Tiny Tips: Adjust recipes to meet your nutritional needs

Do you ever come home from class feeling exhausted, knowing you need to eat, but not feeling hungry?  Or are you sometimes ravenous just an hour or two after your last meal?  Most athletes and dancers frequently experience both.  Knowing how to tailor your go-to meals and snacks can help you fuel your body and satisfy your cravings (or lack of cravings).

Think of a healthy meal, like cereal with fruit and almond milk.  If you aren't very hungry, but need calories, use a high-nutrient cereal like granola as the base, and add sprinklings of berries and nuts, and add milk.  Just ½ cup of granola contains the calories of about 1 cup of a larger-piece cereal, so you get everything you need without putting a large volume of food in your stomach.

If you're really hungry, but don't need a lot of calories, start by filling your bowl with fruit (like berries or grapes).  Use a little bit of cereal and nuts as a topping, and add a splash of milk to bring it all together.  Fruit is filling, but relatively low calorie in comparison to grain-based cereal.

You can do the same thing with dishes like soups and salads--up the high-calorie, nutrient-dense ingredients like brown rice, avocado, cheese, or nuts for energy-boosting small portions, and add more low-calorie ingredients like broth, salsa, or veggies for a filling portion with fewer calories.