I am a very new member of Weight Watchers. Yesterday was my very first meeting. Not sure if I missed it or my leader did not mention it...

How do you earn the activity points and how do they relate to my daily points?

Thanks a bunch for the info!

Hi!! I'm also a newbie. Someone on this website told me that we'll get activity point information in the 3rd or 4th week of WW. I just finished my 2nd week, and I wish I had the information already!!

Congratulations on joining WW!!

Hi girls. I just joined WW on Saturday of last week. I am also confused about activity points, and 'flex points'. I also am a little worried about my weigh in this week. I am supposed to go out Friday night with my sisters. I don't want to have to get up on Saturday, (weigh in day) and go to a meeting. I was thinking of going on Friday. The question is, is that opening the door to over-indulging on Friday night. I hate binging, being out of control with food with a passion. Any thoughts?

Danelover, what is your confusion about ActivityPoints and FlexPoints.

ActivityPoints are what you earn for exercise and it is your option to exchange them for food. If you go to meetings then you get the information in Week3. It is so you are not overwhelmed with all aspects of the program.

FlexPoints are 35 points you are given each week to supplement your TargetPoints. You have the option of using some, none or all of them. You can use them all at once or spread them out.

With the use of FlexPoints you shouldn't have to be out of control with food if you plan. Personally I wouldn't change the day you weight unless you really want to. If you are going out on Friday night you either deal with what may happen the next day due to sodium/alcohol causing water rentention or you don't. I would go out with a plan, follow the plan and stay in control...deal with the scale the next day knowing that there may be no change or even a gain from water retention. The next week I know will be better.

My leader always told me that we had to be sure to eat our activity points that we "earned" otherwise it was like not eating to your "minimum" (when i started my range was 18-23) and therefore almost asking for a gain due to not having enough energy to burn off the fat....something like that. So I don't know if option of trading them in for points is right..i mean most days i would but somedays i'm honestly full but i've worked out, i'll find myself with a cookie just to make it to my minimum w/activity points that i've earned....thoughts?

Hmm, this is a great thread. I look forward to the answer to angelofsighs. I thought today that I would not count my activity points. I have dropped to the next point range and would like to lose four lbs in the next two weeks but will take what I can get.

If I'm in this position, I usually drink a glass of skim milk. It's got protein and calcium (which I always struggle to get enough of anyway) and a cup is two points. Since the max activity points you can earn in a day is four, two cups of skim milk will do the trick to hit your points goal for the day while still using them for something nutritious.

If you don't like milk, you can always add cocoa for fat free chocolate milk!

I was on WW for three years and almost never ate my activity points. Most poeple have a tendency to overcalulate their activity points anways or underestimate their food points for a day. Giving themselves four points for a 30 minute walk instead of 1 point, for example. Since four points of activity are actually hard to get, I wouldn't worry to much about that at the start. The idea about drinking milk was excellent! Learning this new system and starting your new lifestyle is worry enough, I think that's why it's not introduced into the third or fourth week. Good Luck!

At the beginning I will agree that most people have a tendency to over calculate the activity points because they tend to try to utilize just the sweat factor.

If you start to look at the breathing and heart rate factors omitting the sweat factor (which is not very valid but that is a whole other story) then you can usually get right on with calculationg the points.

The one thing I disagree is it is hard to get in 4 points in activity. That is a really easy one if you do 45-60 minutes a day of activity. However for MOST 4 points for a 30 minute walk is not valid however there are some who are much heavier or very much out of shape where a brisk walk at the beginning will be 3 or 4 or even more APs.

I usually earn 2-3 points in the morning before work with a 1-2 mile WATP (I have another thread on how to bump up the intensity of these videos/DVDs to earn more points) and then 2-3 for the gym after work on 6 days a week.

I eat all my APs and always have. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO EAT THEM! However they are totally optional and up to the individual to eat them.

A good tips to live by on eating your points is:

TargetPoints - get in your 8 Great Health Guidelines and nutritional requirements

ActivityPoints - add dairy or protein

WeeklyPointsAllowance - use for your treats