Arabesque…  Demi Plie… Grand jete… Port de bras… I have always love ballet. My mother enrolled me in ballet class when I was in kindergarten but I didn’t manage to continue my classes during my elementary years. But my fascination to this art of dance never faded. It is poetry in liquid motion. So when I was in college and in medical school, I enrolled in ballet classes. I even get to have a ballet recital with 5-year-old girls, hahaha.

Now in my 30s, with a 5-months old baby and 5-kg shy away from my ideal weight, ballet may be a solution to my postpartum weight goal. I discovered this amazing book by Mary Helen Bowers: Ballet Beautiful. Mary Helen Bowers is responsible in helping Natalie Portman achieve her ballerina body in the movie “Black Swan”. In fact, Natalie Portman wrote the foreword of the book.

 

 https://www.balletbeautiful.com

Ballet Beautiful is a fitness and lifestyle programme designed by Mary Helen Bowers to help every women  achieve a ballerina body using ballet techniques. Bowers discovered Ballet Beautiful when she temporarily stopped from dancing ballet professionally to study in a university. She managed to stay healthy, svelte and still graceful by practicing Ballet Beautiful. She formulated a work-out using ballet principles that can sculpt the body to be more toned, fit and lean. Do you know that this is one of Victoria Secret models favourite work-out?

There are two ways of doing it. You can do the 60-minutes Classic Ballet Beautiful Work-out or the 15-minutes Ballet Beautiful Blasts spread out throughout the day. This is not only for ballerinas or dancers but for every women. However, if you have a background on ballet, it would be very helpful. It is very hard to follow the work-out instructions though the book. You would b tempted to go to their website and just purchase a class instead.

The book is divide in three parts: How Ballet Beautiful Came About, The Ballet Beautiful Workout, and The Ballet Beautiful Lifestyle. Part 3 has a chapter on diet which is entitled ‘Dieting Is A Waste of Time’. It introduced the readers on five Ballet Beautiful Eating Principles.

1. Be prepared

2. Eat often

3. Substitute for satisfaction

4. Be flexible

5. Forgive yourself and move on

I have yet to try this Ballet Beautiful work-out and tips consistently. It is hard to do a grand jete with a baby attached to me. Soon…. Au Revoir!