I've been reluctant to go in to my points plus or activity points. Last week I worked really hard not to. I did anyways, but mostly by only 3 or 4 points until I went crazy on the weekend (planned). This week I decided to try to be more flexible with the PPs because I was so hungry last week, and I was reading that WW really encourages people to use the points. I build up activity points too, so I have a lot of points. I figured i could probably stand to use them. In the last 3 days I used 13, 10 and 15 points, but not on junk or sweets. Just more food.
Yet this week I'm not losing at all! It's Thursday and I'm still actually heavier than my weigh in on Monday. I know I still have 4 days to go, but I wonder if using PP is actually hindering my progress. I'm still tracking calories along with points, and using PP actually puts me at around 1400-1500 calories a day instead of 1200 or 1300. Maybe it's just too much.
My loss was huge last week (4 pounds) but starting a new diet usually gives big losses the first week. But maybe my body is going to take a week off. I'm not looking to lose big. At this point, a pound a week would be welcome.
Does anyone else find that using or not using PP affects their losses?
Last edited by twinieten; 07-19-2012 at 08:11 AM.
Reason: add
I find using the extra points does slow down my weightloss, and I also find that if I have a big loss one week the next week I only have a little loss until the week after, almost like a pattern, but I think using some extra points is better then feeling depraved of something ,getting frustrated and pigging out, your doing great, try to not judge your progress by just the number on the scale,but how good you feel to be making better food choices and inproving your health!!
I use about half of my weeklies on most weeks. My weight loss has been all over the place. Some weeks I've lost over two pounds, some weeks I've lost half a pound. It's just not steady or predictable. I've also found that on the weeks I exercise more I don't really lose more. Maybe my muscles are retaining water? I dunno. It's baffling. I do feel physically better when I exercise. I've learned to step back and look at the big picture. As long as my overall trend is downwards, I'm good.
Weight naturally fluctuates day to day, even hour to hour so don't necessarily judge this week's weigh in based on numbers you see mid-week. My weigh in is on Monday and sometimes I'll just hop on Sunday morning and be up or the same as the previous Monday, but 24 hours later I'll have "magically" dropped 2 lbs.
And, like Trace, if I have a huge week, the next week is usually smaller, so after a 4 lb drop don't be surprised if you maintain this week or have only a small loss. It's all part of the journey and happens to all of us, so on the off chance that you are disappointed by the number you see this week, try not to let it derail you.
The number really is only one very small part of this entire experience. Focus on how you are feeling better and eating better and exercising and doing so many good things for you body! Exercise will help you with losing inches, too, and those won't always show up on the scale. (That is, your weigh loss might be slow, but your body is getting more toned and thinning out that way)
It is my understanding that the activity points should be used the same day that they are earned if you plan on using them. At least that is what my booklet says from the program about 5 yrs ago. Of course they change the program every so often so that might not be the rules now, but I pulled out all my old booklets last week and that is what I am following because I had success with it the last time. :-)
It is no longer the rule that you have to use Activity points on the day earned. You can choose to do it that way but you can choose to use them after Weekly points
twinieten - I am a little confused about you talking about going into your points plus. Do you mean going into your 49 weekly points? For daily eating are you on Points plus or are you using simply filling?
Anyway, I actually graphed my points used for a year against how much I lost and I found that or time there wasn't much correlation between my eating most of my weekly points or few of them. I'm sure that there probably was some but not as much as you might think.
Yes, I'm talking about the 49 weekly. Sorry, picking up the lingo, still!
I still feel weird about using them, but I understand the daily points used to be 29? I just need to relax about it, I guess, and just see where I land.
JP, it allows you to choose if you're going to use your activity points first, or your weekly points. If you want to use your activity points first, you have to have your swapping settings set to "weekly". If you do that, all of your AP go in to a pot that you draw off of whenever you go over your daily points, which might not necessarily be on the same day. I chose to use my AP first, WP second.
I find I'm successful on the PP program because I tend to never ever use more than 7 of the 49 weekly points allowance in one day. I fill up on power foods and make sure I stay away from carbs, soda, alcohol etc. Using only 7 points extra a day (when needed) seems to be working for me.
My Leader suggested everyone try that if they're not seeing any results on the scale. In doing that, most weeks I still have over half my Points Allowance left. I find looking at the Points Allowance as a way to ask myself "Am I really making healthier choices if I need these extra points every day?"
As for using activity points, I earn on average 30 a week and never ever use any of them! I like seeing them earned but not used
And if you find yourself too hungry or feeling deprived, water water water! I drink room temperature water before meals and I find that helps me feel full by eating a little less
I think it varies depending on the person...it all works differently for different bodies. I know personally for me all the times I've lost on ww's I've always used all my weekly pts. There were time I would indulge and use my weekly pts the day before w/i and I would still lose.
PP and not losing
