The soloist of the Kielce Dance Theater and the Ballet Director – Małgorzata Ziółkowska is sharing her day in occupational life, preferences and the definition of dancer’s health.
“Food, drink, sleep, carnal love – all in moderation,” said Hippocrates. I often think about this quote by composing my meals or sitting at a table with my loved ones. For me, eating is not just realising basic needs. It is also a philosophy. I am a dancer – I need fuel to live. To the life which dance is for me.
A common dilemma of the dancers: be as slight as almost inaudible … What to do in spite of the desire for natural hunger, keep your figure in the frames of the correct proportions? Weight … commonly taboo … Every dancer should work out his, her way of nutrition, among other things so that the issue of this weight doesn’t have to be a constant stress and a factor inhibiting development, and sometimes even a struggle for survival in the profession.
My day starts early in the morning – at 7:00. I get up and try to start new day as if it were the last day in my life. I start the morning with a glass of water with lemon juice. It’s a great way to feel light. In the early spring season, I replace the lemon with barley grass on an empty stomach. Later, I eat a light meal because I don’t like to dance with an empty stomach or feel very hard. The basic product of my diet are basically eggs. I choose those from good sources, most often from the Świętokrzyskie region, exactly Swieta Katarzyna. I consume them in the various forms: omelettes, pastes, hard-boiled, soft or always with vegetables or avocados. Recently, I’m focus of an omelette with peanut butter and strawberry! I start the rehearsal at 9:30. During the break, around 11:00, I drink coffee (recently black, brewed without milk … Preferences year by year are changing, I used to drink a latte or cappuccino earlier) and eat my favorite banana or drink grapefruit juice with ginger (adore it!) . Around 14: 00/15: 00 I have a dinner, although I admit that it is the most technically difficult meal: depending on whether I have a hard rehearsal from 17:00 or evening performance, I decide earlier how this dinner will be organized. The basic form of this meal for about year is a soup. In winter – creams and “mushies”, and in summer light ones – especially – in polish – chlodniki. If I don’t have a trial then I choose meat. I love bloody beef. In the evening differently … Depends on inner strength. Sometimes a piece of salmon, vegetables, another time sandwich with ham, cheese and sometimes just protein cocktail.
fot. Mariusz Ogrodnik
I am a normal person after all – I pay attention to what I eat but I also tend to Fast – food. Normal. I think that I will burn these kilocalories for sure, but at the same time I realize that the internal organs are then burdened. I try to control it. The same with a glass of wine or a bottle of beer to cancel DOMs! Well, I have one weakness … ICECREAM. I will eat everyone and any form at any time of the day. Of course, everything in moderation, recalling Hippocrates, whose sentence is always with me.
Another element of the nutrition style is, of course, supplementation. I think that without it, in our profession, is almost impossible! I try to choose the natural one: ginseng or Chinese citrate. I’ve recently provided collagen. And water! I used to drink it a little … I was forgot, I wasn’t thinking about it … But I found a method – I buy small 0.5 liter bottles. I drink it immediately and control the amount during the day. I would suggest! The last issue is travelling (especially abroad) and their impact on my nutrition profile. I love the cuisines of other nations, especially Italian. I love to taste, get to know about the new flavors. But in this case also the principle rule is moderation ! The current rate of life forces us to make quick decisions. But we don’t have to give up! We are what we eat. And I want to be a coconut-peachy-dancing Raspberry …
fot. Artur Wijata