So...I had a small gain at my last weigh in. I was chatting with the receptionist about it. I didnt understand why, since I had been on plan all week, and ate just a few of my weeklies. I'd done more exercise last week as well, but didn't eat my AP's.
She recommended that I switch my online tracker to use my activity points first, and weeklies second. She said thats what she did and it worked for her.
I don't understand. How would that make a difference? If I'm still eating the same amount of food, how I track it doesn't change how much weight I gain or lose. So I'm kinda confused about what she was trying to tell me.
Any ideas?

Yeah, makes no sense. But they aren't trained nutritionists, so I don't put much weight on what they say about those things.

It doesn't make a difference - if you only had a small gain one week, I wouldn't change anything - I'd just keep going. There are so many reasons for a small gain, and sometimes no good reason at all, that, at least to me, it makes sense to continue to do things the same way for a few more weeks to see what happens first.

They are the exact same thing, she doesn't know what she's talking about.

I would eat back activity points before dipping into my weeklies.

While, technically speaking, APs vs Weeklies don't make a physical difference, they could make a psychological difference. That is, because you have to earn APs it might force you to work out more. Or because you had to work to get the extra points (whereas we are all just given weeklies), you might make different choices about what you eat. At least that's what I've found

But, as others have said, a small gain isn't something to really worry about. It happens to all of us

Am I the only one who thinks there is a difference? You earn activity points, and weeklies are given to you. You need to eat those activity points the day you earn them, I wouldn't bank them and use them as if they were your weeklies. Say for instance, on Monday, you earned 5 Activity points. You stay within your points goal for that day and the next few days. On Friday you decide to use your weeklies plus those 5 activity points. You didn't earn them that day, therefore, it may cause a gain. I mean the calories in versus calories out are the same for the week, but definitely not the day when you look at it that way.

Not AP or WP related but in regards to your gain, you said you had done more exercise last week. I have found that when I started exercising or when I decide to increase my intensity I tend to not lose or be slightly up.

I read this over at sparkpeople which could help explain it.
When you start doing more exercise, your body begins storing more fuel in your muscle cells, where it can be used easily and quickly to fuel your workouts. The process of converting glucose (carbohydrates) into fuel that your muscles actually store and use (glycogen) requires three molecules of water for every molecule of glucose. As your muscles are building up glycogen stores, your body has to retain extra water for this purpose. That's what causes most of the initial weight gain or lack of weight loss. This is a good thing—not something to worry about.
(http://www.sparkpeople.com/community...perts.asp?q=68)

So basically I'm saying it may not have anything to do with how may WP or AP you used.

I think what everyone meant by there is no difference is that they are the exact same points value, they aren't worth any more or less.

Well....here's an update for last week. I switched my tracker so that I used my AP's before weeklies. I made sure to eat every AP I earned...and I ate it the day that I earned it. The result...down 6.2 from a 2lb gain last week. Im sure that it may be a smaller loss because I may have had some water or sodium retention last week, but it's still a loss. So...I ate MORE last week, but had my biggest loss yet. I'm going to do it again this week and see if the results are close, or this was a fluke.

I want to echo Driven By Ambition's point about eating your APs the day you earn them because that's the day your body needs extra fuel.

Also, bodies are not a predictable system (like a computer program). You can do the plan PERFECTLY and gain, then slack off and lose. However, overall, staying OP will help you lose over time and keep it off. Don't put too much stock in each week's results being tied to that week's eating.

I'm finding that out this week. I've been OP all week, eating my AP's the day I earn them. I haven't touched my weeklies. Weigh in isnt until monday, but I seem to be running around 1lb above last week. Not alot, but still stinks a bit. But I have taken drivenbyambitions point to heart. It seems to make sense to me...eat it when you earn it.
Keeping my fingers crossed for weigh in, but not gonna stress about it. Two steps forward and one step back is still progress, right?