I weighed myself at 6am this morning and found that I’m 211.1lbs. That’s an increase of 1.1lb over Christmas.
Not bad, but still not good.
In a fit of desperation I decided to rejoin Weight Watchers Online again. The reason why I stopped using it in July was that the activity points for running were way too low.
They still haven’t fixed it either.
To give you an example, I’ve inputted the average time it takes for me to jog a half marathon (130 minutes) into the Activity Manager.
According to the calculator 130 minutes of jogging only ‘earns’ me 13 Activity ProPoints.
Now, just in case you aren’t familiar Weight Watchers, you can use the Activity Points that you earn to ‘buy’ other food that you can then eat or save for later.
13 Weight Watchers Activity Points buys me this.
That’s right.
A Big Mac. One Big Mac.
Now there’s something inherently wrong here. As a 210lb runner I burn between 1500 and 2000 calories (depending on the source) during a half marathon.
A Big Mac in the UK contains 490 calories.
I understand that the point of Weight Watchers is to create a caloric deficit, but this is unsustainable.
The Solution.
Whilst this didn’t matter for their users dieters who aren’t quite at the stage of running yet, it makes the program almost impossible to adhere to if you run a lot.
The workaround is to mark all of your running down under the ‘Running – interval training’.
As you can see from above for a half marathon I’d earn a more respectable 32 points for running a half marathon.
That amounts to 2 and a half Big Macs or about 1,200 calories which is still a reasonable deficit going by even the most conservative of estimates for the amount of energy I burn during a half marathon.
Sustainable is the word!
The key to any successful weight loss regime is for it to be sustainable.
Before the points were reduced in 2012, I stayed on the Weight Watchers programme for the first few months of my marathon training and lost 7 pounds by using the old Activity points.
Since then I’ve tried the diet multiple times and I’ve never lasted more than 3 days because of the reduction of points.
That’s why it makes sense for me to keep to the old Activity system.
But it’s something that you might have to experiment with yourself after each weigh in. I think my body might just be fucking weird..
Related running posts:
- How Much Weight Can You Lose Whilst Jogging And Using The Weight Watchers Plan Online?
- 6 Mile Run In Training At A Time Of 61 Minutes – 900 Calories Burned And Another 6 Weight Watchers Activity Points.
- Ran 6 Miles In Just Over An Hour And Earned 6 Weight Watchers Activity ProPoints For Jogging.
- No Motivation To Run, Exercise Or Follow The Weight Watchers Online ProPoints Plan Today.
- Weight Watchers Online Is An Ideal Weight Loss Plan For Men And Women Alike. I Guess I Am One Of Their Success Stories.
by Matt the Angry Jogger
Matt lost 70lbs through running and has ran 13 half marathons and 4 full ones. He hates health freaks with a fucking passion and loves cheese and cider.
Weight watchers sounds crazy! Have you tried Slimming World? You can eat unlimited complex carbs and lean proteins (and fruit and veg), which is great if you’re training hard. I still find myself craving bread and sugary stuff (which is limited), but it does seem a lot more sustainable.
I am on we too and for all long runs I calculate actiivity points at high intensity. It is the only way it works for me.
Hey Bex, I haven’t tried Slimming World but Big Fat Marathon is on it and has had mad success with it! I’m kinda allergic to vegetables, so I struggle with it that way.
Sarah – I’ve no idea why the hell they changed the Activity Points. Last time I tried WW I ended up with -174 points after 4 or 5 days.
Matt – 1 mile = 100 cals. I’d be weary of ANYTHING that tells you that you burn 1500-2000 cals in a half marathon. When in doubt, low-ball the calories burned, and high-ball the calories consumed. It’ll work itself out that way.
Yeah but I am 6 foot 3 and 210lbs Miranda. I usually underestimate what I burn too, the problem is I haven’t been monitoring my intake of food for at least a year.
I have had the exact same issues with WW that you are describing regarding running. Still, I do like the program- I just want to tailor it to fit me. I had huge success with it in the past but haven’t had luck lately at all. If you find something that works, please keep sharing!!!