Weight Watchers people--- activity points?

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AmandaB4588
AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
in Fitness and Exercise
This is my 3rd week on Weight Watchers, and I just do not "get" the activity points. Having been a member of MFP for awhile, eating back exercise calories makes sense to me. I cannot make sense of activity points accumulating throughout the week to be used after the 49 extra points. Does anybody have some insight on this?

I know there is an option on the e-tools to change where activity points go and how they are used. I meant to talk to my WW leader about this at the last meeting but forgot. For the time being, I am using this as my excuse to not exercise (I know, I know.... )
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Replies

  • kangababy
    kangababy Posts: 187 Member
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    i just joined WW last week and I totally hate it.. It is going to be alot of work bu tI am goign to log my calories and poitnso n each..here and on WW! I don't like the activity thing and I dont like the extra points and I don't like the 0 points thing for fruits!

    i do n;t understand why your acitity points would only be used after you have had 49 extra points! that makes no sense..
    So in their way of looking at things.. one day I could eat my 29 points plus another 49 before the exercise I did helped.. I don't see that.
  • jennyocox
    jennyocox Posts: 143
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    I was in weight watchers but it wasn't specific enough to me and the activity points were a total headache. I just stick to MFP now and I find it a lot easier.
  • ohfong77
    ohfong77 Posts: 30 Member
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    I really hated the new WW program when I visited earlier in the year - I never went back - it was way to complicated with the new point system - you have to put in everything and look up each thing in each food - it was just too much. This is so much easier.

    Also - we all know - things are not free - so fruit is not "free" - it has calories -
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    I agree that WW can be more complicated than MFP--- the database of foods here is so much bigger. Also, I think WW allows more flexibility and freedoms which can be really hard to manage. When I joined WW, I had no intention of actually counting points (as crazy as that sounds!) because MFP already taught me how to eat well. I really joined for the weekly boost of motivation.

    However, I did start counting points, and I actually like the flexibility a lot. I think I will learn a lot as I learn to manage it better, and all of the wiggle room keeps me from beating myself up about things (probably my biggest issue with weight loss.) I am really glad I learned from MFP that eating too much fruit is a bad thing, though! I imagine that A LOT of WW members abuse the free fruit but I try to keep it at 1-2 servings a day with the rest being veggies.

    I have not tried counting calories while simultaneously counting points yet. I think I will do that today to see how everything works out.
  • montana_girl
    montana_girl Posts: 1,403 Member
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    I've been on WW for 7 1/2 years (lost over 110 pounds, but now I'm struggling the new Points Plus program) and I can understand the confusion the Activity Points.

    It used to be you had to eat your Activity Points the day you earned them, but they changed that so now you have the opiton of saving them throughout the week (and you can use them before the Weekly points, either way is okay).

    I was "saving" mine for my higher food intake days, but I thought that might be what was causing me to gain on the new program, so I switched back to just using them on the day I earn them.

    I am avid WW because I love the meeting and online community support... and the old program helped me to the lose the weight (it took me so long to lose because I hadn't learned to deal with emotional eating) and get to the weight goal set by my doctor. But since the new program, I haven't been able to keep my weight within the goal range. Though I do admit, the first couple of months were because I wasn't following program as well as I could have been! But the last 5 weeks I have tracked every bite, worked out religously, and followed the program and even though I do lose on some weeks, I tend to gain more than lose.

    Someone on the WW online community suggested I try counting calories and recommended this site... so here I am! Hoping I can find the cause of the weight gain and finally get back to goal... and maybe even to a healthy BMI! :-)
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    Mid-day Update --- used 15 points (with 640 calories) with 14 points remaining (and 560 calories)

    Calories vs. Points are stacking up pretty well for me right now. I am happy to see that.
  • ChristyLangdon
    ChristyLangdon Posts: 2
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    Hi! You need to eat your weekly points but I never ate my activity points and I lost 40 pounds doing it that way! I do like this sight so far! I am not a member of WW right now and it sounds like this works because I never counted calories before!
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    I've been on WW for 7 1/2 years (lost over 110 pounds, but now I'm struggling the new Points Plus program) and I can understand the confusion the Activity Points.

    It used to be you had to eat your Activity Points the day you earned them, but they changed that so now you have the opiton of saving them throughout the week (and you can use them before the Weekly points, either way is okay).

    I was "saving" mine for my higher food intake days, but I thought that might be what was causing me to gain on the new program, so I switched back to just using them on the day I earn them.

    I am avid WW because I love the meeting and online community support... and the old program helped me to the lose the weight (it took me so long to lose because I hadn't learned to deal with emotional eating) and get to the weight goal set by my doctor. But since the new program, I haven't been able to keep my weight within the goal range. Though I do admit, the first couple of months were because I wasn't following program as well as I could have been! But the last 5 weeks I have tracked every bite, worked out religously, and followed the program and even though I do lose on some weeks, I tend to gain more than lose.

    Someone on the WW online community suggested I try counting calories and recommended this site... so here I am! Hoping I can find the cause of the weight gain and finally get back to goal... and maybe even to a healthy BMI! :-)

    110 lbs is phenomenal! Congratulations on your loss, and I hope you figure things out soon. Thanks for clarifying the activity points for me. I can understand them allowing you to stagger your points like that. When I was only counting calories on MFP, I would sometimes give myself some wiggle room the day after a big workout. I can burn up to 1000 calories playing racquetball with my friends. No way will I get close to eating all of those back in one day, so I wouldn't beat myself up about going over a bit the next day. Exercising a lot and saving up all of your activity points for one big splurge on a weekly basis probably isn't a good idea, though!
  • jpburcham
    jpburcham Posts: 98 Member
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    Go to settings in the upper right corner of the tracker. If you choose to use your activity points only on the day they are earned, they will automatically be used first.

    If you choose to have your activity points banked for the week, you then have the option of using weekly pts. or activity pts. first.

    Hope this helps.
    I'm a lifetime weight watchers member. but just today cancelled my monthly etools subscription.
    I'm finding that the new points plus system is way to complecated for me to do the math in my head.
    for me, I need something pretty simple -
    I also gained weight when I started the points plus program - Watch out for the "Free Fruit"
    remember - "There is no such thing as a "Free' lunch" - almost everything we eat "costs" something.

    Best of luck.
    Joe
  • jes0704
    jes0704 Posts: 15
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    I was on the points plus also and I was gaining on it. I had to get off of it because it is so confusing. I lost 43 lbs on the old plan and gained it all back ugh. I don't get the 0 points for fruit and veggies. I think eating all that fruit and exercising was causing me to gain.
  • cocolo89
    cocolo89 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    I am doing weight watchers and having alot of sucess with it. I am doing the momentum plan because i heard the new pointsplus is not as successful. On activity points, you do not have to eat the points. It's actually not reccommended to eat so you can boost your weight loss. i started weight watchers in february and my weight was 166. i paused WW for 1 week and did MFP and i actually gained 2 lbs on it. SO i got back on WW and lost the 2 lbs i gained while doing MFP. so i am currently at 139. i hope you have success with whatever weight loss plan your doing :))
  • shawn526
    shawn526 Posts: 79 Member
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    After six months of losing and gaining the same 2 lbs on MFP, I broke down and joined WW again as a birthday gift to myself. I've lost 7 pounds in 5 weeks. I don't find the Points Plus confusing at all, and although the WW database isn't as extensive as MFP's, I tend to eat a lot of the same things every week, so I just add things and save them as I go. As for the fruit, a lot of people I know count fruits after the first two. I generally end up eating all my weekly points and less than half of my activity points (but I earn a lot of activity points.) I make a conscious effort in my head to try not to eat more than half of my daily activity points on the day that I earned them, even though my weekly points go first. This is just something I do to keep myself more on track.

    Good luck!!
  • latondia3
    latondia3 Posts: 4
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    i too am on weight watchers but i wanted to start seeing how many calories i was taking in im doing pretty good i was down a pound but neww points plus is different from old program but im in it to lose it and ongraulations on your amazing weight loss keep in touch woll you send me a friends request.::blushing:
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    Thanks for all of your responses!

    Corina--- I am so happy to see that you got to 139 from 166 on WW. I started at 168 and cannot even imagine getting into the 130's. Great job, and thanks for the inspiration!
  • bentobee
    bentobee Posts: 321 Member
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    You don't have to use your extra 49 points first.

    I did WW online the first three months of the year and online you can set it to pull your "overage" points either from that extra 49 or from Activity Points - it doesn't matter. They are both "freebies" either way, consider them the same.

    I lost well on WW, but when my hubby wanted to do it too and was reluctant to pay for two memberships I went looking for an alternative and found MFP. For a couple months I did both programs side-by-side with identicle results -- like when I was out out of WW points for the day I was also out of calories on MFP -- so I dropped WW. Counting calories is easier to me than figuring out points and MFP is free. :)
  • cocolo89
    cocolo89 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    Thanks for all of your responses!

    Corina--- I am so happy to see that you got to 139 from 166 on WW. I started at 168 and cannot even imagine getting into the 130's. Great job, and thanks for the inspiration!

    you can do it :)) i was right where you are now back in February. you will hit plateaus,but don't give up. i stayed the same weight for 1 months and the scale just started to budge again. I wanted to give up cause i thought that it's over for me, but i continued following plan and stuck with exercise and it's paying off. i never thought i would ever be back in the 130s, but it happened and now i feel like i can move mountains.. haha
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    Thanks for all of your responses!

    Corina--- I am so happy to see that you got to 139 from 166 on WW. I started at 168 and cannot even imagine getting into the 130's. Great job, and thanks for the inspiration!

    you can do it :)) i was right where you are now back in February. you will hit plateaus,but don't give up. i stayed the same weight for 1 months and the scale just started to budge again. I wanted to give up cause i thought that it's over for me, but i continued following plan and stuck with exercise and it's paying off. i never thought i would ever be back in the 130s, but it happened and now i feel like i can move mountains.. haha

    Thank you for the support. Really, it is so wonderful to see what your hard work for these past several months has accomplished! I am really starting to feel like I CAN and WILL reach goal someday, something I have never felt before.
  • aromans
    aromans Posts: 6 Member
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    that's not how it works you can set up your exercise points to be used daily once you go over your normal amount... i luv WW & tracking SO much better than just logging calories which was drudgery to me & i never knew how much to really eat & was scared to even eat an apple & go over...
  • feelthelove1964
    feelthelove1964 Posts: 59 Member
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    this is interesting because mfp says you should eat back your activity calories burned, but ww don't. My friend also does ww and she never eats back her activity calories and is losing weight and feels really well, so this is why i am confused why on here they say eat back your calories .
  • heartfullyliving
    heartfullyliving Posts: 2 Member
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    Hi: I am glad that others are finding it difficult with the weight watchers program. I have tracked using MFP for over a year and find it so user friendly and the data base so complete. With WW, I can never find what I am looking for, have no idea how to track or even plan to use the bonus points. I have already bought into it for three months and purchased some books etc., but I am slowely, no wait, quickly, losing my patience with WW. Today my total calories added up to under 1200 when I tracked them on MFP, but when I entered them on WW, I am lagging behind in bonus points already! I think I would rather adjust my eating habits based on caloric values which are more easy to calculate and access, and allow extra foods switched in for less healthier choices as long as they fit the caloric budget. Anyhow, just venting...I am stuck with this program for three months, and have wasted 100.00 so far, but I at least know I have to quit putting so much complexity and stress onto each bite or else I will never have any success with any program.:sad:

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