Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 9/7/2009

Question
QUESTION: hi, im rachel and i know you can pretty much start ballet at any age but i was wondering if its okay to do ballet at my size i wear a size 16 and im really overweight i weight about 246 lbs and im betweeen 5'8 an 5'9 height i really wanted to know cause i always wanted to do ballet just my mom never had the time or money to take me so can you give me some advice!?

ANSWER: Hi Rachel. I'm not sure if I'm talking to a child or a young adult here. However, start with the information in this interview at http://www.balletconnections.com/DianneBuxton

Find a restricted calorie diet that includes healthy fats and fresh foods, but excludes all white flour products, pastas and potatoes.

http://www.antiinflammatoryomegas.blogspot.com has a section on healthy fats.

Ballet is a great calorie-burning exercise. If you have no medical problems, just start.

Dieting obviously includes deprivation to a degree, but you should never be starving or nerve-wracked over it. A couple of walnuts are amazingly filling, and are a healthy fuel. Celery with a thin spread of cream cheese or mozarella is a healthy snack with lots of the minerals that get lost with exercise and perspiration.

Diet foods made with artificial sweeteners upset your body and brain chemistry. I personally don't recommend them.

"Protein Power" by Dr.'s Eades and Eades is a great volume of information on losing weight and staying strong. The book "Slow Burn" by Frederick Hahn has a 40 page section before the exercises that really explains the details of a healthy fat burning metabolism without getting too clinical.

All the best with this!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i was just wondering their is a place that teaches ballet around my area but it only haves 1 class peer week for ballet do u think i should try to find a place that has 2 or 3 classes a week or i should start off with 1 class per week?!

Answer
Rachel, use google to find the studios in your area (which you didn't tell me so I couldn't look for you anyway).

Decide what your goals are in ballet and then decide how many classes you want. Yes, you will progress more with more classes if you work well.

http://www.theballetstore.com/ has a glossary of French words for ballet and lots of ballet technique articles you can read to help you advance faster.

All the best, Dianne