3,500 calories to gain a pound of fat

Now, I'm probably like most of you who have been athletes and dancers for your whole life, but somehow still managed to pack on some unwanted pounds. Dance Teachers often struggle with weight as they juggle busy jobs, teach classes (but actually get little exercise) and are just real people like everyone else with stress, menopause, and families to feed.

I thought I knew how to lose weight, but I didn't really. For instance, I thought losing weight to look good for the recital was a perfectly acceptable reason to lose weight. Turns out its not. Lowering your cholesterol to stave off heart disease is a better reason. (but I'm still secretly hoping to look great for the recital, don't tell my Dr.)

Today, I'm sharing something that I learned - It takes deleting or burning 3,500 calories (on top of those you need just to live) from your diet to lose 1 lb. Or it takes 3,500 calories to GAIN a pound too. Gosh, one home-cooked family dinner at Thanksgiving plus leftovers surely must be 3,500 calories. No wonder we often gain 5 lbs. during the holidays. And that megabag of M&M's you keep for emergency fuel? Watchout! That's why it's not possible to lose 5 real pounds of fat in a week- despite what the ads tell you. One or two lbs a week is a safe, yet tough goal if you do it right.

Teaching an average dance class for 30 minutes for me only burns, according to the calorie burn charts, about 60 calories - a good night of teaching may be over 350 cal. And one full out, full steam ahead ballet class for an hour can burn nearly 450 calories (if you aren't the teacher.)

So, the next time you want to reward yourself for a hard nights work at the studio remember you may not have gotten as much exercise as you think... fuel your body for nutrition not to relieve the the stress from the day.

After class, get some exercise for yourself. Go for a run or a walk, jump rope, or do yoga. You deserve it. You all give so much to others, give a little back to yourself.