I'm not a dancer, but I definitely know about the extra pressure to be thin involved with things like dancing and also gymnastics.

Your bust-waist-hip ratio sounds fine!  We're the same height and my legs are short, so I'm actually quite envious of your long legs. :]  Not everyone is built the same way, so I think it's best to just accept and learn to love what you have. =)

I do, however, think that it'd be a good idea to start that new diet plan of eating breakfast (it's the most important meal of the day!) and snacking every 3 hours on healthier alternatives rather than eating 2 large meals because that'll help your metabolism and feel fuller throughout the day.

Sorry I'm not much help, just thought I'd give some input.

i'm a ballet dancer :) i know exactly what you mean about pressure to be skinny. but, you have a perfect body for a dancer--short torso and long legs is the ideal! decreasing dietary fat will not decrease your body fat (if you even have any). but i definitely think you should start eating breakfast, especially if you have morning class. and eating every three hours will keep your energy up all day.

I do ballet 5x week as well, fat intake doesn't really pertain to a waist-to hip ratio. I'd definetly start eating breakfast to start up your metabolism earlier, and have you ever tried pilates? it really helps with abdominal strength as well as waist firmness.

Thanks so much gadzooks and ewwxroflzz (:
I feel so motivated now!

I guess this means I'd have to wake up even earlier everyday! I usually wake up at about 6.00am and arrive at school just on time, now I shall have to get up at 5.30!

Not to mention having to somehow squeeze my snack times between classes on the days I don't have a break. My friends are going to think I'm mad, most are against the idea of me "diet-ing" cos they think I'm slim enough; but they don't understand that I'm doing this cos I'm a dancer. I still have too much body fat (especially near the waist), need to lose them!

New diet, here I come :D

Thanks trippythings!

I'd love to do pilates; in fact, I wanted to do them since a year ago, but due to time constraints, it remains as a unfulfilled wish ):
School hours over here are long and I have dance practices straight after, leaving me really worn out and left with little time by the end of the day...
and I still have schoolwork to complete.

Which is also why the diet I'm planning has to be as "non-invasive" as possible. Breakfast and small snacks all the way! :D

Mine is belly dance. It's so beautiful--it works equally well for women of any body type. You can be plump or slim, it's all good. Having a big middle can actually be an advantage in belly dance, you learn how to use it. Also, unlike ballet, you can keep doing it as you get older, since it works with the way the body naturally moves, not against it.

I think nothing would tone your abdominals better than the moves you learn in belly dance, like the ummi which is used a lot, and basically consists of swooping your navel around and back in a horizontal circle, from within.

Although in my last belly dance class, last winter, my teacher was this tiny size 0 clone of Twiggy, and I hated to see me and my huge fat middle in the mirror next to her. I really porked up over the winter since I was dealing with difficult issues in my life, I'd lost my job and was sitting at home a lot, feeling sorry for myself, and eating lots of Italian food. Seeing how gross I was becoming in the dance studio mirror was a powerful incentive to start dieting in the spring, and now my belly is trimmer, my waist-hip ratio is getting back to a decent place.

I need to get back to belly dancing more, it's absolutely the best exercise in the world. I love how it helps my body and my whole self to feel sensuous and feminine from within. It's as beneficial for my life energy as yoga, and it burns more calories to boot.

Just a little tip about breakfast: I also have to hurry in the morning and the preparation of breakfast has to be as short as possible, as I already have very short nights, so what I do is prepare as much as possible the night before, just before going to bed. I set the table, prepare the pan on the stove for the pancakes, the mix next to the measuring cups and the mixing bowl etc... I just have to pop the bread in the toaster and pour the coffee while making the pancakes. I can have a complete breakfast for the whole family done in just 15 minutes. On the days I know I won't even have that much time, I make scrambled eggs instead of pancakes and serve them with ham or cheese or toast. Or you can prepare some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with an apple the night before and take them with you with a thermos of hot coffee or juice.

Just a little bit of organization will take you a long way, so there is no real excuse not to have breakfast. Good luck!

Hey ms_joanna!

Belly dancing sounds like a lot of fun! Much as I would love to try it, I'm kinda conservative and as you can tell, kinda pressed for time too. Maybe I'll try it someday when I'm finally out of school (:

Meanwhile, the diet's the best way to keep my weight down. Thanks for your input anyway!

Thanks schaufel!

Yeah I did that today! Felt so proud of myself :D

It worked indeed! My hunger pangs (which usually come within the first 50 minutes of school) didn't come! And I didn't gobble down a whole bunch of junk during break due to the lack of hunger(: I happily ate my sandwich and actually enjoyed the taste (something I haven't done in a long time)!

I don't prepare breakfast for the family, but your tips sound good so I'll just suggest them to my housekeeper anyway(:

Thanks again :D