Aerobic Mandolin? FitBit Gotcha

[John Flynn]

So I'm starting the diet/exercise thing for the umpteenth time and my wife gets me one of these FitBit trackers. For those few who don't know, they are these bands you wear on your wrist and it keeps track of how many steps you take and some other stuff and syncs all that up with your computer, kind of like high-tech pedometer. This morning I got it all set up for the first time.

So the instructions with the one I got recommended wearing it on your non-dominant wrist. So I put it on, went out and walked the dog and it seemed to work pretty well. Then I went to church where I play mando and OM in the ensemble. We had a wide variety of tunes this week, ranging from some intense strumming on the OM and some fast tremolo on the mando.

I got home and sync'ed up the FitBit. It reported I walked over 3,000 steps and burned about 1,000 calories during the time I was actually sitting and playing mandolin for two hours! Then it dawned on me that that the monitor is on the wrist of my picking hand!

I never knew mandolin playing was so strenuous!

[CWRoyds]

Congrats on attempting to get healthier.
Diets are a pain.
It was never successful at them, until recently.
Not that any one diet is the solution for everyone, but I would suggest looking into Low Carb & No Sugar (basically Atkins).
I did not follow Atkins, but the concept is the same.

Last November I went to the doctor and weighed in at 284!!!
Freaked me out a little.
I am tall, so I can hold a lot of weight before looking "Fat".
SO I went hardcore in my goal of losing weight.
I started last November, and by June, I had lost 80lbs!!!
In June, I weighed in at 204, and I have stayed level at 204 since then.

I changed my diet to Low Carbohydrates and absolutely no Sugar. (Dont worry, it wont be forever).
Basically you just DON"T eat Rice, Potatoes, anything made of Wheat, and no sugar at all.
It is not as hard as you think, as you can eat a lot of great stuff.
I basically ate any meats I wanted, lots of vegetables, good cheese, bacon, avocados, almonds, coconut oil, and a bunch of other good things.
You can even eat a bacon cheeseburger, you just leave out the bun. (Get lettuce wrapped, or just eat with a knife and fork).
When you get rid of Carbs you have to eat a lot of good fats for energy.
You do have to keep to real natural foods and you can't really eat any processed foods as they all have corn sugars.

By the way, I can't say enough good things about Coconut oil.
I take two tablespoons of it every morning in my coffee.
It is an amazing fat that can't be stored in your body as fat.
It is sent straight to the liver to be burned for energy.

I have started adding in some Carbs, but have kept my diet fairly low in Carbs.
I don't eat potatoes at all, as they just turn to sugar when digested.
I do eat rice with Indian good or Chinese food, and I get bread with Indian food too.
Some carbs are too good not to eat.
You just keep it to smaller amounts, less often.

As I said, not every diet works for every person.
This diet is very easy to do and the weight just flies off your body.
I lost about 15lbs in the first two weeks.
It was really surprising.
Nothing is more motivating that seeing the scale going down every couple of days.

Just a suggestion.
It worked so well for me that I have to bring it up when someone mentions diets.
Good luck with yours.

[Mandoplumb]

John playing music is strenuous. I have Diabeties and must watch my carbs ( define carbs as any thing good) when my band plays a church function that includes a meal it seems I can eat whatever I want without affecting my blood sugar. My wife says the music must burn the carbs.

[Bertram Henze]

For those few who don't know, they are these bands you wear on your wrist and it keeps track of how many steps you take...

...from bed to the fridge. :grin:

[Carl Robin]

Not only does playing mandolin use energy (burn calories), but it has been good for my posture. Slumped position causes me to make more errors. Like anything else, how transformative it can be depends on time and effort. This has been significant for me playing in sitting and in standing. And unlike other things I've tried (I have very mild scoliosis). It won't be the next fitness craze, but this can make a positive difference for some of us.

[Freddyfingers]

I will sweat during an intensive gig. Perhaps that burns a bit off.

I went from 234 to 200 in about 5 months. I joined a boxing gym. At first I thought hitting things really hard with my jamming hands was a bad idea. But with good wraps and proper form, the hands were fine. Unfortunately as soon as I got down in weight and learned a few things , the gym closed. Now I only loose weight at gigs.

[rubydubyr]

John playing music is strenuous. I have Diabeties and must watch my carbs ( define carbs as any thing good) when my band plays a church function that includes a meal it seems I can eat whatever I want without affecting my blood sugar. My wife says the music must burn the carbs.

Oh, so very sorry to hear that, diabetes is a very NASTY disease! Both my parents and now my brother have it. I am prediabetic and scared to death I will get it. Which is why I bike and eat as little sugar as possible. Good luck, and take care of yourself!

[avaldes]

The new iPhone has a health app that counts your steps. For me, a mile is about 2K steps. I had it in my pocket at a bluegrass ensemble I played in last week, and in an hour it thought I had done 2K steps, or equivalent to walking a mile. From foot tapping, I guess. The ensemble leader and I were amused at the previously unknown cardio benefits of bluegrass mandolin.

[montana]

Went for my welcome to Medicare physical and blood sugar was a little high. Started Atkins on1/18 at 194.4 lbs and am down to 187.2 today but I really miss beer.

[Randi Gormley]

My daughter got a free fitbit with her phone (some kind of promotional thing) and we were joking about me using it on my wrist when I practiced the mandolin but I didn't realize it really does count hand/wrist/arm motion as movement. I know that playing can get me sweating, even in cool weather, but I doubt (alas!) it helps me keep my weight down. If it did, I'd lose big pounds during March, when we're gigging almost every day and twice some days. I have to stick pretty closely to my Weight Watchers pattern to keep my weight under some sort of control.