had to try and sneak to PT without failing class but they only scheduled PT during class times. It’s still weird to come out of the dance world and experience people regarding you as a person and not a tool for their amusement.
This is really interesting - I was watching On Pointe about SAB and I wondered why there was hardly any mention of how thin the girls were, aside from one talk about eating properly but it's never mentioned if any of them have eating disorders.
Ballerina diets are terrifying. I can only imagine the metabolic damage you get from doing this to yourself long-term. I did ballet for 10 years and it was really scary to see the effects up close. So many girls not starting their period until they were 18-21....
That's a way of generalizing... I was a ballerina when I was young, not professional but I was close, and I ate normal and was still fit and thin. A lot of ballerina's eat balanced and good. I hate how people think that one example represents the whole community.
@@elisavandermolen693 My mother was a ballet “star” and has suffered from an eating disorder to this day. She eats healthy but is still terrified of gaining weight.
@@arielmalanga I'm sorry for her. I hope she will be better, but the thing is, that I noticed that people think that the fact one person in a community has something, it means the whole community has it. For example, I am a bikini competitor, off season at the moment. People have said to me that they think I do steroids (wich is insane) because they say everybody in the bodybuilding community does it. That makes no f*cking sense. Another thing is that people think that when I am in prep I starve myself, wich is also insane. Fact is that doing competitions helped me so much with my eating disorder when I was 15. I got that due to problems at school. Doing competitions made me feel proud and I felt proud of my body, on or off season. It really distresses me that people judge without knowing the whole picture and people like Abby can cause some bias to certain community's wich sucks.
Growing up a dancer definitely contributed to my eating disorder. In the past few years we have seen improvement in the dance culture surrounding body positivity and diversity along with promoting proper nutrition and a healthy relationship with food but we definitely aren’t done. This is just the beginning and there is a lot of work to do!
So happy to know that. A friend of mine couldn't enter the bolshoi ballet academy because her legs had the circumference of 53cm (sorry, in Brazil we use centimeters)
i am starting to realize being a competitive dancer from a young age probably contributed to my ED as well, but dance is also the only thing i enjoy right now, practice is literally saving me from losing my mind in recovery.
@Kitty Silverlake really dumb comment. Ballet is NOTORIOUS for putting inhuman pressure on dancers. Balanchine wanted "pin heads". There is a tremendous undercurrent of misogyny and aggression in ballet and modeling...both worlds where homosexual men push their "ideal" of an emaciated figure with no curves. You cannot dismiss a person's culture or environment and all the psycho social factors. Humans do not exist in vacuums.
Wow, when I danced, I was also told ballet is about “floating” or appearing “light as a feather”, but I learned, and was drilled into me, that it was only how you appeared, through movement. It actually takes extreme muscle and control to “look” as if you’re effortless and floating. It takes so much oomph to look like it took none! And if you don’t feed those muscles, you’ll just be a “floppy” ballerina!
As a dancer (on a slight hiatus), the Apple during the break didn’t surprise me. I’m EXTREMELY AWARE it’s not enough food, but I saw that and went “yup. sounds about right!” We need more people like Abbey reminding us that our bodies need FUEL!!!
And while I was never as bad as some of the girls around me (who have now come forward about having disordered eating), I know I DEFINITELY suppressed my appetite and now eating full meals is very difficult for me, so instead I eat small amounts throughout the day. Hopefully some time in the near-ish future I’ll be able to afford a professional who can help me fuel my body in a balanced way.
Professional dancer here and I am SO GLAD you reviewed this video. I love Scout's content and she is a stunning dancer, yet the whole time I originally watched her video I had this uncomfortable feeling and I remember thinking "How are you not hungry?! That's not enough fuel!" A lot of the swaps and suggestions you made were what I regularly eat when in a heavy rehearsal schedule and I am just so glad you shared such valuable information!
Right! As a former professional dancer I couldn't exist with less than 3000 calories. I mean....I ate a whole pint of ben and jerry's every night. That itself is 1200 calories.
Honestly, her diet is very relatable to me as a former dancer. When I danced ~7-10 hours a day, I genuinely wouldn't get hungry until I was done dancing for the day and anything other than carbs/veggies/fruit would upset my stomach when I went back to rehearsal from lunch. Most days I'd just get by on toast, a bagel, and a frapp until I got home, simply because my body just couldn't handle more than that. Trying to force it--no matter how important for being able to continue moving--would result in running to the bathroom or having to sit out from rehearsal. While disordered eating is a major problem in ballet and the dance world in general, it's not the only reason dancers avoid eating.
@@buh_its_me_yall6217 I am not a dancer nor an athlete, but I understand what this person means. When you do hard, intense labor for hours on end, some people just don't have an appetite. I get extremely sick if I eat a heavy or rich meal while working, and then my appetite returns once I am finished. Like the video said, we all have different hunger cues.
@@shelbyw430 Yes, but someone said in the comments that prolonged behavior like limiting amount of food will affect your appetite, to feel full all the time.
I was a dancer, but also a college soccer player. Eating more than like snack sizes at a time was so hard on me. I felt like I was going to throw up, I had to eat all my bigger meals hours before I did anything. I've watched a lot of Scout's videos and this is the one that just happens to have the least amount of food in it compared to the amount of work. She has like two breakfasts on regular class days.
Same. I dance at a pre-pro school, and I will feel sick if I eat too much before class. I also have zero appetite before and during class, and only feel hungry once I am finished. I don’t have an ED, and my doctor says I am very healthy. I just simply do not feel hungry and I can only eat snack-sized foods before I finish classes, so I do not eat that much generally.
The thing is, currently in ballet, you are expected to act like you live in a post 90s-ED-ridden dance world where it's a non issue. "I never restrict what I eat! I just work really hard. Ballerinas eat soooo much!" "I'm plant based". It's almost like they're trying to just act like they are that slim naturally, which is usually partly true, but also acting like this is in no part due to portion control/restriction. It's like how directors can't directly tell dancers to lose weight, they just say they need to "get toned" "lengthen their line" or "be careful with weight training". EDs are still very prevalent, they're just getting hidden behind "healthy". I'm not aiming this at Scout in particular, more just what I saw from my time in the ballet sphere.
I’m glad to see you review her. I saw this video a while ago and I was shocked at what she ate. I workout 30-45 mins 5 days a week and I eat way more calories than she eats in a day. Shocking.
So I was never professional, but I have my degree in dance education... I honestly do not believe that this is what she eats every day. Dancers tend to fetishize the hustle. It’s unhealthy.
Eating disorders in dance are talked about quite a bit, but another athletic community with an unhealthy emphasis on being small is climbing. I’d love to see that brought into the light as well.
Yeah climbers and cyclists really casually talk about losing five pounds and that helping up their game. I participate in both sports and it's wild how casually even normal day to day enthusiasts make jokes about losing weight.
Most of the climbers I know have strong arms and legs and very little body fat, but this is also optimal for climbing. I agree that it’s unhealthy but just the way it is.
I used to think the only healthy breakfasts were smoothies, oatmeal, and avo toast because that's what all the skinny youtubers eat for breakfast lol. Like you never see them reheating last night's leftovers for breakfast (which is my fave haha)
As a former ballerina myself AND someone with eating disorder history (astonishingly *not* at the same time lol) I was seeing my former self so much in her. It’s kind of making me mad that she’s going through her day so nimble-footed on so low calories. It’s nowhere near enough and this might influence young dancers / or young people in general to believe you should in fact eat that little. And I even think to remember so many comments that were applauding her like “finally a ballerina who eats regular portion sizes” and I was like whaaaat?🤨😂 are y’all out of your mind? Thank you, Abbey for tackling that video ❤️
What’s weird to me is that she says “sometimes I want _____ and that’s okay”, yet she never actually mentions that she eats what she craves or enjoys, only that she “wants” to. I hope she’s okay. The dance world doesn’t seem very food-friendly.
@Violett Fem are you serious? I'm so sorry that you can't write down your private thoughts if you wanted to. Btw if you have an iPhone or iPad you can make locked notes.❤️
I remember being 13 years old, my ballet teacher approaching each girl a couple months out from our end of year concert and telling each one how they should diet leading up to it. She approached me and said “you’re fine” because I was skinny enough in her eyes. I felt so bad for the girls who didn’t have the traditional ballet body, we were just children.
My dance teacher in high school tried that. My high school dance group had very healthy relationships with food, it was something social we all bonded over. The first girl worshipped our teacher and it was so sad to see how much it hurt her. The next girl she tried it on was completely secure in herself, and her mother had none of it. Very satisfying to hear her put our teacher in her place (she was awful for a lot of reasons other than these comments too). The kind of mom we all deserve really.
When we were training to start pointe, my teacher just straight up told me that, “with that build you will never be a ballerina, so don’t push yourself and wreck your feet.” I was devastated, but ultimately she was right. I’m stocky, and it’s fine but it was hard to understand that at 12. I took another year of tap and then quit dancing altogether. No regrets.
I started dancing at age 3 in 1969 and still dance at a studio bc I love it. But your comment is so accurate. Growing up in NY, after we dressed for class, we routed through a room where we were weighed and measured and then provided "tips" on how to improve. This was just life and thought nothing of it until I had a kid and had to struggle not to judge him. That's ridiculous and I can see now how my love/hate relationship with food and my body were formed. I do feel, though, that there is a trend away from this now. The local places I go to now are much more inclusive to all body types. Nutrition and being more muscular is encouraged in the kids. I like it. I think the popularity of lyrical and ethnic dancing contributed bc those forms require more muscular depth than ballet which lends itself more to a light body with more muscular legs only.
I’m by no means a professional ballerina but I wouldn’t even last for one session of class on what she eats. Hoooooow?! On ballet days I’m eating everything but the kitchen sink, because my body is like “FEED ME WOMAN!” 😅
Honestly a lot depends on the schools and from my experience this is normal. Some don't like to eat around the other girls cause they're always judging saying they're getting fat their partner in pas de deux is going to need a crane to lift them. The professional schools associated with the big companies, they only admit students who have a certain look. A lot of companies STILL pick based off Balanchine's descriptions of how dancers should look. My friend trained at the Georgia Ballet and they would weigh them in front of the class to see if they gained weight. At my school 14 years olds would smoke so they wouldn't eat. My pointe teacher told me I was too fat to be a dancer and that i was putting too much stress on my ankles if I didn't loose more weight. Read Gelsey Kirkland's biography. Beautiful art but very toxic
As a dancer myself, snacking smaller is less about caloric need and more about fullness and discomfort. As a dancer your jumping and turning and having a bunch of food in your belly can be unpleasant causing things like nausea and acid reflex- at least for me personally.
thats totally fair but you still need to fuel your body and choosing low calorie high volume foods like puffed snacks and veggie soups isnt the way to do it.
When I used to dance, I couldn't stand to have anything in my stomach when I was training or performing, so I would eat after, and eating really late, like at 10:30pm or later, brings on a whole different set of digestive problems, lol
@@aeolia80 same, dancing with a full stomach was no party lol. I would eat a few hours before I danced (I trained about 9 hours a week so not professional or something) and right after.
This is a huge reason why I am working towards my Master's in nutrition! There are so many things that need to be changed about how we teach dancers about nutrition and body image. As so many people have commented below, dancing heavily attributed to my disordered eating, amenorrhea, and injuries, which is why I am so passionate about helping other dancers. I currently dance for a professional dance company that is helping to change the narrative surrounding the "dancer body", so real change can happen in the industry. Love what you talk about Abbey!
Being a ballerina for over 13 years and not once did I ever feel good enough. So sad what it does to yourself esteem. I would never want my child to go through this.
the second i finished watching scout’s video, i thought to myself: “i wonder what abbey would say? 🤔”. thank you for reviewing it! you’ve helped me and my mindset around food tremendously in these last years while I’ve been in recovery. i appreciate you!!!
@@AbbeysKitchen please! I was wondering the same thing, as a current musical theatre major observing all the pressure there is to “lose weight” and “be thin” in that industry as well
My mum was in a ballet school till she was 15, daily weigh ins in front of other girls and body shaming was considered normal. My mum was lucky enough to have very fast metabolism but some of her school friends were surviving on apples and carrots. She finally decided she wants to have a life and quit.
My roommate at a renowned arts camp/school was a ballerina. We were in 8th grade, and she - and the other ballerinas - were obsessed with keeping their weight down, even at such a young age. I remember she would eat a small PB&J for lunch and a small salad for dinner, and that was after a full day of dancing. I was a musician and ate so much more, and I remember that triggering me a bit, even though I was fit and slim and never had problematic thoughts about food or my weight. What I learned is that the pressures in the world of high performance athletics is not about health but rather performance - and in ballet, how you look is a critical part of that standard.
MegSquats is a competitive powerlifter, but is also a soon-to-be mom and has a lot of "what I eat in a day" content on her channel! I'd love to see you review her
My husband does powerlifting and the amount of food he eats is actually mind-boggling sometimes. It definitely helps him bulk up quickly. But many professional powerlifters (the men, anyway) do unfortunately end up with heart issues fairly young from eating heaps of meat and fat etc.
I would love a video on how microwaves don't do anything to food because that's something I've definitely stressed about. I epecially want to know why there are so many myths in the first place
It's totally fine. No issues and no danger. Just dont reheat your food inside plastic boxes (put it on a microwave safe plate or in a bowl that isnt plastic) because it softens the plastic and can transfer into your food.
I heard it's because cheap plastic food containers with BPA could cause problems with food when heated in a microwave, so instead of changing their food storage people put in the way bigger effort to live without any microwave
I’m in the ballet world and sadly, this isn’t new. there is a huge amount of pressure to have the correct “look” on stage and that puts a lot of people at risk
Same in the theatre world. I’ve been told that even though I have a high, legit mezzo-soprano/soprano range, I don’t have the right “onstage look” for “ingenue” or young female characters and that if I want to be cast in a romantic lead I should lose weight. I have a history with disordered eating and it’s taken a long time to learn to just roll my eyes at those comments and move on but it’s still disheartening sometimes and occasionally does tempt me to try for extreme weight loss. But I just cope with it and refuse to give in by basically convincing myself I know more than the ED voice. She ain’t read no biology textbooks, she’s no woman of science, *I* am
Thank you so much for this Abbey. When I first watched this video I was absolutely shocked at how little she ate and felt guilty for eating so much more than her, so I appreciate your reassuring message here. As a former ballet dancer for 13 years who developed an eating disorder, I've seen how toxic the dance environment can be...I was hardcore judged for eating just a sandwich :( Very sad to see and I hope the pro-restriction ballet culture improves in the future.
Dancer here. When you’re dancing all day, it’s so hard to eat a lot durning the day because whatever you eat, it really ways you down. I hated eating anything before dance. Annnd you have no time to eat anyways - you have no time between classes/rehearsals. It’s best to snack and then eat a big dinner. It sounds like she has a pretty good relationship with food. (Just my opinion...)
I wondered about that. I intermittent fast because that's what works best for me not about loosing weight. It seems with a schedule like that making dinner the main meal with the large majority of calories for the day would make sense. The key is to get the needed calories and macros in though. Fasting schedules like that tend to have dinner spread out over a couple hours because it's so much food.
Yeah sometimes after eating I can’t do anything after for a while lmao I can’t imagine having to rehearse after a meal. It definitely wouldn’t feel good
Yes. I didn't like this video at all because this lady is treating Scout like someone with a regular job. If she ate something other than an apple or soup between rehearsals, she'd probably be feeling too fatigued to dance. About her calories, imo as a dancer ~1600 would be fine for me, I physically can't eat 2000+ calories (especially if it's healthy food, so not a calorically dense sugary drink, or fast food) it's too much for me. I relate to the sugar giving you energy issues, I don't care what research says, I can feel it in my body. This video is perpetuating the stereotype of all dancers undereating, and it's upsetting to watch. This lady is supposedly all about intuitive eating, but apparently not in the way that works for Scout. 🙄
All these foods look good but I definitely agree that she doesn't eat enough food. As an athlete who trained 3-4 hours a day in high school and is now a Division I athlete, I could not imagine eating that little. Honestly, I would eat what she is eating but twice the amount that she's eating. I definitely feel that there is pressure on athletes to always be thin and lean and I had trouble and still struggle with this myself. Naturally, I am on the leaner side, but I've always gotten comments from other people about my size and whether or not I should have more muscle or less fat as an athlete, and also questioning me every time I wanted a donut. What I try to do for mealtimes is always incorporate some type of protein, carb, and greens into each meal so that I am always satiated and happy. And if I want to eat a donut or have a bowl of ice cream I will.
Yes - the food she's eating is nutritionally sound but just not enough. I used to be a dancer and my standard meal before four hours of dance classes was two slices of whole-wheat seeded bread with Avocado, feta and a protein (egg or meat) so essentially what she had for breakfast x 2.
I appreciate how carefully you mention someone's eating habits and don't judge them! You entertain us while educating us as well and you respect the person whose video you are reviewing. Thank you! Also, OMG at eating cotton balls and tissue paper. whoa! I am a adult figure skater and typically only skate 1-2 hours a day on top of a daily additional work out and I cannot imagine eating this few calories and having energy, let alone eating something like cotton or paper and trying to do anything active. How sad and scary.
Thank you for debunking the sugar thing. I try to never make it a big deal with my toddler and when she was sick in the hospital a dr. told me that toddlers actually need some amount of sugar, especially when sick, because their blood sugar can crash very quickly. I also have a small bowl of candy every night - sour keys or fuzzy peaches are my weakness - and always wondered if it contributed to my insomnia. Glad to know that it's not likely the culprit...it's more likely the wine 😂
I just turned 21 like 5 months ago and I already have stopped drinking almost entirely, I reserve it only for celebrations (weddings, New Years, etc.) bc I found it messes with my sleep so much.
Stephanie I am a therapist for folks with substance use problems.You are correct. Even small amounts of alcohol (without a disorder or dependence on it) can cause sleep disturbance. Folks think it helps because it can help them fall asleep, this is separate from staying asleep. Hope it helps. Addressing since Abbey did not.
@@jessa.4529 thanks for this. I've noticed as I got older and reduced my alcohol intake (consequence of being a parent and not a young party-goer anymore) that even if I have one glass of wine, I tend to wake up in the middle of the night with a racing heart.
as a baller dancer in training, i also used to show signs of an eating disorder and it's very common for a lot of dancers who want to go pro. but as time passed, i realized food isn't our enemy and it's okay to eat whatever. i think it depends on the ballet school you train in because my ballet school is pretty positive and aren't encouraging us to eat less. i just wanted to say from all the comments i've read is that not everyone's experiences with ballet is toxic, and i'm really grateful to have supportive teachers who don't tell me to eat less :)) and for those who did have toxic experiences with ballet, i'm sorry you had to go through that and i wish you all the best and stay healthy in your life! 🤍🌷
When I went from dancing as a student to dancing professionally, I found it very difficult to eat enough calories given how short our breaks were. You know how when you eat a big meal you feel tired after? Dancers have no room for that. Literally. You cannot be soft-headed and tired in your last rehearsal of the day. When I started losing weight, I started eating ice cream every night just to increase my calorie intake. We actually could get pulled out of a role if we lost much weight, but I also realized it just wasn't healthy or sustainable to be too underweight. It would have been good to add calorie density with healthier options, but I was so exhausted at the end of every day it was hard to make that happen.
I've never been this early! Please review "counting calories with a balerina" from Munchies. You are gonna be pleased with her amazing attitude toward food.
I’ve never been a dancer but I had a friend at school who was. She loved ballet, but was considered slightly “chubbier” than the “norm”. She once told me that her ballet teacher told them what to eat and that she needed to watch her weight. How old were we when she told me this story? We were 6. 6 years old. Year 2. It’s staggering.
As a dancer, having slow digesting/ larger meals before rehearsal and class is just not comfortable and doesn’t produce the best performance. That may be why she has small snacks of fruit between rehearsals.
Completely agree. As a former national team athlete it was horrible because we had so many training but you cant eat pasta and meatballs and be able to train right away 😂😂😂 so I ate a lot in the evening and hella lot of snacks during the day 😂😂
Thats totally fair but you still need to fuel your body and choosing low calorie high volume foods like puffed snacks and veggie soups isn't the way to do it
I agree. Thank you for reviewing a ballerina and highlighting the problem in body standards in ballet. I have certainly seen and felt the negative effects of this, and am learning how to fuel my body efficiently and sufficiently as well.
my ballet teacher made us all keep a food diary and then shamed us in front of the class if it wasn't 'healthy' enough (i was 12). She once threw the strawberries i was eating in the bin during a break because they were too sugary :D
My dance teacher started diet shaming us around age 7-8 also. She'd pinch any fat on your thighs and bellies and twist, it left little red marks! Many of us she had been teaching since we were 4, my mom snuck me in there at 3 lying about my age. Classic Russian trained ballet witch. Some of my classmates ended up with what I now know to be anorexia by the third grade.
I just love sourdough because it’s bloody delicious! I grew up eating it in my family, and as an Aussie love it with lashings of butter and vegemite! I do love scout’s video glad you reviewed this so informative as always 🥰
Could you do a whole video about the microwave? A while back I got a bit brainwashed about microwaves sapping nutrition out of our food and I still struggle with it. Thanks Abbey!
Thank you so much. I love Scout, I’ve watched many of her videos, and in my head I’d pegged her as a ‘normal’ ballet dancer with ‘healthy’ standard eating habits. I’m in recovery from my ED, so when I saw this WIEIAD a few months ago I felt so greedy and ashamed that I NEED some like banana and PB after a workout. Thank you for this. Thank you for being a dietician who reminds us that our bodies NEED and DESERVE to be nourished!
I love your review! been waiting for this one. I am an athlete, but im a runner, not a dancer, but when I saw that apple, I couldn't believe how she can possibly feel energized after that! I eat a big breakfast and after AM practice, I have a good lunch (not a vegetable soup - that would not give me nearly enough energy and I would probably end up in the restroom instead of track for my PM practice!). I eat salads for dinner only to avoid stomach issues while running, so a lot of vegetables for lunch are a no go (whoever runs longer distances knows! lol). after practice I immediately have a chocolate milk, protein bar or protein shake and try to eat a meal within 1.5 hrs after practice.
@@AbbeysKitchen please do! My grandma convinced me when I was little that I always have to close the microwave to protect myself from the radiation, and k thought I would get zapped with cancer if somehow the microwave started with the door open....
When I was a full time dance student my teachers would make comments about my weight even though I weighed under 100 pounds and had a waist measurement smaller than the 8 year olds I taught. It is changing but it’s a very slow turning ship
Thank you SO much for this. I was hoping you'd do this, to help a lot of young girls. I was honestly shocked when i read that 99% of comments under the video were praising her for being an athlete that 'finally eats enough'. I'm like...how far into disordered eating are we that we're praising someone eating this little, ESPECIALLY A PRO ATHLETE that has to train intensively 7-8 hours a day, as eating a 'good amount' and 'more than other dancers'. I'm still in shock, like, how little must inactive girls think they have to eat? Everyone i know eats sooooo much more than she does, SO much more, and none are athletes. The fact that hundreds of comments with hundreds of likes were praising her for eating enough...when this wouldn't be enough for a sedentary child, let alone an athletic woman, chills me. It scared me like no other. How little do these girls think they need to eat? What has diet culture done to us?
thank you so much for doing a dancer’s “what i eat in a day”. i’m a former dancer myself and the struggle is real! i still struggle with my ed but i love watching your videos for inspiration!
I am so glad my ballet teachers don't comment on our weight at all even though we are a pretty big school. The teachers are super understanding and even though most of us are pretty thin (not russian ballet dancer stick thin but not overweight at all), when we gain a bit of weight they don't comment on it. They do remind us to eat nutritious foods (whole foods like veggies, grains and fruit) and less junk foods but never forced anything on us. I think they are telling us to eat healthy so we can support our dancing better, and there was never any mention of 'you can't eat ___'. Also they sometimes bought us chocolates for special occasions too which always made my day 😂 there was a few times that she said 'stomach' to me but I wasn't engaging my core so it wasnt a body issue, more about my technique lol
Bless her heart. I'm a ex ballerina and I'm having flash backs to sneaking a banana in the bathroom stall. The 12% statistic is way off. I dont know how that data was gathered but its more like 60-70% at the professional level.
When I was doing gymnastics (rhytmic), I remember training days where some girls ate celeri and fennel as their lunch because it was "0 calories". I was 13 and I had never been exposed to diet culture. I just thought "it looks so...sad". A couple years later, my coach gave me a earful about being "too fat" (I wasn't anything close to fat). Thankfully, I'm really strong headed so I was like "yeah I'll watch what I eat" and didn't. I wasn't a professional athlete, and I didn't have that ambition at all so I wasn't motivated like some of the girls who aimed to be pro, were suuuper thin and had lost their periods. My sister was a ballet dancer and she got anorexia. She's fine today but she's been struggling again lately because she gained weight in pregnancy. We're supporting her !
Yes!! I thought it was bad to eat a lot right before you work out. I end up throwing up... I believe it's better to eat like Scout instead of eating more and throwing up 3 times a day every day!!
I suppose it’s possible. But when I was a competitive athlete I would be STARVING in between games. I didn’t eat large amounts of food but I did eat a lot of protein and if I didn’t eat enough I would have been more tired and unable to play as hard. If you don’t have fuel, you aren’t going to be compete at your highest level.
For sure. And that's totally fair but you still need to fuel your body and choosing low calorie high volume foods like puffed snacks and veggie soups isn't the way to do it
When I was 12 years, having sudden growth due to puberty I gained weight and my Dance Teacher who's teaching for 3 years then, said that I have to lose weight and start dieting, that was one of the events I became too conscious with food
Your videos have taught me so much! I used to eat extremely low calorie amounts and I workout everyday along with playing 1-2 hour basketball games. Thank you for helping me become more comfortable eating higher calorie meals.❤️
Ok I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought this wasn’t enough food! When I first watched scouts video I was like “wait if she just needs that much food and she’s working out that much, then I definitely don’t need much more food when I’m not even working out like she is”... yeah I tried eating like her for a day.. I was STARVING not to mention exhausted.. I hope she’s ok💗
Not gonna lie, i used to be obsessed with watching ballet dancers describe their eating habits esp the one that munchies posted from around 2017-2018. The calorie counting and the hard work/dedication i found to be really inspiring. I even got into a really intense and *ideal* body that i was applauded for on social media. It’s only been through the eventual crash of 2020, these review videos, and retropective wisdom that i realized that i had developed a very unhealthy relationship with food that used shame and guilt in the name of health/fitness to acheive goals in a quick and unsustainable way. Thanks for highlighting and spotlighting these habits that many athlethes and gymgoers face on an everyday basis and normalizing realistic food habits, Abbey. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Dang, I wish I saw a handful of puffed snacks as “filling”. I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to eat a handful of cheese balls. I’m not full until they’re gone. 😂
could you maybe review "counting calories with a ballerina"? i think it's really good how she explains that she still eats what she likes and it might be a good counterexample to this one :)
I remember watching this video and was like "wow!! Ballerina's actually eat? This looks so well balanced and she has such a healthy relationship with food" but I'm also overcoming disordered eating so ... I needed your video Abby
I am Professional Ballerina I am still battling Eating Disorder although I eat now 3 meals a day a snacks in between, thanks to Abbey channel inspired me to take small steps towards feeling good And now I am dancing and eating so healthy thanks to Abby recipes. I also recommended your channel to my fellow colleagues, trust me if it helping me it will help them. I know barely well Scout I just came across with her in a performance it happens to be we were dancing the same Ballet Nutcracker it was long long time I agree with abbey I started ballet when I was 2 years old
I’m an ultra athlete, and if I don’t eat a billion calories a day, I’d pass out. Don’t know how these dancers do it!! I think there’s still so much stigma/calorie fear among ballerinas... even though they probably wouldn’t gain any weight if they upped their intake with the amount of intensity they put their bodies through
I've done Ballet since I was three and my ballet teacher is the sweetest. She teaches my group so many lessons and always told us that our bodies were okay as they were and that we shouldn't try to get a sixpack or be stick thin by unhealthy habits. I still developed an Ed but I only know about like two other girls who struggled.
Hi Abby! I’m not sure if you’re ever going to read this but here goes. I just wanted to tell you that I’m a big fan of yours and loving everything you’ve put out. I’m Japanese living in Nara, Japan. 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵 The horrible Goop stuff and all has found its way over here and I’m trying so hard to get the right message across to my friends and family but it’s such an uphill battle!!!! So many of my work friends tell me that they drink lemon water first thing in the morning for “better metabolism and boost immune system”. I mean….. Thank you so much for your incredibly informative output and please keep up the fabulous work!
I did ballet for seven years. Not a long time, but it was enough to see the horrors that go on beyond closed doors. I was seen as a chunkier kid to them. I was a healthy weight but they would constantly tell me to suck my stomach in. Multiple times a practice, four-five days a week. One thing the main ballet teacher said to the class stuck out to me and I will remember it to this day, despite it being around 10 years ago. “I can’t even push my stomach out that far if I tried”. That stung more than anything and I wasn’t even the heaviest kid there. On top of this I would hear stories about the middle teen girls who were applying to be in the “company”. The elite class of older girls in my studio. They would weigh you in front of everyone as a prerequisite and if you were too heavy you couldn’t join. They would then weigh you, again, I’m front of everyone, each week. If you were to gain weight you would be put on a diet. Besides all of this emotional and psychological trauma about weight, one of the main teachers would get drunk and throw things and scream at the girls. I never witnessed the drunkenness, as it was only with the company, but I had been screamed at and made to cry countless times. I tried for years to quit but my mom wouldn’t let me. I’m glad I was finally able to. I somewhat miss it, as I feel like I had some potential, but on the other hand, I’m glad I was able to have somewhat normal early to middle teen years. I still developed an ED though about 4 years ago and am currently relapsing so I didn’t avoid that lmao. Anyway, rant over, and if you made it to the end, thanks for listening
I did ballroom, not even ballet which I hear is more intense, and my boss was ALWAYS on me about my weight. She was always pushing me (and any of my female coworkers she decided didn't look "right") to do fasts and all liquid/shake diets. There have been steps towards improvement but the dance community as a whole has a pretty ugly relationship with food and their bodies. Note: My boss was particularly bad, don't be afraid to dip your toe into ballroom or other types of dance, it's a really fun hobby and the people are usuay awesome.
Wow thank you Abbey for reviewing this one! I remember watching it after having seen a lot of your videos thinking that you would find this a great “what I eat in a day” video. Thanks for continuing to educate us.
I would love to see you talk healthy eating and the ballet world with Kathryn Morgan, an accomplished ballerina who has had a pretty serious issue with her health due to trying to be thin enough for her company.
The “vegan-free” part of the ad made me chuckle. It felt like a “no vegans were harmed in the making of this protein powder” joke lol! Love to see another vegan-friendly protein powder on the market! 🌱
What a beautifully articulated summation of the dance community, where the lines of discipline, body image, and technique are so blurred and difficult to navigate in a healthy way. Thank you for this video.
As a professional dancer, this was my favorite episode yet! I hope you do munchies cause there are NO good videos out there for dancers and how to fuel our bodies for movement.
I just signed up my three almost four year old for dance. I sincerely hope she never has to struggle with her body image or her eating habits. It's hard to think about her being exposed just through her interests and hobbies. As a mother, we really want to do our best for our children
I was a professional dancer and actor -pursuing Broadway- before the pandemic. I’m short and stocky and was told I had to lean o and lose weigh. Abby said 3000 calories and my brain blew! I was living off 1500 cals a day with 1650 being a “cheat” meal day. It’s truly insane. I was as slim as I could get but constantly sore and attributed it to the constant training, auditioning, and stress of living in NYC
I was a former ballet dancer as well and ate much the same as Scout even after I stopped dancing. The effects did not catch up with me until my 30’s. I think it bears repeating that you can “feel good” and “feel full” being malnourished as a young person bc the act of dancing is truly the most mentally and physically absorbing thing ever. And you have an excess of hormones surging through your body. I wish I’d had Abby in my life sooner to avoid some of the garbage I was fed about diet. This video is so helpful for all the young dancers out there.
I'm not surprised she eats so little, I grew up in the arts (i'm a cellist) so I was always surrounded by ballerinas and lets face it, they have one of the highest anorexia issues of all time. A lot of my ballerina friends struggled with it for years and would always say "I had a HUGE salad 4 hrs ago, i'm good!" and later on knew they were trying to avoid gaining weight. It's really sad and i'm just glad the topic is being talked about a lot more and more ballerina's aren't being forced to starve themselves.
yessss. so glad you mentioned the thing about sugar and the idea of it causing hyperactivity. i've been saying that for years. sugar does not cause hyper behaviour! its the thought of having sugar that causes the "hyperactivity".
Thanks again to Ritual for sponsoring this video! I love their vitamins because they are third party tested. Remember to use my code 10ABBEY for 10% off your first three months! ritual.com/10ABBEY
LOL I am so glad that Ritual's protein powder is vegan-free. I hate when my protein powder is made of vegans. They don't taste very good.
abbey you need to remove the start of the comment im pretty sure lol
Where did you find that "saucy" shirt? Interesting stuff. 😂😂😂😂
@@melissachihrin2464 It's not vegan free lol
Yay! I’m glad to know this is a good protein, I was thinking of ordering it but after your protein powder video I wasn’t sure if this one would be good. Thanks for sharing Abbey 😊
My ballet teacher was so lovely. She taught me from 5 until I left dance at about 16ish. She never once told me I was too big or commented on my food, unless it was to say that my mum's homemade snacks looked tasty. I'm naturally short and stocky too, but that was never commented on. One girl tried picking on me for being busy, but she had words.
I was never going to go pro. I did do exams though, but there was never a pressure. I don't think she ever raised her voice to us once. She praised achievement. If a girl did a beautiful pirouette, she'd say how good it was. If someone made a mistake, she'd gently correct it. She praised effort too, not just the girls who had natural talent.
It worked. Several girls went on to the royal ballet school. Lots went pro. None had eating disorders. It is a testament to her teaching and it shows that the abusive tactics are unnecessary. You can get the same result or better through kindness. Body shaming isn't necessary.
Wow, that's great! Thanks for sharing!
Wow, I was smiling reading this. She seems like a great woman 🤍 and her methods sound so so good and healthy that's so rare.
Wow I’m so glad that you had such a wonderful teacher who fostered a healthy passion for dance! It’s so sad to hear so many experiences from people who had a real passion but it became unhealthy for their body and body image. I wish more adults could have this approach with young people they are mentoring and teaching! Kindness and encouragement makes such a huge difference 🥰
She seems lovely, I wish that I had encountered a teacher like that (actually I did but she taught the younger levels more often), maybe if more of teachers were like that then I wouldn’t have struggled so much with my body image or dropped ballet so early
That’s so lovely!
I like how it says the protein powder is "Vegan Free". This protein powder does not contain any vegans, good to know.
Mine only contains 2-3 vegans
@@nedahokkk7886 mine has 5!
@@ashdawson7418 ooh 5 gives me stomach pains
@@nedahokkk7886 same! honestly I only take about 3!
@@nedahokkk7886 good to know your limits
as an athlete who found themselves severely underfueling I think it's important to emphasize that often intense exercise kills your hunger cues, so you can genuinely be "listening to your body" and be eating less than half of what you need and doing immense damage. I was eating maybe 1200 calories a day and I honestly felt good. It wasn't until I ended up in the hospital due to malnourishment that I realized the amount I was eating wasn't adequate.
this is so interesting and makes so much sense. I think it's pretty evident in Scout's video too, since it looks like her diet works so well for her. Thanks for sharing
Yes for sure. I'm sorry for your experience
Yep. Running destorys my appetite but gives me a hell of a deficit..
@@hannahc3317 I had an issue with that in HS! Didn't even realize I wasn't eating enough until I consulted with my sports R.D!
Yep!!! And the damaging effects on hunger cues last a long time. I did this to myself in high school playing soccer and still have issues with hunger cues to this day. Making sure I eat enough so my body doesn’t go into starvation mode is a constant struggle for me. And it’s been almost 10 years since I stopped restricting
As someone who did ballet for 10 years, I still remember how shocked I was when my teacher said we shouldn't eat peanut butter because it was "too fat." Thank goodness my mom raised me right. I would just roll my eyes and then go home and eat an entire rotisserie chicken after a 5 hour rehearsal.
You go girl👏🏼
Wow. That is very concerning!
Anyone who tells you to not eat peanut butter is a terrorist 🤣
Damn, it makes me so mad that there are teachers like this. How fcked do you have to be to encourage that to kids? I'm so glad u didn't listen
Lol this comment made me laugh because my ballet teacher used to tell us that she was super poor when she was a dance major in college, so she would literally eat peanut butter out of the jar as her meals because it was cheap! Guess her philosophy was a bit different than your teacher's. 😂
Abbey: 12% of ballet dancers have eating disorders
Me, an 18 year old ballet dancer who has witnessed disordered eating and behaviours since the age of 8: ONLY 12%??????????????
It said "diagnosed" eating disorder :/ Wouldn't be surprised if there were lots of undiagnosed ones as well
@@tf7602 yes thats just diagnosed. likely MUCH higher
Haha I was thinking the same- ex dancer here
Yeah I figured it would be like ..... 70% 😂
I came out of that world when I injured my spine at the ripe old age of 23... thankfully I went to grad school and did something else- at 5’9.5, I was 140 lb and “fat”
I attended a professional ballet school in italy from 11 to 15 yo.
Its such a toxic world. I am just now recovering from years of binge eating disorder ( i am 27) I was always considered overweight for ballet ( when in reality i was underweight). Our teachers would weight us each week in front of everybody else and ask us every day what we ate for breakfast and lunch that day. I remember that once the teacher got really mad at a friend of mine bc she said she had a banana for snack. She said that a banana is not a snack, it is a dinner ( keep in Mind that we were Young teens who would practice 2 hours a day, 6 days a week).Once i got called fat by the teacher in front of the whole class and i still remember that moment as the most humiliating moments of my life. To this day i still dont know why my parents thought this was ok. I would come home basically every day crying and crying. I used to binge and restrict, binge and restrict. I thought i was broken. I thought i didnt have Any self control. At 15 i was finally brave enough to tell my parents i wanted to quit, they were not happy but respected my decision.
Thanks to the help of professionals and ppl like abbey i am only now- after over 10 years of quitting ballet - finding freedom in food
I'm so sorry for your experience. I'm glad you're doing better now ❤️
My limited experience with those in the ballet world is that though they are in love with dance they are emotionally pressured into being abnormally thin. The thinner/ lighter the better. The same with injuries which they ignore /cover up so as to be able to perform.
I'm glad you were able to get the help that you needed and are doing better. ❤️
How horrible that these monsters who teach children are so mean-spirited ...Any ( dance ) teacher that shames and berates children for their weight or Performance should be FIRED.
You are so strong at such a young age to advocate for yourself to get your parents to allow you to quit dance even though they were disappointed. People have so much hatred over girl's body's if they can't control their body and will shame them so harshly, like they are as bad as child molesters. It's sexual harassment and it's demeaning. Not just in ballet, but the world in general. I hope the dance and sports world moves forward to allowing different sizes and shapes to be accepted and respected. There are alot of talented dancers we are missing out on seeing due to these arbitrary and narrow standards of dancer's body.
I work as a pianist at a major ballet company, and I just want to say that the break between morning class and rehearsal is SO SHORT! They have 15 minutes to collect all their stuff, go to the bathroom if they need, grab whatever costume or rehearsal outfit they need and get to the next rehearsal. And whatever food they can shove down in that time has to be something that’s not going to cramp up in their stomach while they work. As a pianist too I only get the 15 minutes and then have to wait until 3 for lunch. It took some getting used to but now I also only eat a light lunch because dinner is only a few hours after that! Haha
Yeah I was going to say, it's hard to have a full stomach while exercising (esp if you're bobbing up and down?) and physically stressed, which would naturally reinforce smaller meals during the day. She sort of acknowledges this by eating quite a lot more in the evening time when she can relax.
Yeah I mean...the puffy chickpea snacks are great because it’s voluminous but won’t make you feel too full. I do powerlifting and I can’t even handle a banana a few minutes before a workout. What more if you do ballet where you have to twirl around and look like you’re gracefully dancing.
Wow. That's crazy!
My daughter who has told me they get 5 min breaks in between dance classes said they got an email that there is no eating in the building. They are there all day! I could go on.
Yeah. I think having nutrient dense foods to maintain energy is a good idea bc having heavy meals while dancing can be uncomfortable. Like some trail mixes, dried fruit, some protein bars. They can pack in energy without all the bulk
I remember eating lunch with a friend in high school who did ballet. I brought pasta and she insulted my meal saying it was too fatting and bad for me. I was underweight and it was something I enjoyed. She had a food journal and always stressed about food, body and presentation. We need to celebrate healthy strong bodies. Eating very little is not sustainable or safe.
For sure. I'm sorry for your experience
@@teacup3370 pasta was only a small part of my meal for lunch that day. I always had veggies and fruit too. Our friends found her puking up her food after lunch once. I do not think she was focused on “nutrient dense” food when making her comment. I think she had an ED.
And also, overly skinny bodies are just not attractive. As a sexually dimorphic species we are attracted to signals of health, fertility and strength.
I'm sorry you had that happen. I wish people would mind their own business and keep their neuroses to themselves. Don't sploosh your food trauma onto me, Heather. 😂
The pasta was bad for you. Eat eggs, protein, healthy fat.
My mom pulled me out of dance class when the teacher put us on scales and told us we were too fat at 4 years old 🥴
Good job mom. That's horrible.
Wow that is so messed up... Good job mom and sorry that must have been so toxic :(
Good for you! Amazing decision from your mum 👏👏
What a shame. Ballet is so fun (assuming you were enjoying it) and can be so good in the long term and who know how many people this one toxic teacher ruined it for.
Wait are u serious?
FYI for historical context: we can blame George Balanchine for the horrifying body standards in ballet. The stereotypical ballet body used to be a shorter, more built, and muscular frame before he started NYC ballet and was dubbed the father of American ballet. He was also a racist who married and dated his lead dancers on a rotating basis. He decided he wanted impossibly thin, meticulously controllable, tall white dancers because that’s what he was into dating.
This shit is still really hard to watch. A lot of that skinny pressure I know from personal experience comes from home. My own mother has had meltdowns at me that at my age she was 98 pounds so I am therefor overweight despite the fact that I’ve got more muscle than she could have dreamed of at my age. My cousin recently started dating a dancer in college, her mother has an ED and is intent on monitoring and restricting what her daughter eats as well. I swear it was like college schedules for dance were built around restricting food as well. 8:30 am ballet, 10am gen Ed, 11:30 modern, 3:00 pm rehearsals that could go up until 10pm with no more than a 10 minute break for a snack. And most girls brought broth. I was looked at like I had three heads for not cutting out gluten and downing broth. And god forbid you got an injury and had to try and sneak to PT without failing class but they only scheduled PT during class times. It’s still weird to come out of the dance world and experience people regarding you as a person and not a tool for their amusement.
Interesting, thank you for sharing. I know it is concerning to watch
Even as an SAB alum, I cannot agree more😣
Thank you for the information. It is saddening to hear such history. 😞
This is horrifying
This is really interesting - I was watching On Pointe about SAB and I wondered why there was hardly any mention of how thin the girls were, aside from one talk about eating properly but it's never mentioned if any of them have eating disorders.
Ballerina diets are terrifying. I can only imagine the metabolic damage you get from doing this to yourself long-term. I did ballet for 10 years and it was really scary to see the effects up close. So many girls not starting their period until they were 18-21....
That's a way of generalizing... I was a ballerina when I was young, not professional but I was close, and I ate normal and was still fit and thin. A lot of ballerina's eat balanced and good. I hate how people think that one example represents the whole community.
I know, it is very concerning
@@elisavandermolen693 My mother was a ballet “star” and has suffered from an eating disorder to this day. She eats healthy but is still terrified of gaining weight.
@@arielmalanga I'm sorry for her. I hope she will be better, but the thing is, that I noticed that people think that the fact one person in a community has something, it means the whole community has it. For example, I am a bikini competitor, off season at the moment. People have said to me that they think I do steroids (wich is insane) because they say everybody in the bodybuilding community does it. That makes no f*cking sense. Another thing is that people think that when I am in prep I starve myself, wich is also insane. Fact is that doing competitions helped me so much with my eating disorder when I was 15. I got that due to problems at school. Doing competitions made me feel proud and I felt proud of my body, on or off season. It really distresses me that people judge without knowing the whole picture and people like Abby can cause some bias to certain community's wich sucks.
Sorry if my English is not on point btw, it's not my first language. But I still hope you understand my point.
Growing up a dancer definitely contributed to my eating disorder. In the past few years we have seen improvement in the dance culture surrounding body positivity and diversity along with promoting proper nutrition and a healthy relationship with food but we definitely aren’t done. This is just the beginning and there is a lot of work to do!
For sure. Thank you for sharing your experience!
So happy to know that. A friend of mine couldn't enter the bolshoi ballet academy because her legs had the circumference of 53cm (sorry, in Brazil we use centimeters)
i am starting to realize being a competitive dancer from a young age probably contributed to my ED as well, but dance is also the only thing i enjoy right now, practice is literally saving me from losing my mind in recovery.
@@kstadlerova This man, dance was the thing that was used to hurt me the most in the last five years but it’s still the thing I can’t live without.
@Kitty Silverlake really dumb comment. Ballet is NOTORIOUS for putting inhuman pressure on dancers. Balanchine wanted "pin heads". There is a tremendous undercurrent of misogyny and aggression in ballet and modeling...both worlds where homosexual men push their "ideal" of an emaciated figure with no curves. You cannot dismiss a person's culture or environment and all the psycho social factors. Humans do not exist in vacuums.
Wow, when I danced, I was also told ballet is about “floating” or appearing “light as a feather”, but I learned, and was drilled into me, that it was only how you appeared, through movement. It actually takes extreme muscle and control to “look” as if you’re effortless and floating. It takes so much oomph to look like it took none! And if you don’t feed those muscles, you’ll just be a “floppy” ballerina!
That’s so true! It’s the biggest compliment if people think what you did on stage was easy 😏
As a dancer (on a slight hiatus), the Apple during the break didn’t surprise me. I’m EXTREMELY AWARE it’s not enough food, but I saw that and went “yup. sounds about right!” We need more people like Abbey reminding us that our bodies need FUEL!!!
And while I was never as bad as some of the girls around me (who have now come forward about having disordered eating), I know I DEFINITELY suppressed my appetite and now eating full meals is very difficult for me, so instead I eat small amounts throughout the day. Hopefully some time in the near-ish future I’ll be able to afford a professional who can help me fuel my body in a balanced way.
Why is it always apples lmfao
I was OBSESSED when I was in my ED. An apple was a whole ass meal to me then 😭
Professional dancer here and I am SO GLAD you reviewed this video. I love Scout's content and she is a stunning dancer, yet the whole time I originally watched her video I had this uncomfortable feeling and I remember thinking "How are you not hungry?! That's not enough fuel!" A lot of the swaps and suggestions you made were what I regularly eat when in a heavy rehearsal schedule and I am just so glad you shared such valuable information!
Right! As a former professional dancer I couldn't exist with less than 3000 calories. I mean....I ate a whole pint of ben and jerry's every night. That itself is 1200 calories.
Honestly, her diet is very relatable to me as a former dancer. When I danced ~7-10 hours a day, I genuinely wouldn't get hungry until I was done dancing for the day and anything other than carbs/veggies/fruit would upset my stomach when I went back to rehearsal from lunch. Most days I'd just get by on toast, a bagel, and a frapp until I got home, simply because my body just couldn't handle more than that. Trying to force it--no matter how important for being able to continue moving--would result in running to the bathroom or having to sit out from rehearsal. While disordered eating is a major problem in ballet and the dance world in general, it's not the only reason dancers avoid eating.
That is still disordered eating though
@@buh_its_me_yall6217 I am not a dancer nor an athlete, but I understand what this person means. When you do hard, intense labor for hours on end, some people just don't have an appetite. I get extremely sick if I eat a heavy or rich meal while working, and then my appetite returns once I am finished. Like the video said, we all have different hunger cues.
@@shelbyw430 Yes, but someone said in the comments that prolonged behavior like limiting amount of food will affect your appetite, to feel full all the time.
I was a dancer, but also a college soccer player. Eating more than like snack sizes at a time was so hard on me. I felt like I was going to throw up, I had to eat all my bigger meals hours before I did anything. I've watched a lot of Scout's videos and this is the one that just happens to have the least amount of food in it compared to the amount of work. She has like two breakfasts on regular class days.
Same. I dance at a pre-pro school, and I will feel sick if I eat too much before class. I also have zero appetite before and during class, and only feel hungry once I am finished. I don’t have an ED, and my doctor says I am very healthy. I just simply do not feel hungry and I can only eat snack-sized foods before I finish classes, so I do not eat that much generally.
The thing is, currently in ballet, you are expected to act like you live in a post 90s-ED-ridden dance world where it's a non issue. "I never restrict what I eat! I just work really hard. Ballerinas eat soooo much!" "I'm plant based". It's almost like they're trying to just act like they are that slim naturally, which is usually partly true, but also acting like this is in no part due to portion control/restriction. It's like how directors can't directly tell dancers to lose weight, they just say they need to "get toned" "lengthen their line" or "be careful with weight training". EDs are still very prevalent, they're just getting hidden behind "healthy". I'm not aiming this at Scout in particular, more just what I saw from my time in the ballet sphere.
So so true. The pressure to be tiny is there but it’s all talked about in euphemism…it’s just as bad as it ever was imo
a lot of us eat normal
I’m glad to see you review her. I saw this video a while ago and I was shocked at what she ate. I workout 30-45 mins 5 days a week and I eat way more calories than she eats in a day. Shocking.
I hope it was helpful!
I love her attitude and she’s fun to watch but my god how does she sustain on so little calories?!
😫
So I was never professional, but I have my degree in dance education... I honestly do not believe that this is what she eats every day. Dancers tend to fetishize the hustle. It’s unhealthy.
@@andginisin that’s honestly good to hear though. I hope she’s giving herself more calories!
I used to do running for like 3 hours a day at 1000cal, I know now it wasn't healthy but ur body gets used to it
It’s possible. Your body starts to eat away at its own muscle and bone to sustain itself.
Eating disorders in dance are talked about quite a bit, but another athletic community with an unhealthy emphasis on being small is climbing. I’d love to see that brought into the light as well.
I can put this on my list to discuss more on the channel!
Racing as well.
Yeah climbers and cyclists really casually talk about losing five pounds and that helping up their game. I participate in both sports and it's wild how casually even normal day to day enthusiasts make jokes about losing weight.
Most of the climbers I know have strong arms and legs and very little body fat, but this is also optimal for climbing. I agree that it’s unhealthy but just the way it is.
This is a really excellent documentary with more info. ruclips.net/video/thtDQJGrO5s/видео.html
I used to think the only healthy breakfasts were smoothies, oatmeal, and avo toast because that's what all the skinny youtubers eat for breakfast lol. Like you never see them reheating last night's leftovers for breakfast (which is my fave haha)
I love dinner for breakfast!
I love leftovers too!
I love to eat pizza for breakfast once in a while😂
Same, my favorite leftover breakfast is curry 😋
I literally make pastas ahead of time, just because they are my favorite breakfast 😂😂😂
As a former ballerina myself AND someone with eating disorder history (astonishingly *not* at the same time lol) I was seeing my former self so much in her. It’s kind of making me mad that she’s going through her day so nimble-footed on so low calories. It’s nowhere near enough and this might influence young dancers / or young people in general to believe you should in fact eat that little.
And I even think to remember so many comments that were applauding her like “finally a ballerina who eats regular portion sizes” and I was like whaaaat?🤨😂 are y’all out of your mind?
Thank you, Abbey for tackling that video ❤️
Thank you for sharing. I'm glad it was helpful!
What’s weird to me is that she says “sometimes I want _____ and that’s okay”, yet she never actually mentions that she eats what she craves or enjoys, only that she “wants” to. I hope she’s okay. The dance world doesn’t seem very food-friendly.
I hope she's okay too!
@Violett Fem are you serious? I'm so sorry that you can't write down your private thoughts if you wanted to. Btw if you have an iPhone or iPad you can make locked notes.❤️
Yeah, it feels like she’s preemptively defending herself/her choice… hmm
this is a very stereotypical thing to say. a lot of us eat normal
I remember being 13 years old, my ballet teacher approaching each girl a couple months out from our end of year concert and telling each one how they should diet leading up to it. She approached me and said “you’re fine” because I was skinny enough in her eyes. I felt so bad for the girls who didn’t have the traditional ballet body, we were just children.
🤯
Wow 🙁
My dance teacher in high school tried that. My high school dance group had very healthy relationships with food, it was something social we all bonded over. The first girl worshipped our teacher and it was so sad to see how much it hurt her. The next girl she tried it on was completely secure in herself, and her mother had none of it. Very satisfying to hear her put our teacher in her place (she was awful for a lot of reasons other than these comments too). The kind of mom we all deserve really.
When we were training to start pointe, my teacher just straight up told me that, “with that build you will never be a ballerina, so don’t push yourself and wreck your feet.” I was devastated, but ultimately she was right. I’m stocky, and it’s fine but it was hard to understand that at 12. I took another year of tap and then quit dancing altogether. No regrets.
I started dancing at age 3 in 1969 and still dance at a studio bc I love it. But your comment is so accurate. Growing up in NY, after we dressed for class, we routed through a room where we were weighed and measured and then provided "tips" on how to improve. This was just life and thought nothing of it until I had a kid and had to struggle not to judge him. That's ridiculous and I can see now how my love/hate relationship with food and my body were formed. I do feel, though, that there is a trend away from this now. The local places I go to now are much more inclusive to all body types. Nutrition and being more muscular is encouraged in the kids. I like it. I think the popularity of lyrical and ethnic dancing contributed bc those forms require more muscular depth than ballet which lends itself more to a light body with more muscular legs only.
I’m by no means a professional ballerina but I wouldn’t even last for one session of class on what she eats. Hoooooow?! On ballet days I’m eating everything but the kitchen sink, because my body is like “FEED ME WOMAN!” 😅
Me too!
Honestly even for sitting around all day, this isn't much food for a lot of folks.
@@beckyedmonds4078 so right!😩
Honestly, there's a point where you don't want to eat because you want a lighter leg to lift. It's a balancing act and really individual.
Honestly a lot depends on the schools and from my experience this is normal. Some don't like to eat around the other girls cause they're always judging saying they're getting fat their partner in pas de deux is going to need a crane to lift them. The professional schools associated with the big companies, they only admit students who have a certain look. A lot of companies STILL pick based off Balanchine's descriptions of how dancers should look. My friend trained at the Georgia Ballet and they would weigh them in front of the class to see if they gained weight. At my school 14 years olds would smoke so they wouldn't eat. My pointe teacher told me I was too fat to be a dancer and that i was putting too much stress on my ankles if I didn't loose more weight. Read Gelsey Kirkland's biography. Beautiful art but very toxic
As a dancer myself, snacking smaller is less about caloric need and more about fullness and discomfort. As a dancer your jumping and turning and having a bunch of food in your belly can be unpleasant causing things like nausea and acid reflex- at least for me personally.
thats totally fair but you still need to fuel your body and choosing low calorie high volume foods like puffed snacks and veggie soups isnt the way to do it.
@@AbbeysKitchen have you seen her other videos? In other videos she eats more and in your terms "better"
When I used to dance, I couldn't stand to have anything in my stomach when I was training or performing, so I would eat after, and eating really late, like at 10:30pm or later, brings on a whole different set of digestive problems, lol
@@aeolia80 same, dancing with a full stomach was no party lol. I would eat a few hours before I danced (I trained about 9 hours a week so not professional or something) and right after.
she could at least eat some almonds or something instead of literally like... 8 grams of chickpea flour lol
This is a huge reason why I am working towards my Master's in nutrition! There are so many things that need to be changed about how we teach dancers about nutrition and body image. As so many people have commented below, dancing heavily attributed to my disordered eating, amenorrhea, and injuries, which is why I am so passionate about helping other dancers. I currently dance for a professional dance company that is helping to change the narrative surrounding the "dancer body", so real change can happen in the industry. Love what you talk about Abbey!
Wait, you're a dancer?
@@FlamingBasketballClub I am!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm so glad it's helpful!
I have a feeling she eats more but is embarrassed to say so. In that environment eating " a lot " is frowned upon.
Yeah felt a lot like she kept telling us different things she ate but we weren’t seeing it. Food = Fuel. Did not see that happening.
Completely agree. She appears to be of normal weight and she would be a stick if that’s all she ate.
Possibly
Yes because she looks healthy and not skinny at all ☺️
In other videos she does eat more....
Being a ballerina for over 13 years and not once did I ever feel good enough. So sad what it does to yourself esteem. I would never want my child to go through this.
I'm so sorry for your experience. I hope you are doing better now ❤️
the second i finished watching scout’s video, i thought to myself: “i wonder what abbey would say? 🤔”. thank you for reviewing it! you’ve helped me and my mindset around food tremendously in these last years while I’ve been in recovery. i appreciate you!!!
I'm so glad it's been helpful!
I wish there was a nutritionist and psychologist at each professional dance studio so there is support given to all those athletes.
I’d love to see Abby talk about her dance background a little bit and how it influenced her career today
I can put this on my list to discuss!
Yes please!!
I agree!!!
@@AbbeysKitchen please! I was wondering the same thing, as a current musical theatre major observing all the pressure there is to “lose weight” and “be thin” in that industry as well
My mum was in a ballet school till she was 15, daily weigh ins in front of other girls and body shaming was considered normal. My mum was lucky enough to have very fast metabolism but some of her school friends were surviving on apples and carrots. She finally decided she wants to have a life and quit.
Wow 🙁
as a ballet dancer and dancer myself, i feel like abbey did such a good job on this video. Thank you!!!
Thank you!
My dog is named Scout so every time you said Scout I just pictured a border collie doing ballet lol
😂
The name Scout reminds me of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Best comment on here hahahahahahahaha
@@pamjones7426 We named our daughter Scout from TKAM!
@@floridafamilyfun1597 Love it!
My roommate at a renowned arts camp/school was a ballerina. We were in 8th grade, and she - and the other ballerinas - were obsessed with keeping their weight down, even at such a young age. I remember she would eat a small PB&J for lunch and a small salad for dinner, and that was after a full day of dancing. I was a musician and ate so much more, and I remember that triggering me a bit, even though I was fit and slim and never had problematic thoughts about food or my weight. What I learned is that the pressures in the world of high performance athletics is not about health but rather performance - and in ballet, how you look is a critical part of that standard.
MegSquats is a competitive powerlifter, but is also a soon-to-be mom and has a lot of "what I eat in a day" content on her channel! I'd love to see you review her
I'll have a look!
My husband does powerlifting and the amount of food he eats is actually mind-boggling sometimes. It definitely helps him bulk up quickly. But many professional powerlifters (the men, anyway) do unfortunately end up with heart issues fairly young from eating heaps of meat and fat etc.
I would love a video on how microwaves don't do anything to food because that's something I've definitely stressed about. I epecially want to know why there are so many myths in the first place
On my list to discuss!
So many myths come from lack of basic education
@@drdrdrk Maybe but also fear often overrides common sense
It's totally fine. No issues and no danger. Just dont reheat your food inside plastic boxes (put it on a microwave safe plate or in a bowl that isnt plastic) because it softens the plastic and can transfer into your food.
I heard it's because cheap plastic food containers with BPA could cause problems with food when heated in a microwave, so instead of changing their food storage people put in the way bigger effort to live without any microwave
I’m in the ballet world and sadly, this isn’t new. there is a huge amount of pressure to have the correct “look” on stage and that puts a lot of people at risk
I'm sorry 🙁
Same in the theatre world. I’ve been told that even though I have a high, legit mezzo-soprano/soprano range, I don’t have the right “onstage look” for “ingenue” or young female characters and that if I want to be cast in a romantic lead I should lose weight.
I have a history with disordered eating and it’s taken a long time to learn to just roll my eyes at those comments and move on but it’s still disheartening sometimes and occasionally does tempt me to try for extreme weight loss. But I just cope with it and refuse to give in by basically convincing myself I know more than the ED voice. She ain’t read no biology textbooks, she’s no woman of science, *I* am
OMG! You took the suggestion 🙌🏻
Thank you for covering this.
Such a great video
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this Abbey. When I first watched this video I was absolutely shocked at how little she ate and felt guilty for eating so much more than her, so I appreciate your reassuring message here. As a former ballet dancer for 13 years who developed an eating disorder, I've seen how toxic the dance environment can be...I was hardcore judged for eating just a sandwich :( Very sad to see and I hope the pro-restriction ballet culture improves in the future.
I'm so glad it was helpful!
Dancer here. When you’re dancing all day, it’s so hard to eat a lot durning the day because whatever you eat, it really ways you down. I hated eating anything before dance. Annnd you have no time to eat anyways - you have no time between classes/rehearsals.
It’s best to snack and then eat a big dinner. It sounds like she has a pretty good relationship with food. (Just my opinion...)
I wondered about that. I intermittent fast because that's what works best for me not about loosing weight. It seems with a schedule like that making dinner the main meal with the large majority of calories for the day would make sense. The key is to get the needed calories and macros in though. Fasting schedules like that tend to have dinner spread out over a couple hours because it's so much food.
I was thinking that too, I have never danced, but it seems like it might make someone nauseous to eat a lot in between classes.
Yeah sometimes after eating I can’t do anything after for a while lmao I can’t imagine having to rehearse after a meal. It definitely wouldn’t feel good
Yes. I didn't like this video at all because this lady is treating Scout like someone with a regular job. If she ate something other than an apple or soup between rehearsals, she'd probably be feeling too fatigued to dance. About her calories, imo as a dancer ~1600 would be fine for me, I physically can't eat 2000+ calories (especially if it's healthy food, so not a calorically dense sugary drink, or fast food) it's too much for me. I relate to the sugar giving you energy issues, I don't care what research says, I can feel it in my body. This video is perpetuating the stereotype of all dancers undereating, and it's upsetting to watch. This lady is supposedly all about intuitive eating, but apparently not in the way that works for Scout. 🙄
but she didn't have a big dinner..?
All these foods look good but I definitely agree that she doesn't eat enough food. As an athlete who trained 3-4 hours a day in high school and is now a Division I athlete, I could not imagine eating that little. Honestly, I would eat what she is eating but twice the amount that she's eating. I definitely feel that there is pressure on athletes to always be thin and lean and I had trouble and still struggle with this myself. Naturally, I am on the leaner side, but I've always gotten comments from other people about my size and whether or not I should have more muscle or less fat as an athlete, and also questioning me every time I wanted a donut. What I try to do for mealtimes is always incorporate some type of protein, carb, and greens into each meal so that I am always satiated and happy. And if I want to eat a donut or have a bowl of ice cream I will.
👏👏👏♥
For sure. I'm glad that works for you! Thank you for sharing your experience
Yes - the food she's eating is nutritionally sound but just not enough. I used to be a dancer and my standard meal before four hours of dance classes was two slices of whole-wheat seeded bread with Avocado, feta and a protein (egg or meat) so essentially what she had for breakfast x 2.
I appreciate how carefully you mention someone's eating habits and don't judge them! You entertain us while educating us as well and you respect the person whose video you are reviewing. Thank you! Also, OMG at eating cotton balls and tissue paper. whoa! I am a adult figure skater and typically only skate 1-2 hours a day on top of a daily additional work out and I cannot imagine eating this few calories and having energy, let alone eating something like cotton or paper and trying to do anything active. How sad and scary.
Thank you for debunking the sugar thing. I try to never make it a big deal with my toddler and when she was sick in the hospital a dr. told me that toddlers actually need some amount of sugar, especially when sick, because their blood sugar can crash very quickly. I also have a small bowl of candy every night - sour keys or fuzzy peaches are my weakness - and always wondered if it contributed to my insomnia. Glad to know that it's not likely the culprit...it's more likely the wine 😂
Totally! I'm glad that was helpful
I just turned 21 like 5 months ago and I already have stopped drinking almost entirely, I reserve it only for celebrations (weddings, New Years, etc.) bc I found it messes with my sleep so much.
Stephanie I am a therapist for folks with substance use problems.You are correct. Even small amounts of alcohol (without a disorder or dependence on it) can cause sleep disturbance. Folks think it helps because it can help them fall asleep, this is separate from staying asleep. Hope it helps. Addressing since Abbey did not.
@@jessa.4529 thanks for this. I've noticed as I got older and reduced my alcohol intake (consequence of being a parent and not a young party-goer anymore) that even if I have one glass of wine, I tend to wake up in the middle of the night with a racing heart.
as a baller dancer in training, i also used to show signs of an eating disorder and it's very common for a lot of dancers who want to go pro. but as time passed, i realized food isn't our enemy and it's okay to eat whatever. i think it depends on the ballet school you train in because my ballet school is pretty positive and aren't encouraging us to eat less. i just wanted to say from all the comments i've read is that not everyone's experiences with ballet is toxic, and i'm really grateful to have supportive teachers who don't tell me to eat less :)) and for those who did have toxic experiences with ballet, i'm sorry you had to go through that and i wish you all the best and stay healthy in your life! 🤍🌷
Which is your ballet school?
When I went from dancing as a student to dancing professionally, I found it very difficult to eat enough calories given how short our breaks were. You know how when you eat a big meal you feel tired after? Dancers have no room for that. Literally. You cannot be soft-headed and tired in your last rehearsal of the day. When I started losing weight, I started eating ice cream every night just to increase my calorie intake. We actually could get pulled out of a role if we lost much weight, but I also realized it just wasn't healthy or sustainable to be too underweight. It would have been good to add calorie density with healthier options, but I was so exhausted at the end of every day it was hard to make that happen.
I love when Abbey ends a sentence with “folks”, or even better “people” - the sass 😂
😂
Science + Sass 😂😂😂😂😂
We love a sassy queen 😂
I figured she was just trying to cater to gender non-binary folks
@@SaneeXD I think it’s a bit of both, I know she does try to be mindful of being inclusive though 🙂
I've never been this early!
Please review "counting calories with a balerina" from Munchies.
You are gonna be pleased with her amazing attitude toward food.
I'll have a look at that one!
I love that one!
Is that the one where she starts her day with a pre-breakfast corndog?? (love her!!)
Yes please! I was going to suggest that one!
Please!!!
I’ve never been a dancer but I had a friend at school who was. She loved ballet, but was considered slightly “chubbier” than the “norm”. She once told me that her ballet teacher told them what to eat and that she needed to watch her weight. How old were we when she told me this story? We were 6. 6 years old. Year 2. It’s staggering.
Wow. I'm so sorry
That breaks my heart
I had a ballet teacher pinch my stomach in front of the class and tell me “with all the gymnastics you do, you should have a 6 pack”
...at age 7
@@abbigailcarr2725 that is just awful - I'm so sorry that happened to you
As a dancer, having slow digesting/ larger meals before rehearsal and class is just not comfortable and doesn’t produce the best performance. That may be why she has small snacks of fruit between rehearsals.
Completely agree. As a former national team athlete it was horrible because we had so many training but you cant eat pasta and meatballs and be able to train right away 😂😂😂 so I ate a lot in the evening and hella lot of snacks during the day 😂😂
Thats totally fair but you still need to fuel your body and choosing low calorie high volume foods like puffed snacks and veggie soups isn't the way to do it
Totally agreed. Having more food than humble portions as a dancer between rehearsals can be nauseating or just plain uncomfortable.
I agree. Thank you for reviewing a ballerina and highlighting the problem in body standards in ballet. I have certainly seen and felt the negative effects of this, and am learning how to fuel my body efficiently and sufficiently as well.
But why can’t she eat dates then? They’re high in carbs and low in volume.
I love how respectful you are while providing constructive feedback. 👏🏼
Thank you!
my ballet teacher made us all keep a food diary and then shamed us in front of the class if it wasn't 'healthy' enough (i was 12). She once threw the strawberries i was eating in the bin during a break because they were too sugary :D
😲😲😲
I'm so sorry to hear this!
🤮 what a monster
I’m sorry you had to go through this 💙
My dance teacher started diet shaming us around age 7-8 also. She'd pinch any fat on your thighs and bellies and twist, it left little red marks! Many of us she had been teaching since we were 4, my mom snuck me in there at 3 lying about my age. Classic Russian trained ballet witch. Some of my classmates ended up with what I now know to be anorexia by the third grade.
I just love sourdough because it’s bloody delicious! I grew up eating it in my family, and as an Aussie love it with lashings of butter and vegemite! I do love scout’s video glad you reviewed this so informative as always 🥰
I love it too!
I eat a long loaf of sourdough each week. By myself lol. Too delicious and easier on my tummy than store bought.
Could you do a whole video about the microwave? A while back I got a bit brainwashed about microwaves sapping nutrition out of our food and I still struggle with it. Thanks Abbey!
I'll put it on my list to do this!
Yess! Second this as I’ve weirdly only just bought my first microwave.. ever.. and not really sure about them
Thank you so much. I love Scout, I’ve watched many of her videos, and in my head I’d pegged her as a ‘normal’ ballet dancer with ‘healthy’ standard eating habits. I’m in recovery from my ED, so when I saw this WIEIAD a few months ago I felt so greedy and ashamed that I NEED some like banana and PB after a workout. Thank you for this. Thank you for being a dietician who reminds us that our bodies NEED and DESERVE to be nourished!
I'm so glad it was helpful for you!
I love your review! been waiting for this one. I am an athlete, but im a runner, not a dancer, but when I saw that apple, I couldn't believe how she can possibly feel energized after that! I eat a big breakfast and after AM practice, I have a good lunch (not a vegetable soup - that would not give me nearly enough energy and I would probably end up in the restroom instead of track for my PM practice!). I eat salads for dinner only to avoid stomach issues while running, so a lot of vegetables for lunch are a no go (whoever runs longer distances knows! lol). after practice I immediately have a chocolate milk, protein bar or protein shake and try to eat a meal within 1.5 hrs after practice.
A video about microwave's myths... YAAAS PLEASE!
I will put this on the list!
Definitely!!
@@AbbeysKitchen please do! My grandma convinced me when I was little that I always have to close the microwave to protect myself from the radiation, and k thought I would get zapped with cancer if somehow the microwave started with the door open....
Abby, you are so kind and wholesome! We are lucky to have you.
"IF your toes weren't bleeding, you weren't doing it right."
Josephine from The Point Shop is screaming at her mom's instructors rn
Right?!
😂
Omg yes
When I was a full time dance student my teachers would make comments about my weight even though I weighed under 100 pounds and had a waist measurement smaller than the 8 year olds I taught. It is changing but it’s a very slow turning ship
Wow. I'm so sorry
Thank you SO much for this. I was hoping you'd do this, to help a lot of young girls. I was honestly shocked when i read that 99% of comments under the video were praising her for being an athlete that 'finally eats enough'. I'm like...how far into disordered eating are we that we're praising someone eating this little, ESPECIALLY A PRO ATHLETE that has to train intensively 7-8 hours a day, as eating a 'good amount' and 'more than other dancers'. I'm still in shock, like, how little must inactive girls think they have to eat? Everyone i know eats sooooo much more than she does, SO much more, and none are athletes. The fact that hundreds of comments with hundreds of likes were praising her for eating enough...when this wouldn't be enough for a sedentary child, let alone an athletic woman, chills me. It scared me like no other. How little do these girls think they need to eat? What has diet culture done to us?
I'm glad it was helpful. I understand, it is very concerning
thank you so much for doing a dancer’s “what i eat in a day”. i’m a former dancer myself and the struggle is real! i still struggle with my ed but i love watching your videos for inspiration!
I'm so glad it was helpful!
I am so glad my ballet teachers don't comment on our weight at all even though we are a pretty big school. The teachers are super understanding and even though most of us are pretty thin (not russian ballet dancer stick thin but not overweight at all), when we gain a bit of weight they don't comment on it. They do remind us to eat nutritious foods (whole foods like veggies, grains and fruit) and less junk foods but never forced anything on us. I think they are telling us to eat healthy so we can support our dancing better, and there was never any mention of 'you can't eat ___'. Also they sometimes bought us chocolates for special occasions too which always made my day 😂 there was a few times that she said 'stomach' to me but I wasn't engaging my core so it wasnt a body issue, more about my technique lol
Bless her heart. I'm a ex ballerina and I'm having flash backs to sneaking a banana in the bathroom stall. The 12% statistic is way off. I dont know how that data was gathered but its more like 60-70% at the professional level.
For sure, this statistic definitely seems off. I'm sorry for your experience
When I was doing gymnastics (rhytmic), I remember training days where some girls ate celeri and fennel as their lunch because it was "0 calories". I was 13 and I had never been exposed to diet culture. I just thought "it looks so...sad". A couple years later, my coach gave me a earful about being "too fat" (I wasn't anything close to fat). Thankfully, I'm really strong headed so I was like "yeah I'll watch what I eat" and didn't. I wasn't a professional athlete, and I didn't have that ambition at all so I wasn't motivated like some of the girls who aimed to be pro, were suuuper thin and had lost their periods.
My sister was a ballet dancer and she got anorexia. She's fine today but she's been struggling again lately because she gained weight in pregnancy. We're supporting her !
Scout is one of the healthiest looking ballet
dancers I have ever seen. Not sickly, skinny or low energy. She seems to be doing really well❤️
A ballerina who doesn't eat enough? Practically unheard of lol
Is it possible she eats kind of light on her rehearsal days so she doesn’t feel “weighed down” and lethargic, and then packs it in on the off days?
Yes!! I thought it was bad to eat a lot right before you work out. I end up throwing up... I believe it's better to eat like Scout instead of eating more and throwing up 3 times a day every day!!
I suppose it’s possible. But when I was a competitive athlete I would be STARVING in between games. I didn’t eat large amounts of food but I did eat a lot of protein and if I didn’t eat enough I would have been more tired and unable to play as hard. If you don’t have fuel, you aren’t going to be compete at your highest level.
For sure. And that's totally fair but you still need to fuel your body and choosing low calorie high volume foods like puffed snacks and veggie soups isn't the way to do it
it’s possible,
however being a dancer myself - it’s extremely unlikely.
I never feel lethargic after I eat? Unless I overeat or eat a lot of fat. If I eat a nicely balanced meal until I’m comfortably full, no issues.
When I was 12 years, having sudden growth due to puberty I gained weight and my Dance Teacher who's teaching for 3 years then, said that I have to lose weight and start dieting, that was one of the events I became too conscious with food
I'm so sorry that happened to you
Your videos have taught me so much! I used to eat extremely low calorie amounts and I workout everyday along with playing 1-2 hour basketball games. Thank you for helping me become more comfortable eating higher calorie meals.❤️
I'm so glad my videos are helpful for you!
Ok I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought this wasn’t enough food! When I first watched scouts video I was like “wait if she just needs that much food and she’s working out that much, then I definitely don’t need much more food when I’m not even working out like she is”... yeah I tried eating like her for a day.. I was STARVING not to mention exhausted.. I hope she’s ok💗
I hope so too!
Not gonna lie, i used to be obsessed with watching ballet dancers describe their eating habits esp the one that munchies posted from around 2017-2018. The calorie counting and the hard work/dedication i found to be really inspiring. I even got into a really intense and *ideal* body that i was applauded for on social media. It’s only been through the eventual crash of 2020, these review videos, and retropective wisdom that i realized that i had developed a very unhealthy relationship with food that used shame and guilt in the name of health/fitness to acheive goals in a quick and unsustainable way. Thanks for highlighting and spotlighting these habits that many athlethes and gymgoers face on an everyday basis and normalizing realistic food habits, Abbey. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thank you for sharing your experience with this!
Dang, I wish I saw a handful of puffed snacks as “filling”. I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to eat a handful of cheese balls. I’m not full until they’re gone. 😂
😂same!
could you maybe review "counting calories with a ballerina"? i think it's really good how she explains that she still eats what she likes and it might be a good counterexample to this one :)
On my list to review!
I remember watching this video and was like "wow!! Ballerina's actually eat? This looks so well balanced and she has such a healthy relationship with food" but I'm also overcoming disordered eating so ... I needed your video Abby
I am Professional Ballerina I am still battling Eating Disorder although I eat now 3 meals a day a snacks in between, thanks to Abbey channel inspired me to take small steps towards feeling good And now I am dancing and eating so healthy thanks to Abby recipes.
I also recommended your channel to my fellow colleagues, trust me if it helping me it will help them. I know barely well Scout I just came across with her in a performance it happens to be we were dancing the same Ballet Nutcracker it was long long time
I agree with abbey I started ballet when I was 2 years old
I'm so glad my channel is helpful for you!
I LIVE for the moments when Abbey says …”I have some thoughts” 😎
😊👍
I’m an ultra athlete, and if I don’t eat a billion calories a day, I’d pass out. Don’t know how these dancers do it!! I think there’s still so much stigma/calorie fear among ballerinas... even though they probably wouldn’t gain any weight if they upped their intake with the amount of intensity they put their bodies through
I understand, it is concerning 😫
I've done Ballet since I was three and my ballet teacher is the sweetest. She teaches my group so many lessons and always told us that our bodies were okay as they were and that we shouldn't try to get a sixpack or be stick thin by unhealthy habits. I still developed an Ed but I only know about like two other girls who struggled.
Hi Abby! I’m not sure if you’re ever going to read this but here goes. I just wanted to tell you that I’m a big fan of yours and loving everything you’ve put out.
I’m Japanese living in Nara, Japan. 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵 The horrible Goop stuff and all has found its way over here and I’m trying so hard to get the right message across to my friends and family but it’s such an uphill battle!!!! So many of my work friends tell me that they drink lemon water first thing in the morning for “better metabolism and boost immune system”. I mean…..
Thank you so much for your incredibly informative output and please keep up the fabulous work!
Thank you so much for sharing! I'm so glad it's helpful!
I did ballet for seven years. Not a long time, but it was enough to see the horrors that go on beyond closed doors. I was seen as a chunkier kid to them. I was a healthy weight but they would constantly tell me to suck my stomach in. Multiple times a practice, four-five days a week. One thing the main ballet teacher said to the class stuck out to me and I will remember it to this day, despite it being around 10 years ago. “I can’t even push my stomach out that far if I tried”. That stung more than anything and I wasn’t even the heaviest kid there. On top of this I would hear stories about the middle teen girls who were applying to be in the “company”. The elite class of older girls in my studio. They would weigh you in front of everyone as a prerequisite and if you were too heavy you couldn’t join. They would then weigh you, again, I’m front of everyone, each week. If you were to gain weight you would be put on a diet. Besides all of this emotional and psychological trauma about weight, one of the main teachers would get drunk and throw things and scream at the girls. I never witnessed the drunkenness, as it was only with the company, but I had been screamed at and made to cry countless times. I tried for years to quit but my mom wouldn’t let me. I’m glad I was finally able to. I somewhat miss it, as I feel like I had some potential, but on the other hand, I’m glad I was able to have somewhat normal early to middle teen years. I still developed an ED though about 4 years ago and am currently relapsing so I didn’t avoid that lmao. Anyway, rant over, and if you made it to the end, thanks for listening
I did ballroom, not even ballet which I hear is more intense, and my boss was ALWAYS on me about my weight. She was always pushing me (and any of my female coworkers she decided didn't look "right") to do fasts and all liquid/shake diets. There have been steps towards improvement but the dance community as a whole has a pretty ugly relationship with food and their bodies.
Note: My boss was particularly bad, don't be afraid to dip your toe into ballroom or other types of dance, it's a really fun hobby and the people are usuay awesome.
Wow, I'm sorry. Thank you for sharing your experience
Wow thank you Abbey for reviewing this one! I remember watching it after having seen a lot of your videos thinking that you would find this a great “what I eat in a day” video. Thanks for continuing to educate us.
I'm glad it was helpful!
Thank you for being so understanding about different people's different styles of eating while still educating about health and nutrition!
I would love to see you talk healthy eating and the ballet world with Kathryn Morgan, an accomplished ballerina who has had a pretty serious issue with her health due to trying to be thin enough for her company.
Yes!
On my list!
Yes I love Kathryn they would be a great collaboration
@@AbbeysKitchen Katherine would possibly be up for doing a colab as it's a topic she feels strongly about.
The “vegan-free” part of the ad made me chuckle. It felt like a “no vegans were harmed in the making of this protein powder” joke lol! Love to see another vegan-friendly protein powder on the market! 🌱
Sorry about that, it was meant to say "vegan friendly"!
@@AbbeysKitchen no worries! It was like a little teaser to see if people were paying close enough attention during the ad portion 😄
Makes me laugh when people say salad is “easy on the stomach.” Raw veggies hurt my tummy and bloat me.
What a beautifully articulated summation of the dance community, where the lines of discipline, body image, and technique are so blurred and difficult to navigate in a healthy way. Thank you for this video.
As a professional dancer, this was my favorite episode yet! I hope you do munchies cause there are NO good videos out there for dancers and how to fuel our bodies for movement.
kind of off topic but im in love with the way abbey sprinkles gifs and clips from the office throughout her videos 😂
😂thanks!
I just signed up my three almost four year old for dance. I sincerely hope she never has to struggle with her body image or her eating habits. It's hard to think about her being exposed just through her interests and hobbies. As a mother, we really want to do our best for our children
I see that Harper's Bazaar just posted Nina Dobrev's "What I Eat in a Day." I would love to see you review, Abby!
On my list!
I was a professional dancer and actor -pursuing Broadway- before the pandemic. I’m short and stocky and was told I had to lean o and lose weigh. Abby said 3000 calories and my brain blew! I was living off 1500 cals a day with 1650 being a “cheat” meal day. It’s truly insane. I was as slim as I could get but constantly sore and attributed it to the constant training, auditioning, and stress of living in NYC
I was a former ballet dancer as well and ate much the same as Scout even after I stopped dancing. The effects did not catch up with me until my 30’s. I think it bears repeating that you can “feel good” and “feel full” being malnourished as a young person bc the act of dancing is truly the most mentally and physically absorbing thing ever. And you have an excess of hormones surging through your body. I wish I’d had Abby in my life sooner to avoid some of the garbage I was fed about diet. This video is so helpful for all the young dancers out there.
I'm so glad it's helpful!
I'm not surprised she eats so little, I grew up in the arts (i'm a cellist) so I was always surrounded by ballerinas and lets face it, they have one of the highest anorexia issues of all time. A lot of my ballerina friends struggled with it for years and would always say "I had a HUGE salad 4 hrs ago, i'm good!" and later on knew they were trying to avoid gaining weight. It's really sad and i'm just glad the topic is being talked about a lot more and more ballerina's aren't being forced to starve themselves.
Coming across your videos has really helped repair my relationship with food. Love ya Abby
I'm so glad!
I’d never heard off the cotton balls before, and I”m really glad I didn’t hear about that as a teen. I would’ve done that in a heartbeat.
I’m glad you didn’t cause it’s know to cause obstructions in people intestines and bowls.
cotton also contain toxins that damage your hormones.
yessss. so glad you mentioned the thing about sugar and the idea of it causing hyperactivity. i've been saying that for years. sugar does not cause hyper behaviour! its the thought of having sugar that causes the "hyperactivity".