I've found that I'm hording points to use at night... and then having to force myself to get them all in. And then in the evening, I end up starving & grumpy! I need goals to reach by each meal/snack time.

I have to have 26-31 points.

So I'm thinking:


(I eat an early lunch, so usually have two afternoon snacks)
Breakfast = 5 = 5
Lunch = 7 = 12
early Snack = 3 = 15
late Snack = 3 = 18
dinner = 8 = 26
after dinner = flex up to 31 if needed

Does this look do-able? Reasonable? How do you do yours, and is it working?

There are ways to use up your points. Your breakdown looks good but what are you spendng the points on?

Ensure you get in your dairy (and that doesn't mean just milk) that is 4-6 points of your day (unless you are over 50 where it is 6-8 --- teens get <or at least used to get> the third dairy as a freebie). Ensure you get in your 2 healthy oils a day that is another 2 points.

Make sure you get enough protein.

If you truly cannont make your daily points have real foods (ie., real bread vs low cal bread, light or regular mayo instead of fat free, etc).

The other thing I suggest is use all your points daily, activity and flex for the week. The more you use while losing the more you usually get at maintenance.

How does that affect maintenance? Use all my flex & activity points, too?! But it'll slow down the loss, won't it?

The more food/calories you use while losing the more you body adjusts to having more and the more you get on maintenance (usually).

Actually the majority of people find they lose better and more consistently when they use all their points.

I am going to give you what happened to me and remember everyone is an individual and what works for one may not work for the other....

I started at 26-33 points back when they had ranges (it would be 28 daily points now)...quickly I hit 24-31 points and I varied my points day to day (some days would be 24 and others would be 41). When I was supposed to decrease to 22-29 points a day my leader advised if I was still losing at 24-31 stay there so I did. Eventually when they went to FlexPoints I was still losing at 24 daily points so I stayed ther even when I got low enough to be at 20 daily. I use all my activity points I earn daily (3-6) and I also use all my 35 FPs. Now on maintenance my daily points are 34-35 PLUS my 3-6 daily APs PLUS my 35 FPs a week.

W/W is based on a BARE MINIMUM which is called Daily/Target Points. Then allows for more calories when you are more active called Activity Points. It also is based on a weekly MAXIMUM which are the Flex/Weekly Points.

Most of the people need to eat to lose. I know it is a foreign concept for most because diet mentality has been 'starve' and lose or 'eat extreme low' because that is what you need to lose when infact we have been doing our bodies injustices because your body needs fuel.

Think about your gas tank in your car. When it is full you seem to get better gas mileage and then when you hit that 1/2 way point on the guage it seems to use more gas...body has the same concept.

Kelly is right, use those points.

I like to eat a big dinner. So often I run my points 5pm to 5 pm instead of morning until bed. That way I eat what I want at nightt hen balance the rest through the next day.

Misty! I like that idea!

I need to go back & figure my points for the week. I've counted daily, but I don't ever "bank" the over/under, and haven't added up the activity points. I need to see where I'm REALLY at. I'll get back with ya in a sec for an update!

OK - I'm using the OLD WW method, where I have a range to eat weekly. I'm not eating at the top of the range, so I'm banking the extras. And I'm working out 3 x's week, for 30 mins high intensity on the elliptical machine. At my weight, that earns me 6 POINTS PER WORKOUT! So my "bank" has 31 points in it that have accumulated since last Sunday!!! No wonder I feel like I'm starving!!

You know, my head's playing that old trick on me. Eat less, it will come off faster. I gotta just try to be patient!

Yeah you've got to eat those points! Also double check your workout....high intensity is equated to competative running. I'mnot saying that you aren't working out at high but you might want to try a trick Kelly taught me.....take your workout at medium and take your workout at high avereage it to get a number in the middle. I often work harder than med. but defianatley NOT high.

Also with old WW there was a limit on how many you could bank and howmany you could use in a day I think.

Actually many capped their activity points but the wording for activity has always been the same after they developed the Activity Slider (points formula) with no cap.

What are you saying? I'm not understanding?

And about using the high activity on the slider, you mentioned that it is equivalent to competitive running. But if me on an elliptical machine at MY weight wears me out and gets me breathing as hard as a person running a marathon, isn't that high for ME?

W/W advises if you have not been active or not under the guidance of a fitness pro or MD (or ready to move on) to limit the earn/use of ActivityPoints to an AVERAGE of 4 a day or 28 a week. When this first came out many leaders misinterpreted it to day that you could you use or earn 4 activity points a day.

As for intensity very rare does a normal exercise individual reach a high intensity work out. I know that I do because I use a HR monitor.

Most of normal people fall between the moderate intensity and a high intensity. For you that very well may be a high intensity because of how in or out of shape you are.

For an easy to remember guideline when judging intensity:

LOW - you can talk and sing (usually does not break a sweat <however sweat is not a valid indicator of intensity>)

MOD - you can talk but not sing (usually you start to break a sweat)

HIGH - you need a deep breath every 1-3 words to speak (usually sweatting profusely)

You have to know your body and Kelly gave you a great guideline. If you really feel your are at high then you very well could be. I did competative swimming in highschool so I know my workouts are pretty intense for me b/c I am so out of shape know but I don't think they are high. I just wanted to mention it in case you found you weren't losing or something. It's a tricky thing and sometimes when starting the program it's hard to judge. But if you feel it's high for you and you are happy with your losses then by all means rack up those points! And keep up the workouts!!!!! You are doing a great job!

i think it varies per person. Some lose more when using all of their daily, flex and AP, some don't. I usually use all of my daily and most or all of my flex and then SOME of my activity points (usually either half or n-1). I tend to plateau quicker when I use ALL of my AP and daily and flex. I also have a tendency to plateau out near the bottom of a range and have to reduce the number of flex points in order to keep going.

BTW, misty, your piggy bank is a brilliant idea. You mind if i steal it and use it with some of the clients i work with?