This was very helpful, I had been unsure of how to calculate my activity points for the P90X routine I’ve been doing.
Thanks!
Jenna

Thanks for the kind words Jenna, and thanks for visiting the site!

This site is so Awesome. The information is VERY accurate, and extremely helpful. I give major PROPS to Dan and his team for making such an informative free site.
Thanks
Dee

LOL, Thanks for the props Dee. There is no team here, though. Just little old me…thanks for the great comment!

Hey Jennajennabobenna, I’m doing P90X as well( Turbo Jam in the mornings and P90x at nights)! So I’m a little confused… do I just add my activity points back into my daily point allowence? For example my current allowence is 28. So if I do my P90x for 1hr (very intense) and I earned 10 activity points, will my daily allowence now be 38 points?

Hi Afrikasgem. Yes, that would be the correct way to do it. I usually don’t even add my activity point to my daily total but I’m not doing a very intense workout.

Sounds like you are doing some pretty intense stuff (I’ve seen P90X) so you are going to need that extra nutrition for energy. Just make sure to keep it healthy and if you notice that your weight loss is slowing down, start lowering the amount of activity points that you give yourself. Good luck!

Great site – one stop shopping for all of my info and questions ! I’ve been subtracting the points from my daily total. Does it really make a difference in how to account for the activity points ?

Hi humbucker. If you are counting your activity points, the amount earned should be added to your daily point allowance. This will allow you to eat the extra calories that your body needs when doing strenght training, etc.

Many people exercise without eating the additional points to try to increase their weight loss. That is fine as long as they are not in the gym multiple hours a day burning a couple thousand calories.

So if my daily allowance is 39 and I do p90x I get roughly 10-12 extra points a day right? Is it bad if I don’t eat more? I want to do this right and if being to extreme is going to hurt my results I want to know.

I guess what I am asking is will I be ok if I act like those extra points don’t exsist?

Hey there Voodoochilie! I think you will be fine but watch your weight closely. If the weight loss seems slower than expected try upping your points a little to see if you can kickstart your metabolism.

Thanks Dan, but do you know how much weight I should be expecting to lose? I guess I’m not sure what is reasonable. 1-2lbs a week or more? Im 6’1″ I am currently 236. I do the p90x workouts, but instead of their cardio I go running those days. 2.5-3.5 miles. Do you know how much weight I should be looking to lose a week. I stand at my job all day, if that helps.

Thanks again.

Weight Watchers alone (without any exercise) should be getting you .5 to 2 pounds per week. I don’t know what kind of results that they advertise for p90x but I would think that, at least in the beginning, you would see an additional pound or two per week. So I would say if you are not losing at least 3 pounds per week to start you may want to adjust your point intake. That just my take, though…

Thanks Dan

That helps, At least now I have a idea.

Hi,
Has anyone calculated the approximate activity points burned per each P90X workout disk? If so, please advise. Thanks

I just discovered this site… I LOVE IT!!! Thank you sooo much… I just started my weight loss journey again! I feel great. I lost 3lbs in my 1st week.

Yay
KC

‘Bout time you found us KC!!

You’re off to a great start, keep up the good work and leave us a note once in awhile to let everyone know how you’re doing. There is a spot in the forum to post your weigh in results if you are interested. Thanks for visiting the site!

I’d say about 11 for the days with ab ripper, maybe 8 or 9 for the days without.

Hi Dan, I am a little confused on what my points should be. I swim for an hour, (3,400 yards) 3 times a week and do P90x 6 days a week. My points without exercise are 21. I just want to see if you can tell me if I’m calculating this right:

On days I don’t workout, I get 21 points.

On M-Wed-Fri I swim for an hour (3,400 yards) and do P90X w/abs, I’m calculating that at an additional 16 points, added to my 21= 37 points.

On T-Th-Sat I only do P90x w/out abs for approx. 45- 60 min. Thats an additional 8 points added to my 21=29.

I have not been eating this many points, I’ve been sticking to around 29 every day. Should I eat the extra points on the days I have a morning and an evening workout? Does it matter if I don’t? I just feel like thats a lot of food to consume. If I don’t eat exactly that amount of points will it work to my disadvantage? It’s really hard to tell how much weight I’m losing at this point because I am putting on a lot of muscle but I know I am losing because my clothes fit so much better. Anyway,I just want to be as accurate as I can be and do this the right way.
Thank you for any help you can give me,
Orlynn

Hello there, Orlynn! You may have to experiment a little with your daily points to figure out what is right for you. Seems that you have a very intense workout schedule so you will definitely need some extra nourishment. I think 29 is a good starting point and then make some adjustments from there based on whether you are losing weight or not. It seems weird but you may actually have to eat a little more (healthy stuff, of course) to lose weight when working out so much. And as you pointed out, it’s not all about the weight loss. If you are losing inches, eating better and feeling healthier you are on the road to success. Keep up the good work and best of luck!

Thank you Dan! I appreciate your help! This is an excellent website!!! Very informative. This is the only website I go to now for any questions I have.
Thank you very much!!!!

Hey thanks so much for the info! Really helping me merge my weight watcher’s goal to my P90X workout…

Hey Mark, thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave a comment. Glad I could help!

I just sent back my Nutrisystem Box of awful food. I decided to try the WW pt system. I was looking on-line and came across your site. WOW, all my question for now have been answered. I use the calucator to figure out some of the foods that I purchased at the grocery store. Looking forward to losing weight, with good tasting and good for me food.

I have been looking everywhere trying to figure this out. My question is this. If I go out and play tennis I am sweating pretty fast. I live in the south and it is a billion degrees outside… so how you do you score that? Does the natural act of starting to sweat automatically qualify you as a moderate exercise. Also, I play ice hockey and for an hour and a half on the ice we go anywhere from skating hard and very intense ( easy to score) to sitting for a few minutes inbetween drills for the coach to explain things… how do I count that?

I am assuming I cant count the 700 calories I burn wearing my heart rate monitor as 7 points?

Hi Debbie, sorry for taking so long to get back with ya (been on vacation). Even without taking the temperature into consideration I would consider tennis to be a pretty intense workout, so I would at least count it as moderate. For the hockey I would just try to determine what percentage of the time you are active compared to what percent you are sitting/standing still. So, for 1.5 hours, if you are active 50% of the time count it as 45 minutes. Hope this helps!

So looking over the site and wondering… do I add this into my daily points or ignore and get more weight loss?

Hey Jennifer, I think it really depends on how intense of a workout routine you have. If you are a casual exerciser, it won’t hurt to not add the activity points to your daily totals. If you are an exercise fanatic, working out for 2 hours per day, you will defintely need the extra nutrition. Most people will be fine by not adding them or only using some of what they earn.

This site is GREAT!! I’m going out to eat and was looking for nutrition info for the restaurant and find this site!! Question – I usually end the week with 30 to 34 activity points – Do I treat myself on the last day of the week with something? Or do I forget about those points? Which is better? I do end up eating about 2 or 3 extra points a day – which goes to the 35 weekly points – but the only time I dip into activity points is if we go out to dinner or there’s a celebration. Would I lose it quicker if I don’t eat the points? Or do I need to eat them for fuel for my body? HELP!!

Hi Kathy, the way that I understand how the activity points work is that they are to be used on the day that they are earned. If you don’t use them they do not carry over to the next day. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong but that is how it was explained to me.

Either way, I guess it is a wash for your situation. Just consider the 2-3 bonus points that you use each day as activity points, and then you have your bonus points left over for dinner and celebrations. Kind of the opposite of how you currently do it.

Thanks for visiting and I hope I didn’t confuse you too much

Nope! Got it! Thanks! I’ll do it that way instead. Makes sense!! Thanks Dan!! Great site!!

I am always looking for good information on water exercise. It is difficult because . . . I don’t know. Folks that figure out calories burned don’t seem to evaluate water exercise. The above calculator was about the same as WW site. 4 points for 60 minutes (I really think it is higher – but don’t we all. lol)

Anybody else doing water exercise, water aerobics, water workouts??

Hey Jen! I’m not lucky enough to have access to a pool for water exercise but I do understand where you are coming from. I remember reading an article about Michael Phelps eating 12000 calories a day when training just to have the energy needed for swimming. And it’s hard to gauge how hard an exercise is when you are all wet and not sweating. If I run across any info I will definitely post it on the site. Maybe someone else can help answer if they know of any sources for good swimming info…

Great site. And thanks for making it free. I started WW 6 1/2 yrs ago, lost 80 pounds in 10 months and have kept it off since that time. I was very strict in counting points and exercising every day while losing weight. I have truly changed my lifestyle; since following WW plan, I’ve learned to eat healthy and in moderation (and still enjoy a few “pleasures”) and enjoy exercising (at least 5 days a week now). I never considered WW a diet, but rather a lifestyle of good, healthy habits. For all those following the plan – much success to you. If you want to change your lifestyle, this will work for you.

Congrats on your success, Linda. Your story is very similar to my wifes.

I think to be successful with weight watchers you have to realize that this is the way that we should be eating and commit to making the changes a permanent part of your life instead of something that you do to lose 10 pounds and then going back to the old ways. Making that commitment is definitely something that I struggle with every day.

Congrats again and thanks for visiting the site!

Thanks for the activity points calculator. It was very helpful and I will definatley be using it in the near future!!!

Hey Sissy, no problem! Thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave a comment

Since weight watchers changed their point system to the pointsplus, I noticed the ativity points changed also. Are the points going to be adjusted for the new system on this website?

Hi Sissy! At this time I don’t have any of the info for the new Points Plus plan but when I get it my plan is to offer the info for both plans. So this info would stay the same for people that want to stick with the old plan and I will have new info for the Points Plus plan.

I should have the new info soon and then I will start to integrate it into the site. The site is basically a hobby done in my spare time so it may take some time to get everything updated but I will be working on it.

I’m so glad its a site like this…Thanks Dan! Its good to see people have the same questions and concerns that i have. I’m on weight watchers and p90x. I had a bad week with food. I lean on junk food when i’m stressed and this week was stressful. P90 makes me feel better tho

Thanks for the great comment, Kevin. I have a junk food crutch, also. I don’t do P90 but I do try to compensate for the junk food on the treadmill. Don’t let one bad week get you down, it’s just a little speed bump in the grand scheme of things, time to refocus on the goal and get back on track! Thanks for visiting

I just stumbled onto your site when I was trying to determine how many daily points I am allowed and how many extra points I am allowed for my exercise. I was in WW years ago and need to start back. I know the basic information but since I had gained weight and now do different kinds of exercise, I needed new calculations. This website has it all and I am grateful that you have published this information. I am sure it will help MANY people now and in the future. I like the old WW plan (pre 12/10) so I hope that stays out here to use!! One question: if you do 45 minutes of weight training in a class, how would you calculate points earned on that since it isn’t really cardio?

Hi Ellen, I’m glad you found the site. I know many people have opted not to switch to the new version so the old will definitely be around for a long time.

I’m not sure what the official WW stance would be on the weight training but I would probably use your heart rate as a guide. Just find your target heart rate for your age group (there’s a chart here) and then base the intensity of your workout on whether your heart rate was at the high end, middle or low end of your target zone.

I hope this helps and thanks for visiting

HI, I was just wondering if there is a certain number of activity points that WW suggests you earn in a day? Also how do calculate how many activity points are earned by pedometer steps in a day? Those of you who do turbo jam would you consider that medium or high intensity?

thanks a bunch,
Bonnie

Hi Bonnie, I have not seen any recommended activity points levels from WW’s. I assume it would be different for everyone depending on your overall health and may be something that would have to be discussed with a doctor for people that are really out of shape. Theoretically, if you stick to the plan you should be able to lose weight without any exercise at all, though it does help speed things up a bit.

I’m not sure that steps counted on a pedometer would count towards earning activity points unless it was done during an actual session of exercise. If it is just steps that you take on a daily basis and not extra steps taken during exercise, they would count more towards your daily activity level when trying to determine your daily points allowance. Maybe someone else can give their feedback if they’ve asked the same question at a meeting.

For the Turbo Jam, I would say at least a medium but it all depends on how much effort you are putting into it. There are some people that just go thru the motions without putting forth much effort into it while there will be other people that are ready to pass out at the end of it because they gave their all. Your personal experience will determine what your intensity is…the charts at the top of the page should help.

thanks Dan, Very helpful.

NP

hi ya – with the steps it is individulal to you – i know ww used to use a set amount of steps before earning points but as i worked in an office job i had to do extra exercise just to met the minimum they allowed for…. so i thought technically i was doing more exervice than i would normally do. i have had a look on ebay and you can get the WW pedometers really cheep and they take into considration your height,weight and stride length and individual circumstances so this would help with your steps question. i dont have one yet but i am going to get one to see how good they are.

Thanks for the info, Ali

Hey Dan thank you very much for the site, it is truly less confusing to me than the official site. I joined weight watchers about 4 weeks ago and the results are very small. I am 5.1 currently weight 127 pounds and I want to loose 10 pounds. After revewing your site I noticed that my points allowance is actually 21 points but they told me at the meeting that I had 29 points? Could you tell me why am I given more points than I should get according to your quiz? Plus they give me 49 points extra for the whole week? Would this be the reason of why I am not loosing much weight? Thank you

Dan I forgot to mention… I have only lost 2 pounds since I started. Sometimes though when I’ve eaten less points than I should I’ve noticed a big difference. One of this dates that happened and I almost weight 125 pounds but got them back in a few days after as I continue to eat 29 points. My activity is very low because I work at an office but I do stand up most of the time.

Hi Nancy, thanks for visiting the site.

The reason for the point discrepancy is that the quiz above is for the old point plan (before december 2010). You are doing the new points plus plan, for which 29 points would be correct for you and is also the lowest amount allowed.

I wouldn’t recommend eating less than the 29 points and instead would try to make up for them with more activity. Any little bit helps and if you can get into a regular routine you will see great resluts. I hope this helps, check in once in awhile and let us know your progress. Best Wishes

Hi Dan,

I started following the plan about three months ago and experienced some success. However, I have come back to get information for points/food and I notice it is different. I was comfortable following the old plan – - tell me, is everything on this site still in sync with the old plan? Is it just the points finder that is different?

Thanks!

Hi there, JC. Don’t worry, the old plan isn’t going away. I have started to add info for the new plan but it should be clearly labeled and the old info will always be available also. The points calculator has been updated to calculate points for the new and old plans but the numbers are still the same. You will be able to continue the old plan without a problem. Thanks for visiting!

Hey Dan thank you very much for taking the time to answer all of our questions, I truly appreciate it. I will definitely get back on track with my activity routine and I guess my only concern is what can I do when I am not sure what to do when I am not sure how many points is a certain food? Sometimes when you visit your friends and/or sudden cravings? This has happened to me once in a while and I’ve eaten foods I was not sure about and did add the points but without knowing exactly what was in it. ( I shouldn’t have eaten it in the first place right?) Some family members won’t take no for an answer lol you must eat their food or else is insulting lol. Thank you Dan!

Hey Nancy, there will definitely be times when all you can do is take an honest guess. Just try to keep it as healthy as possible, remember to watch your portion sizes and give it your best estimate based on past experiences and you will be fine.

Thanks so much for this site! It’s great and has so much info to help us.

Thank you Chrissy!

SO in order to zigzag the points, How do I know how many points I need to plan on eating every day? I added all mine up and according to my info I am allowed 27 pts a day before exercise pts. I will add my exercise pts once I exercise. Also, what do we do with the extra 35 pts at the end of the week? Do we eat them or what?
Thanks

Hey Tizz, I’m not sure exactly what you mean by zigzaging points…

Exercise points are only good on the day that they are earned so you have to use ‘em or lose ‘em. The 35 bonus points is pretty much up to you. Most people use some of them but many use all and say that it actually helps them continue to lose weight all the way to their goals.

If you do use them try not to waste them on ‘junk’ foods. Keep it as healthy as possible and you won’t have a problem (and you can always cut back if you don’t lose)

Hi Dan, again…thanks for this website. I’m just starting WW and this is very helpful for me, the points and activity calculator. I’m 5’9 and 183. I believe my daily points allowance is 26, if calculated correctly (I mainly stand and walk at work). How do I calculate my weekly point allowance. I’m very grateful for your site and feedback. Thanks!

Hi RK, thanks for the kind words. Your daily allowance sounds about right depending on your age. The weekly point allowance (bonus points) is 35 points and is the same for everyone. Hope this helps you out, let me know if you have any other questions and thanks for using the site

Dan,
I am on week 4 (begging of week 4). My first week I lost 3 lbs (yay!) but every week after that I have lost 0 lbs (boo!) I work out really hard by doing insanity or turbo fire workouts. I use the WW activity calulator to calculate my APs I don’t know if that is accurate but I’m finding I’m not eating all my APs either or my weekly point. Am I doing something wrong? Any suggestions are WELCOME. I feel desperate as I know I’m sticking to the plan and eating healthy and working out hard. I just feel I should see some results…like .5lbs / week even would be a step in the right direction.

Hello
I just started on Sunday and need to loose 10 pounds. I am eating 18-23 points a day and exercising. Any words of wisdom? This is site is great