Dancing, the Best Way to Maintain Weight

Like many college females my weight often fluctuated. After graduating I gained about twenty pounds for no apparent reason that I could determine except that I was not getting enough exercise.
All through high school I had been a dancer. By senior year I was dancing 4-5 days a week. I never once had ever worried about my weight. I was healthy and looking back in photos probably too thin. When I went to college I stopped dancing. I never thought I would, but it happened, and so did the freshmen 15. And then then by junior year I weighed even more. I stopped caring, no one thought I was fat or anything, but I knew I wasn't healthy.
I tried one year during lent to give up sugar, but actually gained weight.
A year after graduation I had just accepted that I would always just keep gaining weight as I grew older.
Then I worked at a theatre/dance camp for the summer. On my feet, dancing pretty much from 9-5 I lost 10 pounds. I was in shock. I thought about it and realized I had simply not been exercising. Granted I was also in NYC where you have to walk to get everywhere. So I started taking ballet class again, but it was only twice a week. My weight was back to where it had been senior year of college and it stayed there. Just dancing twice a week helped maintain the weight.
Ballet works every part of your muscle. The movements at the barre build slowly and develop long lean muscles. My calves were defined again. I felt more energized, releasing endorphins, I felt happier and in turn wanted to eat healthier.
The next year I decided to do an intense dance program in NYC. Dancing 6 days a week at least 3 hours a day, I ate more than I had ever eaten in my life, yet had the most toned body I'd ever had. Jazz classes I was taking consisted of 5 minute long sets of various forms of crunches. Many pilates based warmups strengthened my core. My stomach was flat again. I had to do pushups and miraculously my arms became muscle again. No more flapping flab. I loved it. I found that in order to dance that many hours a day there were a lot of foods that made me feel sick. I could not eat pasta before I danced. I could not eat certain things like oranges because they did not give me enough energy before class, but apples or salad or a bagel did. By only eating foods that gave me energy that probably also assisted in me having a healthy body.
That intensity was not for me to maintain, and as I started teaching dance again I gained just a couple pounds. The past year I have taught four days a week and taken classes or been in rehearsals about two. Similar to where I was before the intense program, but I've been maintaining a lower weight.
I would not recommend dancing like crazy and hurting your body. I would recommend however, picking up a class or two. Getting in shape and keeping your muscles toned. For me, I have not had to worry too much about what I eat as long as I exercise, and I know from experience that a lot of pasta or bread does not give me the right kind of energy. However, no carbs also gives me no energy. Only meat before dancing made me feel tired. What I found is that balance was the key. Balancing dancing, food, teaching, exercises...it is all key to staying healthy.
Dancing for me is the most interesting form of exercise. Choreography makes it more exciting for me than yoga or pilates. You learn about culture and appreciate the hard work that dancers put into everything. If anyone wants to lose weight I always recommend dance first and foremost.