A Bagpipe Diet

I've often wondered when I'm playing the bagpipes how many calories I'm burning. Other people in my band have asked this question too, especially after a marathon session of playing on St. Patrick's Day or in an especially lengthy parade. Obviously the physical act of marching and playing helps, but the fact that often times after parades pipers gather at certain fine eating establishments probably hurts.

But how many calories am I burning if I'm just standing still and playing? Is there even a way that this can be measured?

I don't really know, but I did find some interesting health and bagpipe posts. Over on the Real Life Forums somebody posted that taking up the bagpipes can help people who suffer from asthma.

I also found a video of a guy riding on his unicycle and playing the bagpipes, he doesn't do this until over half the video is done but it's well worth the wait...and I'm positive he's burning some major calories doing that! I've posted the video below.

I found a post saying that a 1/2 hour of highland dancing will cause a 100 pound child to burn 149 calories.

But I found nothing that would allow me to measure my own calorie loss while playing the pipes.

However I suppose if I hopped on my (non-existent) unicycle and warmed up while riding to the parade spot, played while marching in a parade and than Highland danced my way home (skipping the post-parade festivities of course) I'd find myself shedding pounds quite rapidly.

Pipe on!