The weight loss 'wall' - keep banging my head :-/

[Miranda]

http://www.livestrong.com/article/49...rate-monitors/

This is a link above that should go to a short article about HRM accuracy & depending how you set them.

One of the best general ways I have found to set them is by working the max HR number "backwards", which closest resembles your PE (perceived exersion).

OK, so when you are at your "jogging with a friend" intensity, i.e. sweating, working, but at a steady sustainable pace, and enough wind left over to chat a short sentenance, i.e. "how was your day?", that's about 75% of your MHR. So...

Take that number of BPM as your HR and DIVIDE by 0.75 (i.e. 75%) and use THAT number as your "max HR" in the manual override setting in your monitor.

***my Polar is a F6... it's...OK (right side button)...scroll up, settings...user...view user extra settings...HR Max...<<<this is where you override the max "stock number", i.e. 220-your age is "stock set"

I found this suggestion of calculating backwards from a Spinning instructor forum I use for support. And I think tho it's simple, it's pretty close/good.

I field tested it road cycling once when I was sprinting on a hill to escape a chasing dog. By the time I escaped I was truly near my Max...i.e. seeings black spots, nausea, ready to pass out literally. Since I use a Garmin outside, I was able to pinpoint my heart rate on the route with the dog chasing and look at the number. That number as my max ties out with my 75% backwards equation. Hope this makes sense.

Sooooooo... I concurr that I think your calories are overestimated. Alot of people make that mistake. Over-eat based upon calorie burn over-estimation. I usually ask "is your monitor set correctly? Or when was the last time you re-checked your current fitness level against the last time you re-set it?"

Hope this helps!

p.s. IF the gym spin bike has a computer that picks up HRMs, the "stock settings" for calorie burn was set for a 150lbs male approx age 30s...if memory serves me right from when one of my gym's I taught at had them (was Spinning bike brand)...thus you can see the inaccuracy assumptions right there