Need Help Activity Points-Wise

  • I am a big fan of exercise and I tend to do exercise that I consider to be High when estimating the perceived rate of exertion. I mostly work out at home, but I do videos like Turbo Fire and Peak Fit Challenge and when I can I like to run outdoors or on the treadmill. I also strength train regularly.
    I do not eat my activity points. I never have. I do eat my weekly points allowance but I rarely eat all of them, and I have over thirty left this week and I weigh in on Tuesdays. I have over 50 activity points.
    I have been stuck on the scale since just before Christmas. I am 12-14 lbs away from goal, and I just seem to keep gaining and losing the same 3-4 lbs. I religiously track my foods. I get all my water and then some, I eat all my fruits and vegetables and extras there too.
    I try to eat 4-5 vegetables a day and 2-3 fruits.
    I have asked my leader for help, and she doesn't really have any guidance for someone like me who isn't really struggling to stay on the program, but is still struggling to get to goal.
    Should I be eating my activity points?
  • First of all, congratulations on all you've accomplished Being that active is a great thing for your health!

    I can't say whether or not you "should" eat your activity points, but you are certainly open to trying and noting the outcome. It could help, it could not help, but you won't know unless you experiment with it.

    Have you also been taking measurements, pictures and noting how your clothing fits? You're not solely relying on the scale, yes? For someone who is getting closer to goal, and who does a lot of physical activity you might be changing how you look without it showing up on the scale so clearly.

    If you haven't already, you might want to consider incorporating things like measurements into your ideas about goal. You might end up at a size you're very comfortable with, while the scale doesn't change as much.

    You're also at a point where things get tougher. You're so close to where you want to be! Often, disappointingly, for many it means that it takes longer to lose weight. You may also find help in the Featherweights section. (For those who have less to lose.)

    Whatever ends up happening, keep up the awesome work. It might take a while, but you'll get to where you want to be.
  • I remember some girls that used to come around saying that if she was working out and getting a lot activity points (like 40) and not eating a part of them, she wouldn't loose. After a certain amounts of points earned, she had to used half of it in order to loose.

    if you are training a lot, maybe you're not eating enough? your body needs fuel, after all

    Good luck!
  • Thank you so much for the responses, it feels good to finally be heard.
  • Quote: Thank you so much for the responses, it feels good to finally be heard.
    We're all here to help each other out.

    Give us feedbacl if you find something that works out!
  • I was caught in a not-quite-plateau for awhile--I'd lose .5 on average, with a regular bump up now and then, but still a net loss, not losing the same 2 lbs over and over. It started to happen after I majorly increased my activity (I'd always done Zumba, but I added personal training/weights and 5k training to the mix). In the beginning, some of it was definitely muscle gain. But eventually I started to feel crappy too, and made an appt. with a dietician who specializes in sports nutrition and found out that I was majorly *majorly* undershooting my calories. I was filling up on fruits and veggies (this is GOOD, and something that I still do), but I was not choosing my other foods that wisely for calorie density.

    She gave me a training plan with exchanges (protein, carbs, fat) that I have been following. It did up the carbs a little (not by much, it's still relatively low carb), and though I was scared about her insistance that I NOT go below 1400 cals (we plugged in my WW journal and it was most of the time in the 1200 range, sometimes less! ) and instead shoot for 1400-1600; wow it has made a lot of difference. I'm back on track. I did gain about 2 lbs the first week, I think from water retention (I was super low carb before) but now I feel amazing, my workouts kick butt, and the weight loss has restarted to the 1-2 lb per week range.

    As you probably know, the calorie range for a "point" with the new system is variable. That's not a big deal if you're not athletic, but if you are doing a LOT of high demand activity, I think it is worth it to take a hard look at your nutrient ratios to make sure you're not imbalanced, and to track your real calories for a little bit too to make sure you're not habitually dipping too low. (one of the things I LIKE about the new system is that you're not eating exactly the same cals every day even if you eat the same points--but when you're in diet mode sometimes it can mess you up if you need to be mindful of athlete mode as well).

    Hope this made sense.
  • I lost .8 this week, which is less than I had thought I would.
    My AP Total was 51 for the week (would have been higher but vertigo from inner ear issue stopped me from working out Monday night).
    My remaining weekly allowance points were: 27.
    I have my yearly appointment with my primary care physician in a week or so I might request the sports nutrition consult.
    I also might get my BF tested.