Matters of the heart(rate)

So I've been looking into getting a heart rate monitor so that I can have a better idea of the calories I'm burning, other then the generic amount the elliptical tells me. So I do some research online, and go to Dunham's sports (the only sports store that can be considered local to me, and find.....nada. They had two options in store, and neither of them told you calories burned. Bummer.

So, next I hit up sears. They have quite a few more options, but they're also easily anywhere from $30-50 more expensive then any other store I looked at online.

So then finally I bite the bullet and go to my last option that's open this evening. Walmart. *Shudders*

Not a whole lot of options, but I do come across this:







So it seems like it does everything I want it to, even if it is a bit big and ugly for my tastes. So last night I break it out to try it. First of all, it wasn't too bad to set up. It took me about 10 minutes of following directions and pushing little buttons to get it personalized with the time, date, month and year, as well as my height, weight, and min and max heart rates for the three different "zones" they give you (health, fat burn, and cardio). So I strap myself in, and it says my resting heartbeat is....93? Um, I know that's wrong for a fact. I've taken my own before and I have a nice resting heart beat between 60 and 65, give or take. So I readjust the strap, and it gets down to 68. Ok so that's closer. So I get on the elliptical and do a couple minutes, and my heart rate keeps spiking between 97ish and 130ish. That's a biiiiigg difference, especially when I'm looking for *accurate* calorie count. So I turn on the heart rate monitor on the elliptical and hold my hands to it for a few minutes while I keep moving and it sits at 114 steady. *sigh*. I knew I shouldn't have gotten the "Walmart Special", but I figured how bad could it be? Lesson learned. So, my trooper of a man, who hates going to stores, is hitting up Dicks Sporting Goods after work today since he works near one to pick me up a Mio to try. Wish me luck!