It’s Hump Day! Andddd that means it’s also time to share a day in the life of Housewife Glamour eats for What I Ate Wednesday.
Those who frequent the blog might already know where this week’s focus is going. As a professional dancer, eating clean has not just become a habit of mine… but a complete lifestyle.
As you may have seen and read before, in no way to I deprive myself of any type of food, and instead know that there is a time and a place to indulge. I eat pizza, I eat ice cream, I try new foods when I travel, and I drink alcohol… all in moderation.
Through five seasons of dancing in the NBA (has it really been that long?!), I have learned how my body looks and operates best. With dancer auditions coming up in less than two weeks, we are now in what I like to call “Audition Prep Mode”.
It is absolutely part of my job as a professional dancer to watch what I eat. It is my responsibility to fuel my body with food that makes it think and perform best, and I am the only person who can make sure that happens. After a long season of dancing followed by a few months of summer break, it can certainly be a challenge to get back into a clean eating routine.
Although it is important to keep up my personal best throughout the entire season, there are two times of the year that we (dancers) must pay special attention to our bodies: Auditions and the Team Photo Shoot. Does this sound superficial? Probably so, but it’s just reality.
Reporters, crowds, and our own staff can be more than critical, and the outfits we wear do not provide much to hide from.
More than ever, NBA and NFL cheerleaders and dancers are under the microscope to look their best in uniform, and that is just part of what we sign up for dancing on a professional sports team.
Luckily, I have learned to remain tough and thrive off of the challenge!
I plan to go into more detail about this subject within the next few weeks, and want to encourage you all to send over any questions you might have regarding challenges of maintaining “the image” that goes along with what I do. Just like blogging, you are putting yourself out there and receive both positive and negative feedback as a result.
I guess as a dancer and a blogger, I need to keep my skin on the thick side!
Now onto this week’s WIAW, focusing on eating clean and providing my body with the nutrients it needs to get through the next month.
(As always, thanks for hosting, Jenn!)
What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday
I previewed my morning of pre + post-workout eats on yesterday’s workout post.
Pre-workout: FRS Healthy Energy drink mix for my water bottle (read my review!) + a Dark Chocolate Almond Zone Perfect Protein Bar.
It was the perfect amount to keep my tummy happy.
Post-Workout/Breakfast: Strawberry Vanilla Protein Smoothie Bowl! (One for me, one for Scott.)
Without measuring, I combined the following ingredients:
• frozen strawberries (lots of them!)
• 1 frozen banana
• 2 scoops Designer Whey French Vanilla Protein Powder
• organic skim milk
• chia seeds (probably about 2 Tbsp.)
• a sprinkle of hemp seeds and fresh cut strawberries on top
Lunch: Chicken Sausage Bowl. (Basically, a mishmosh of whatever was left over in our refrigerator.)
Brown rice, beans, and peas mixed together (sounds gross, but was surprisingly delightful) with an Al Fresco Chicken Sausage cut up on top. I told you… random city.
Snack: 1 serving Blue Diamond Mocha Coffee Almonds + 1 serving Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness Smoothie.
I am starting to become obsessed with Blue Diamond Almonds. Last week was the Salt ‘n Vinegar flavor, this week is the Mocha Coffee. Wonder what flavors will pop up in my pantry for the next few weeks to come?
Dinner: Green Monster Salad with MorningStar Farms Mediterranean Chickpea Burger.
Umm… swoon.
On my plate: a mix of fresh spinach, spring mix and romaine lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli slaw, grape tomatoes, cauliflower, avocado, and the chickpea patty (<- ties for my current favorite with the Spicy Black Bean Burger!) drizzled in balsamic vinegar and grapeseed oil. Scott’s salad also got a generous sprinkle of shredded cheese, but I refrained.
Dessert: 1 large cup of Ovaltine, using organic skim milk.
It might be lame, but it kept me completely content and satisfied my sweet tooth.
I guess that pretty much wraps it up for today. Off to the gym, then errands, followed by an audition prep class tonight.
Feel free to leave comments below with any questions on “Audition Prep Mode” eating and workout habits!
• If you liked this WIAW post, head on over to Peas & Crayons to check out plenty others, or even link your own!
• Also, you can always find my latest What I Ate Wednesday posts by exploring the “WIAW” tag on the right hand sidebar.
![[in our elementary school era] 🚌😭
Skyler did great walking into KINDERGARTEN with a big smile on his face this morning. I, however, was a bit of a mess on our walk home. 🥹
It’s wild how fast these 5 years with him have gone … 7 since we moved to NYC and into our apartment, dreaming of the day our kids would someday go to the *awesome* school right down our block. 🏫
That day is today, and I still don’t believe it — feeling allll of the emotions and thanking God for placing us here and for being able to trust His timing through the journey. 🫶🏼 #hbshinnyc
SO proud of you, SK - you are going to rock your first year at your “big boy school” - WE LOVE YOU !! 🩵👑](https://lifeinleggings.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
I love those almonds too! Salt n Vinegar is one of my favorite flavors. You should try the Wasabi & Soy Sauce and Honey Dijon flavors too-SO good!. I really surprised myself because I always go for the sweet flavors but I wasn’t that big of a fan of the coconut almonds. Weird!
I’m seriously obsessed. I have tried the Wasabi before and they are good, but almost too much for me. Uhhhh, they have coconut almonds? Can’t wait to find those!
As a fellow dancer, I love seeing all the work that goes into audition prep mode! I’d love to learn more about how you prepare for auditions!
Great! Stay tuned for those types of posts coming later this week and next!
As a fellow “clean eater”, and blog follower, I’ve read all your WIAW’s. I think you have awesome meal ideas, and I love your random meals that require zero effort to do! I have always wanted to ask you, though, your thoughts on processed foods and genetically modified soy products. About a year ago, I became obsessed with label reading, and now I eat about 1/2 the things I used to. I notice that you do eat a lot of Morning Star and Protein bars, and I was wondering if this is something you also look for? I’d love to hear your thoughts about it! 🙂 Oh, and killer abs.
Thanks Tanya! Hmm… great questions! I think you just inspired a post to come about this. To quickly (and kind of vaguely) answer for now, I try to stay away from as much processed food as I can. I have only recently heard about negative effects of soy, so need to research on that a lot more. For now, I do love soy products and eat them often! I read labels, but not as much as I should. Maybe I could learn a thing or two from you!
Looks like a clean and delicious day of eats! That dinner salad looks especially scrumptious!
Thanks! With those types of salads, I always make extra too. Looking forward to a repeat for dinner tonight 😉
Hi Heather! B54 misses you! Awesome abs! So, I was wondering; how does your diet change when you’re prepping, are there certain types of food you avoid during that time? Oh and GOOD LUCK!
Aw – miss you too girl! That’s a great question. I plan to cover that all in an upcoming post! Stay tuned 😉
Good luck with your audition! When I was in a dance company we used to joke that we ate as much as athletes, but it’s true, you are working hard and need to eat! I love your moderation approach.
Oh, for sure! After a long game or rehearsal, I can eat for days! 😉
I have a random (and possibly silly) question! When you say “audition”, are you auditioning to dance for certain NBA teams? Or if you do automatically dance for the same team each year, what do your auditions determine? I’m relatively new to your blog, and pretty unfamiliar with this process! 🙂
Hi Kaitlyn! Yes… I audition for one specific team. This year it is for the Detroit Pistons, because I now live in that area. I previously danced for the Orlando Magic for 4 years, because I lived in that area. They do have a general NBA Dance team called the “Fan Patrol” that is based out of New Jersey, and perform at multiple NBA events all over the country and world. If I lived in that area, I would love to audition for that!
I love making mishmosh bowls with whatever is leftover in the fridge. I’m always surprised by how delicious they turn out too!
Blue Diamond is coming out with some great flavors! I really need to check out the salt n vinegar almonds.
Yes they are! And yes you do! 🙂
Good luck! I’m sure you’ll do amazing at the auditions! You look awesome in all of those pics!!!
Thanks Kristen!
Good luck at your auditions! 😉
Thanks Kim!
I definitely know THIS feeling! After 5yrs with the NFL, auditions and calendar/poster shoot times were definitely the hardest because you will live with those photos forever so I think that ups the pressure a little, needless to say! But it’s so rewarding to see what you can do to your body with a little extra hard work and clean eating!
Good luck with auditions!!! 🙂
P.S. It doesn’t get much better than a Dark Chocolate Zone bar, just sayin…
Wow – 5 years? I would have loved to auditioned for the NFL and done a season or two over there. Just never found the right team! You’re completely right. With 10 days to go, I’m feeling confident in knowing the results I can get… just from cutting crap 😉
WOW! Wishing you the best luck–but it looks like you don’t need it! You’re a pro and look amazing! I love that you pointed out it’s important to fuel your body for this! I would take each one of your meals!
Thanks Jess! Even after 5 years of auditioning and performing, I still get nervous every time.
I’m totally interested to hear ALL about this! I used to dance professionally, up until high school, when I quit (yes, I regret it!). So I love living through you still doing it because there will be times when I go to the Raptors game, etc and think, gosh, that would be so awesome!!!
It is quite the unique job, that’s for sure. If I ever get to go up to a Raptors game, I’ll have to let you know!
I think it’s great that you’re focusing on what you need to do to get back on track and do well with your audition.
No one else should judge for doing what makes you happy.
Your meals still look quite delicious to me although you’re eating super clean. I love hearing more about this.
Aw, thanks Lisa. Your food ALWAYS inspires me to eat clean 🙂
I love those almonds too!
You look awesome in all of those pics!!! 🙂
Thanks Lisa!
YUMMMMM to the chicken sausage! 😉 Love me some sausage that’s for sure!
Clean Eating is my life. Haven’t had sugar in 11 years 😀
WOW – that’s amazing!
I chocolate milk is my favorite way to tame a sweet tooth while indulging a little bit. Can’t wait to follow along your audition stuff 🙂
I probably have a glass at least 4x a week before bed 😉
Good luck on your auditions! i do have a question and im sorry if you had already covered this at one point. how many times per week do you work out, and also, how many times per week do you do cardio vs. strength training?
Thanks Amy! Generally, I do cardio 4-5 times a week and strength training or some form of group fitness toning class (like Fitness Pilates) 3 x a week.