eating activity points

[kimmibear]

i have a question...

...today at meeting, my leader said that we were supposed to eat our activity points if our activity points took us below our target. So for example, i have 30 points a day and i don't plan to eat any wpa that day. if i earned 4 aps, i have to eat those 4 points so i'm at target again. is that like ww truth or is that just my leader's opinion? i'm just asking because some days i earn 8+ aps and that seems like a lot of points to eat in a day (38) when on a day i don't exercise i can only eat 30 plus some wpa if i want.

anyone have an opinion?

[plcm111195]

I don't think that's an "official" line, but you do need to fuel your body if you're doing a lot of activity. An AP is worth about 100 calories. A food point is between 30-100 but averaging 50 or so depending on the fiber. So unless you're swapping all of your APs for 100 calorie 4g fiber foods you still have a calorie deficit which is what it's about. The official line is that its up to you if you want to use the APs but I've found that using my APs for healthy foods that fuel my activity I do much better.

[Detk]

Kimi,

I don't think it's an official line. My leader likes to say that we will lose faster if we don't eat our activity points. I disagree. I lose much faster when I eat all of my APs, and on some day that means 8-12 points. I eat every single one. I usually eat all of my APs first, and then if I need more, I will use flex points on top of it. During my regular exercise week, I usually don't end up needing many flex since I can earn between 30-45 Aps. But on weeks where I exercise less I do eat most of my flex too.

Ann :)

[NewMe1]

I was told in my meeting that it was personal choice to eat or not eat your AP. Personally I do not because I want to lose a little faster and I usually use about half my Flex Points each week already. This has kept me losing an average of about 2 lbs a week so far which is within the safe zone but fast enough to stay very motivated. Also, as our weight goes down and our fitness level goes up, it would seem that we would not burn as many cals for the same amount of activity which may result in slowing down weight loss if eating AP. Does anyone agree with this last supposition? :confused:

[kimmibear]

True you earn less points for the same activity, but I fully intent to keep a high level of exercise so I still earn at a minimum my 28 pts/week. Right now I'm around 35-40. I don't eat APs...I have just been using flex. I plan on doing that unless I have like a big event that day and really need to use my APs.

[PinkGlttr]

Also, as our weight goes down and our fitness level goes up, it would seem that we would not burn as many cals for the same amount of activity which may result in slowing down weight loss if eating AP. Does anyone agree with this last supposition? :confused:
A true statement, partially... but as you become accustomed to an activity, it will become easier and your "level" (light, mod, high) will go down, which will result in less AP. You would either have to change it (i.e. up the incline on a treadmill) to make it harder, or do it for a longer time to get the same AP

[reelriot]

You will lose more if you eat ap than if you do not. You also will maintain better once you get to goal if you teach your body to lose by eating all the pts available to it. There is a pt on this program where ifyou eat more you lose more. I call it the G spot of weight loss- find it and you will be happy. Exercise fuels your metabolism and stoking the energy furthe fuels it- so by etaing more you end up losing more- not eating enuf slows down your metabolism and can cause a weight gain when you try to eat normally. So eat those ap and fp. experiment a little. Good Luck

[sodacracker]

I call it the G spot of weight loss- find it and you will be happy.
Now that's a phrase that is going to stick in my mind ;).

[kimmibear]

reelriot - I LOVE that phrase, lol. I will never forget that one for sure!

[photobug]

Exercise fuels your metabolism and stoking the energy furthe fuels it- so by etaing more you end up losing more- not eating enuf slows down your metabolism and can cause a weight gain when you try to eat normally. So eat those ap and fp. experiment a little. Good Luck
This is soooo true according to my doctor. he told me I HAD to eat 3 meals and 2 snacks every day. So far I am losing fine and I feel like I am eating so much. I'm just making better choices. Of course, I'm on core so I just up my core foods mostly and I make sure I eat all my WPA.

[NewMe1]

There is a pt on this program where ifyou eat more you lose more. I call it the G spot of weight loss- find it and you will be happy.
So, how did you find this "G spot of weight loss"? Interesting name for it that's for sure! Sometimes I use all my weekly flex points, sometimes just a few of them, but usually about half of them. Yet I can not determine a pattern in how what I do makes a difference in how much I lose that week. Although one week, I used almost all of my flex points for a special dinner...one that had so much food I felt slightly ill afterwards. That week I tried to "make it up" by eating fewer than my daily points allowance for the rest of the week. It backfired and I only lost 0.2 pounds that week. This past week I ate all my daily points each day and about half of my flex points on the weekend (as usual) and the result was my biggest loss since joining WW....4.2 pounds! I'm not sure where your elusive spot is, but I sure would like to find it and stay there, if last week is any indication of the results!

[Kat6496]

What works for me, and a suggestion by my mtg. leader, I SOMETIMES eat my APs. Doing a "one on, one off" approach using your APs can help your metabolism get that boost it needs to keep burning. It doesn't get "used to" getting that many points every day if you are a faithful WO Diva...:) This can be especially true if you are finding yourself plateau-stuck. If you are just maintaining, its good to eat your APs to stay on target.
So while I don't believe that it is an "official" thing, its pretty good advice. Find what works for you. My DPA is 26, and I don't use my APs alot. When I hit that first plateau, I tried it, and sure enough, 3.8 destroyed that week!

Good luck to you!

[R1 GIRL]

You all are confusing me a little on the APs. I burn in a 40 minute workout on the eliptical trainer approximately 600 calories. I have been eating only 5 AP points for this workout as I tend to think of one point as 100 calories. Is that incorrect? Also, I eat 5 instead of 6 as I want to feel like I am coming out ahead from a workout of those 100 calories... haha, anyway... any thoughts/help/ideas on my specific workout of 600 calories... BTW, my calorie burning is very accurate as I wear a heartrate monitor while working out and it keeps me in my target heartrate zone for my height/weight and keeps track of the calories for me specific to my actual heartrate. Thanks!

[jenniferpeace]

I'm so confused about using my APs. Between Thanksgiving and Jan 1, because of all of the tempting food, I ate all of my APs and all of my FPs...so I stayed OP, but I ate more (not necessarily more food, but more points). And in that time, while I did not gain, I did not lose one pound.

So, if I figured I need to reduce my point intake.

The past two weeks I've lost a little. Both weeks I used about 20 FP's and no APs (I earned at least 30 APs both weeks). So, I suppose I could say that I ate most of my APs and no FPs, depending on how you want to look at it.

I guess what I'm trying is to not eat each and every point, because I think that's why I didn't lose.

HOWEVER, I want to be able to eat more food once I'm on maintenance (I know, it's 20 lbs away, but I'm thinkin' about it)...so I don't want to drastically reduce my point intake.

Sooo confused.

[rnmomof7]

i have a question...

...today at meeting, my leader said that we were supposed to eat our activity points if our activity points took us below our target. So for example, i have 30 points a day and i don't plan to eat any wpa that day. if i earned 4 aps, i have to eat those 4 points so i'm at target again. is that like ww truth or is that just my leader's opinion? i'm just asking because some days i earn 8+ aps and that seems like a lot of points to eat in a day (38) when on a day i don't exercise i can only eat 30 plus some wpa if i want.

anyone have an opinion?

We were told you MUST eat anything OVER 4 points.

I want just to make this observation.

If you do not eat all of your points, or if you earn work out points and do not eat them your body will start to conserve calories as it will think that you are not supplying enough fuel .Your metabolism will slow down and wt loss will stop or be slower.

So what I do is eat my activity points and take them off the bonus points.

That way my body is fueled and my points are within the parameters of the WW program .

[trebora7]

A couple of years ago I asked my leader how many AP's should I eat, because I was going to the gym, and estimated I was earning 10 AP's per day. She said I should not eat anymore than 4 AP's per day no matter how many I earned. Now I'm confused too.

[reelriot]

A couple of years ago I asked my leader how many AP's should I eat, because I was going to the gym, and estimated I was earning 10 AP's per day. She said I should not eat anymore than 4 AP's per day no matter how many I earned. Now I'm confused too.
In the previous program- there was a 4 ap limit because they had banking, which allowed you to eat the ap on a different day- also people tended not to exercise every day. Now the program has no limits. If you were on etools you would see that the ww system swaps as many ap as you get on a day- no matter how many- I have had as many as 14 swapped on a day and still lost. The week 3 booklet says that if you get more than 28 ap a week you should consult a trainer or physiologist - that is a legal disclaimer so they cannot be sued by soeone trying to go from couch potato to olympic athlete overnight- but the more you exercise the more you will have to eat them- thats the way it works and ww owuld not have them like that if it did not work- the problem with some leaders is that they were leaders since either there were no ap at all ( and thus they got very little themselves) or they were in the 4 ap banking system themselves- ir they just don;t get the kind of exercise some people get and do not understand that if you expend energy you have to feed it and it will in turn rev up your metabolism. Even if you ate every ap since an average ap is 100 cal and an average food pt is 50-70 cal you will always be expending more than you are eating. Good Luck

[scorpio rising]

I really think this is an individual-type sitch. Personally, I must eat my APs, but I know others who never ever eat them. We all lose. I definately have the famine-proof bod that despises all underfuel/overexpenditure conditions. So, when I over exercise and don't eat pts. or under eat my points, I hold onto every ounce. Others I know here have the opposite experience. Find your G-spot!!!:wave:

[salmam1]

I think that it is a personal thing. Everybody's body is different.

Jody-Remember that the readouts on the caloric burns for those machines are VERY generous. The ellipticals say that you burn 1 calorie for each 4 sec that you are exercising. Your HR or your perceived exertion are a much better indication.

xoxoxoxo
Sal:bcbsalute

[R1 GIRL]

I think that it is a personal thing. Everybody's body is different.

Jody-Remember that the readouts on the caloric burns for those machines are VERY generous. The ellipticals say that you burn 1 calorie for each 4 sec that you are exercising. Your HR or your perceived exertion are a much better indication.

xoxoxoxo
Sal:bcbsalute
My heart rate wrist-watch monitor with chest strap (Polar) calculates my calories burned by my age/weight/height and heart rate. Its interesting for sure, because my Polar watch says that I burn more calories than the machine always does (its about 75 calories off in a 600 calorie workout)

... so I am still wondering though any thoughts on how many food points I should eat for a 600 calorie workout??

[BurlingtonCTMan]

Hi Everyone :)

Just earning APs is an awesome thing, so CONGRATS on being active!

I believe eat it is a personal choice; sometimes I do, sometimes I dont :)

I use an elliptical and keep my heart rate between 113-137 so I am in the weight loss zone most of the time, if you stay at about 50-60% of your MAX, you lose more weight and usually are less hungry. Exerting yourself to a CARDIO level for extended periods (70% or more of MAX) can make you very hungy.

Oh well.. I guess... Eat if you are hungry. I earn about 5pts a day doing 56 minutes on elliptical (Precor 5.23 - it is just awesome!).

Keep up the great work :)

[Beauty&Brains]

... i dont go to weight watchers meetings i just use my moms books because she goes.. so im a little clueless when it comes to all of this but it seems like way too much points extra to eat.. does it matter what kinds of points u r consuming? like does it matter if u eat 2 points of bread or 2 points of a banana?? its kinda confusing to me...
also is it bad if u dont lose weight one week?????

[Kathryn In Canada]

I'm of the 'eat every point coming to me' school.

That being said, I do believe each of those calories should be chock full of fibre, vitamins, phytochemicals, and flavour.

So when I work out, I make sure I eat the extra points by fruit, whole grains (a snack of Kashi or a piece of whole grain toast) and (my one indulgence) 85% cocoa dark chocolate. One tiny square of my chocolate is 1 pt so I can suck on that an turn it into a several minute treat (dark chocolate doesn't dissolve like North American chocolate does.) If I have a lot of points left over, I'll have a handful of almonds. If I'm feeling really hungry, I'll have an extra glass of milk (quick and easy protein and extra milk fat seems to promote fat loss.)

So while I tell people to eat all their points, I do want to stress that you do it with healthy foods and not junk.

While WW is about losing weight, it is also about nudging your eating habits into good quality food (that's why they give you 'credit' for low fat/high fibre foods.) Maintenance is easy when you naturally choose fillling, healthy foods, so build those great habits now.

And remember, as you lose weight, you'll earn fewer APs for the same workouts, (and you get a lower daily points allowance) so if you are making healthy choices now, it will be easier to accomodate fewer points later without feeling deprived.

[CeeCeeKay]

This thread is confusing me :) I was told by me leader (last year) that choosing to use your AP and FP was entirely optional. Matter of fact, more than one leader stressed that if you use all of your AP/FP each week, you will not lose. They warned that its a bad habit to rely on more food simply because you were more active on a particular day. :confused:

As an aside, I was watching WE channel, I think the show was called "The Secret lives of women" or something along those lines. And the segment was on various eating disorders. Anyhoo, a nutritionist gave a name to the phenomenon of eating stuff, then calculating the amount of exercise needed to burn it off, or vice versa, I didn't realize that this behavior is sometimes considered an eating disorder. And unfortunately, I don't remember the name she gave for describing it.

[CeeCeeKay]

Scratch the above...Evidently what my leaders told me regarding AP/FP was completely off base! Now that's frustrating. And to think I could have been eating some of these points. :mad:

Oh well, I'm not going to go hog wild or anything, but when I run into a plateau, I will most likely need to consume some of these pts :)

And to clarify re: eating disorders and stuff: That wasn't to imply that counting pts is bad or that the WW pgrm is bad. Only to bring to light that according to that pgm I watched, there are people who eat really bad stuff and then spend like 8 hrs working it off through exercise. Or working out like crazy just so they can eat in crazy amounts. Talk about extreme!

Sorry, I should have been more specific!

[AKateisaKate]

APS are so tricky. I don't eat them because they're hard to judge and figure out in the first place. I take 3 to 4 dance classes a day, and although ballet is slow, it's a lot for your body to handle. It's not really cardio either. Then there's hip hop. And then sometimes the activity changes throughout the class! So I ignore any APS and don't eat them.

[Solymar]

Well I am trying to figure out my activity points with the chart so I figured my own system of giving myself 1 point for each 10 minutes that I am doind cardio at the gym since the machines give me anywhere from 100-140 calories for that time frame dependind on the intensity of what I'm doing. I'll see how that goes.

[kimmibear]

I started this thread like 1/2 a year ago. Funny. Anyway, what I've been doing is eating my flexies and not eating my APs. It's been working for me so that's my stand. I figure as I lose, I might start eating more APs and playing around with them, but right now, I think I've found a good balance.

[Cynthia5]

I asked my leader about this a few weeks ago and she said the same thing although she phrased it as a recommendation to avoid becoming overly hungry and nourishing your body when it has exercised versus a "had to".

[youngfrankenstein]

I think a lot of this problem is due to the fact that many people don't know how the body and metabolism really works. If you think that a body is just calories in/calories burned, it's just not the case.

A very unfit person is not going to burn the same amount of calories at rest as a fit person.

There is a great book called "Smart Exercise" by Covert Bailey that was very educational about how exercise works.

This brings up APs, it makes sense that a higher-stoked metabolism requires more food. Exercising helps stoke it up...:exercise:

[Cally]

My cardiologist told me last week, "You'd have to walk 70 miles to burn 2.2 lbs. of fat, so what are you eating those APs for?"

Then he dropped my daily caloric intake to 1200 calories/day = 20 pts. (approx.); whereas I'd been having 25-27 with APS.

In four days, I've dropped 2 lbs.

For all of us that have been at the "weight loss game" a long time, if you remember, this 1200 calories/day came from the standard "gray sheet" they used to pass out at the Family Doctor's office. And they didn't consider "working out" as "extra."

My cardiologist said, "The workouts are for your cardiovascular health and toning (as I do weights). Not for EXTRA calories."

And I've been "stuck" on the scale for a VERY long time - see-sawing back and forth. It looks like this is working.

Everytime I "suggested" something (re: weight loss) he said, "Where did you hear THAT?" He told me to stop reading and give him 20 pushups...

Just some food for thought, as I've been doing WW since 98 and what I did to lose the weight, and make Lifetime, is no longer working. The scale is "steadily" climbing up, so that I now have 10 lbs. to re-lose... I'm also 47 now.

Cally

[*WWDonna*]

Cally, that is really interesting. I think I'll stop eating my APs and see if it helps. Well, I'll start next week, as I already have my menu fingured for today, and my weigh in is monday. I'll be 54 next month.

[Cally]

Yeah, it is. I decided to give it a two week try-and-see. As I just keep see-sawing back and forth on the scale; but the bottom line is, I've ended up 10 lbs. And THIS after losing 102 lbs. to make Lifetime.

So far, so good. I'll try to post a followup in 2 weeks. As I workout 4-5 hours/week, combining cardio with strength training.

Have a good one!

Cally

[*WWDonna*]

I decided to start tomorrow instead of next week!

I've got my menus planned for the next 3 days. No AP eating.

WI is Monday morning.

[Cally]

Okay, First Week Report. I lost 4 lbs. in 5 days. First time I've been able to move the scale down like this in a couple of years!

I'll report back in this Friday - weekly weigh in day.

Cally

[queenmum]

cally, thank you for posting. i too have struggled with whether or not to eat ap's and here is why. i am 56, post menopausal, and with the exception of an hour of exercise every day, i do very little in the way of physical exertion. i live in a small apart. alone, i have no little ones to chase, and spend alot of time on my computer. so to me the hour of exercise is very little compared to a more active lifestyle. i think it makes sense for younger people with a very busy lifestyle already to use aps to keep them going. but i don't feel it is helpful for me. thanks for helping me figure this out.

[GOBLUE06]

I have a completely different results with eating AP's. I am 30 and I eat all of my points, all of my flex points, and all my AP's also. For the first 3 weeks I didn't eat flex or AP's and I didn't lose as much. For the past 3 weeks I have been eating all of them (sometimes 8 a day) and I have lost 3.8, 3.8, and 3.6 pounds. The first time I did WW I hit a plateau and I started eating more of my AP's and the weight came flying off. I think it is a personal decision, and results can vary by each person. I just wanted to let anyone reading that eating them does work for some people.

Kim

[rnmomof7]

My cardiologist told me last week, "You'd have to walk 70 miles to burn 2.2 lbs. of fat, so what are you eating those APs for?"

Then he dropped my daily caloric intake to 1200 calories/day = 20 pts. (approx.); whereas I'd been having 25-27 with APS.

In four days, I've dropped 2 lbs.

For all of us that have been at the "weight loss game" a long time, if you remember, this 1200 calories/day came from the standard "gray sheet" they used to pass out at the Family Doctor's office. And they didn't consider "working out" as "extra."

My cardiologist said, "The workouts are for your cardiovascular health and toning (as I do weights). Not for EXTRA calories."

And I've been "stuck" on the scale for a VERY long time - see-sawing back and forth. It looks like this is working.

Everytime I "suggested" something (re: weight loss) he said, "Where did you hear THAT?" He told me to stop reading and give him 20 pushups...

Just some food for thought, as I've been doing WW since 98 and what I did to lose the weight, and make Lifetime, is no longer working. The scale is "steadily" climbing up, so that I now have 10 lbs. to re-lose... I'm also 47 now.

Cally


WW does not recommend dropping your points before you are at that weight.

The reason is because your body will become used to functioning at that level and at some point the loosing stops because the body will then conserve calories instead of using them. That might be why WW works and most of those Calorie restricted diets end up in failure.

That is why Wendies plan works. With it your body has no time to start to accommodate to a 'starvation" mode.

Actually doctors have almost no nutritional training and just looking at the ones with spare tires tells you that they need to come to WW.

My Primary doctor is a member of my WW group.

There are signs in the offices of all the doctors in that practice recommending WW and having a meeting schedule.


As my WW coach always reminds us.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. How many "doctor's calorie restricted plans" have we all been on? How come we ended up at WW if they worked?

you might like this link

http://www.realage.com/racafe/exest.aspx

SW 278

CW 210

[WeighToGo]

Beware the fat burning zone myth:

http://www.prevention.com/article/0,5778,s1-4-88-278-4219-1,00.html

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0895.htm