[dosbabe]

Originally Posted by shcirerf

Bouoght it tnight, we'll see!

Well, I ordered it online through the WW's site, and they still couldn't manage to send it to me. I am anxious to know what you think of it.

[Koshka]

My leader really likes it. We were supposed to get it by this month but last week they said it was delayed until November....

[LucyRic]

Has anyone tried it and the FitBit? I'm wondering how it compares.

[Koshka]

I didn't want to wait so bought 2 (one for me and one for DH) on ebay. Haven't received yet, but I am wondering now if I made a mistake. You have to have etools to use it and there is a $5 a month subscription fee. That is all fine and I do have etools. But, once I get it I wonder if etools will let me subscribe since it isn't active in my area yet....

[dosbabe]

Originally Posted by [B

Koshka[/B];4461786]IThat is all fine and I do have etools. But, once I get it I wonder if etools will let me subscribe since it isn't active in my area yet....

I'll be anxious to know if it works for you. We don't have it in our area yet either.

[DrivenByAmbition]

Is there any link online with information from weight watchers on this? I wonder why they haven't advertised it more.

[Koshka]

There is a lot on the WW forums which I read.

Read this thread:

www.tinyurl.com/activelink


Read this blog, starting with this post then read all of them for the next 2 months or so:

http://community.weightwatchers.com/...readID=1673393

I read a lot more but here are the main takeaways I got from it:

1. Your baseline is based upon gender, age, height, weight. It isn't based upon the 8 day assessment.

2. You do an 8 day assessment when you get AL which will then set challenge goals for you. Someone who was very sedentary before might get a challenge goal of 1 AP a day. Someone was already earning 6 APs a day might get a goal of 8 AP a day. However, if they were the same gender, age, weight and height, they would have the exact same baseline.

3. You do not earn APs each day until you meet your baseline. The forums are full of people who say something like -- I did an hour of intense exercise and AL says I earned 0 APs so it is broken or doesn't work.

Basically these people don't understand the device. Let's say you get up in the morning and do an hour of intense exercise and you plug AL into the computer. It will say you have earned 0 APs for the day. Now, let's say you go out and have a day where you walk around a lot, climb some stairs and generally move around but don't do formal exercise. Chances are that at some point during the day you meet your baseline and then starting earning APs and by the end of the day you have earned some number of APs. On the other hand, let's say that after the work out you go home and sit in front of the computer for the rest of the day except for bathroom breaks. Chances are you earn 0 points because you never met your baseline.

4. One of the things being pointed out by many is that this device really does point out that -- for many people -- the "old" way of doing AP probably gives someone too many AP if that person is sedentary. In setting people's daily points, currently WW assumes that everyone is basically low activity which is a step above sedentary. So if you go out and do 30 minutes of low intensity or moderate exercise you earn a point or 2 of AP.

With the AL you might earn that point or 2 -- or you might not. If you actually aren't low activity the rest of your day and instead are sedentary then with the AL you will earn no AP as you didn't meet your baseline. WW right now assumes you meet your baseline and so if you do any exercise at all you earn APs. ActiveLink doesn't assume anything. It actually checks to see if you meet the baseline and if you don't then you earn nothing.

FWIW, AL is definitely a better and more accurate way to do it. On some days I am sedentary and end up not walking around a lot. Currently I might go in and do the rowing machine for 45 minutes and I give myself a couple of APs. When I have AL, I probably won't get those points. And, truthfully, I probably shouldn't get them (I don't eat them so that is OK).

5. For most people APs earned using AL are lower than what people were recording. Members are notorious for over estimating activity intensity. AL tends to be more accurate.

6. Some activities have to be "named" on AL since the device doesn't read them well such as using an elliptical.

7. You can't use AL and record AP the old way. You use one system or the other. Once you get an AL the only way you can record activity is through the device. If you leave your AL home one day then you earn nothing and there is no way to record activity manually.

8. You have to plug it in to the computer (you can't use an iPad) to upload data and to see your progress. People generally aren't happy with the amount of info you get and feel fitbit gives better feedback.

9. It is cheaper than the fitbit but you have to pay $5 a month forever to use it rather than only paying once for the fitbit. OTOH, the beauty of this is that it calculates APs for you. It is not as full featured as fitbit but there is a lower upfront and cost and you decide if the calculating APs for you is worthwhile.

10. If you open the package, it can't be returned and you can't sell it to anyone else. In other words, if you hate it, you can't transfer it to anyone else (fitbit doesn't have that limitation). Any customer services and product problems go through Phillips, not WW.

Also - here is a link to the AL help pages which has a lot of information on various topics:

https://www.getactivelink.com/help

[DrivenByAmbition]

Exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks so much!

[Koshka]

Just to update. DH and I bought Active Links on Ebay (we were willing to pay the extra $5 not to have to wait until November). They arrived today and we were easily able to activate and subscribe even though it isn't active yet in this area.

We are now in the assessment phase where you basically don't get any information. I thought the documentation was a bit sparse but we were able to figure it out. For example, while they give a good explanation of what it means to have to meet your baseline each day they give zero instructions on how to upload the data. I finally went to the help and it seems like you just have to plug it into the USB port and then the software reads it. However, at least during assessment you can't actually see as far as I can tell whether anything was read or not...

[dosbabe]

Originally Posted by Koshka

I finally went to the help and it seems like you just have to plug it into the USB port and then the software reads it. However, at least during assessment you can't actually see as far as I can tell whether anything was read or not...

I will be very interested in what you think. After next week, I'll be doing WW's just on my own - can't afford it. But after January, hopefully I'll join again.

When I quit last time, WW's sent me coupons for 3 months, last month free. I might joing again.

[Lavanie]

Originally Posted by LucyRic

Has anyone tried it and the FitBit? I'm wondering how it compares.

I got my FitBit about a month ago. It really motivates me! I added my friend to my FitBit list and now we are competing with each other. I like that I sync my device to Ipad any time I want.
I had a really hard time choosing between AL and FB. I like that AL counts your activity points. I don't like that you have to pay $5 on top of your etools fee. Luckily, at this point of my life I can afford monthly pass, so paying $5/month would've been OK. I was thinking what if later in my life I would not be able to pay for it? It would've been another wasted $40. With FB you 2 options: to use free tools (what I currently do) or buy premium account (what my friend does). So far I'm happy with what FB offers for free.

[Koshka]

I haven't tried both but I've considered getting a FitBit to go with the ActiveLink.

I've been using the AL for awhile now. I didn't do much with it the first month or so as I was really busy and not doing any activity.

What was an eye opener to me was that on day I don't go to work (and I am semi-retired so only go to work 2 days a week) I wasn't getting close to my baseline at all (I mean I was often at only 30% to 50% of baseline). Living in a 1 story house and not going anywhere meant I was sittling a lot of the day. I was doing stuff but it was mostly computer related.

In the old days I would do that then go use my rower and would give myself 2 activity points because that is how WW activity calculator would calculate it (I always said I was low intensity though). Now - on a sedentary day - if I do that I maybe get to my baseline but I don't earn any activity points.

Yesterday, for example, I went out shopping to the grocery store, went out to lunch, lifted weights and used the rower (didn't use rower for long - it was mostly a weights day). With that I ended up not meeting my baseline at all. The day before I went out shopping and to lunch but did a lot of rowing and I was above baseline but not high enough to earn an activity point. In the old days I would have earned 2 activity points each day.

What I have learned from this is that the way WW does activity points if you don't have an active link is totally wrong. That is - the active link doesn't give you any activity points unless you first meet a base line of activity whereas the non-AL way of calculating you do get them. I think the AL way of doing it is more accurate. I've been a very slow loser - often averaging losing 1/4 pound a week. I think the main reason is that WW sets your daily points (plus weekly points) based upon an assumption that you meet your baseline each day. But I wasn't meeting it.

For someone with a sedentary lifestyle - until it is more active - it is probably better to not eat all your weekly points (let alone activity points). I am working to increase activity but it is hard when I don't really have a need at home to be more active. That is, I try to get up and move around more but often I don't actually have anything I need to do that requires moving around. So I'm working to increase the formal exercise more and the AL helps with that.

I do like the AL but which it gave more feedback. When you plug it in, it tells you how much % you have met to your goal. That can be confusing since your goal is personal to you and it doesn't tell you whether you have met baseline or how close you are to earning an Activity point. You can figure those things out roughly by looking at the graph of the day but the percentage is only as to your goal. I wish they gave more info than that. I also wish you could sync wirelessly.

However, my understanding is FitBit can't be used in water while the activelink can (I wear mine all the time around my neck even at night and can wear it while showering which is nice).

[Lavanie]

I be careful not to use my extra weekly points. However, I had to use some of them last week (it was my Birthday ). I do not log my activity points since I'm not planning to use them.
Yes, FB is not waterproof but it sweat resistant. It has a wrist band which logs your sleep pattern and efficiency (I don't really know how it helps with loosing weight).
I think if I could afford both AL and FB I would get both of them.

[dosbabe]

I canceled my active link after 3 months. I found the fitbit more accurate.