February 24, 2013

First day with the ActiveLink

Finally! My assessment phase for the Weight Watchers Active Link is done, and today I was able to use it to earn PointsPlus. I plugged it in right when I woke up, just to check out what it said before I started my day.

First, it said that I'd earned approximately 3 PP per day while I was in the assessment phase. I was surprised by that! I thought it would be lower. I didn't wear the ActiveLink during a couple of my runs, because I've been running farther than usual to reach my 100 miles in February goal. Here is what it said I earned last week:
The days that I wore it on a run were Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I ran 4, 4, and 5.4 miles respectively. The other days, I either didn't run or I didn't wear it while I ran. If I had been counting activity PP manually, by the book, I would have earned 5, 5, and 6 PP on those days; but the ActiveLink gave me 7, 7, and 9... I'll take it! It said this was my activity pattern...

Basically, I do get in a good workout most days of the week, but other than that, I'm not very active. Which is exactly what I expected it to say, and that's the reason I'm looking forward to using the ActiveLink--to motivate me to move more!

From now on, I have to reach my "baseline" of activity each day--this is a fixed number calculated by my age, weight, sex, etc. It has nothing to do with how much I moved during my assessment. So each day, once I've moved enough to reach the "baseline", any movement beyond that will earn Activity PointsPlus.
They've also set up a challenge for me--since I earned 2-4 Activity PP per day during the assessment phase, I'm supposed to gradually increase that until I'm earning 5 PP per day in 12 weeks.

At the end of the day, I can plug in the ActiveLink and it will automatically add those earned PP to my tracker, so I can eat them :)  Today, I started the day off with a four-mile run on the treadmill.
As soon as I was done, I plugged my ActiveLink into the computer to see if I'd earned any PP for it, or how close I was to reaching my baseline. It turns out that I didn't need to run very far to reach my baseline, because I'd already earned 4 PP and it was only 9:00 in the morning! Since I'd reached my baseline, any movement for the rest of the day would earn me PP (not as much as running, but every little bit of movement helps).

So I spent most of the day cleaning, prepping more food for tonight, and moving around a bit. Just now, when I plugged in the Active Link, it shows that I've earned 6 PP today.
This shows that I woke up at around 6:30, moved around in the morning (got the kids ready for church), ran on the treadmill, then went to the grocery store for a couple of last minute things, and cleaned the house during the afternoon.

I'm happy with the results of this! I was worried I wasn't going to be earning as many PP as I was used to, but it looks like it will work out to be about the same, if not a little more. And it certainly is an incentive to move more during the day!

I hate to cut this short, but my computer is running on battery alone and I have no way to charge it--Jerry accidentally broke my charger today :( 
See that little metal piece? It broke completely off. I called around to buy a new one, but nobody carries it, so I wrote Microsoft to see if they'll let me exchange it. I can use Jerry's computer (my old one) to blog on if needed, but I hate not having all of "my stuff" on the computer.

I'm excited for my girlfriends to come over tonight to watch the Oscars with me! I've actually never watched the Oscars before, so this is new to me. But any excuse for wine and girl talk is a good excuse, right?

I forgot that tomorrow is Motivational Monday, so I'll post about the Oscars party on Tuesday instead of tomorrow.

11 comments:

  1. Ha! I so need to make some of those "serve with adult conversation" wine plaques! Love it!

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  2. Never watched it? Wow! Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the movies nominated. The Hunger Games and The Hobbit didn't make the cut, sadly. :( I am watching them with Charlie right now, but I'd prefer to watch them with my mom and sisters!

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  3. You might check Amazon for your cord if Microsoft won't help. Our Mac plug broke once and they were going to charge us $30 for a new one. We looked on Amazon and found a new one for $5 and free shipping and it works perfectly.

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  4. I know if it was not for working, I would just run and probably sit on the couch. The Activelink sounds like a good way to see how much you burn moving. I know Polar makes a watch that essentially does the same thing, only it tells the calories burned.

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  5. Hey Katie! I'm a huge fan of your blog, and I just wanted to let you know that you've inspired me to start my own! I'm going to try and record my weightloss journey too. If you have time, please please check it out!

    http://goingtolose.blogspot.ca/

    Thank you. :) Hope your Oscar party is fun. (although, if wine is involved, we don't need to hope, lol.)

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  6. Thanks for the review! I've been wondering whether I should get one. Some of the folks in my WW group have said that they've had trouble with the clip - the device keeps falling off. Have you had any problem with this?

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    Replies
    1. I've read that a lot of people have problems with it staying on, but I haven't had any issues at all. It could be because of how I wear it. I clip it to the band of my underwear instead of my jeans! ;) That way, it's kind of sandwiched between my underwear and my jeans, and it doesn't budge.

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  7. I went to WW this morning and was checking out the ActiveLink. It says you need a separate subscription to use. How much does it cost on top of the etools?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, you need a separate subscription--it's $5 per month on top of the e-tools. Right now, I would say that it's worth it--but I haven't been using it very long.

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  8. Hi. I am a LifeTime WW member. I lost 33 pounds back in 2005 and have kept most of it off. I got the ActiveLink in late Aug 2013 and used it almost every day until Apr 1, 2014. I followed the instructions, listened to meeting members with their success in using it for inspiration and goal setting. I decided to wear it on the front of my left breast bra.
    March 18, 2014, I had my annual mammogram. March 19th I got a phone call telling me to make another mammogram appointment. March 25th I had the second mammogram sure that they had read it incorrectly. I saw the film of my left breast with the dense area one inch from the nipple exactly where the end of the ActiveLink had been sitting for seven months during my waking hours.
    I have been to a breast surgeon on April 7 who recommended and performed a biopsy on April 10th. On April 11 the breast surgeon's office called to let me know it was not cancer, however...there are abnormal/atypical cells dying in that area. Now he is recommending an operation to remove this whole area of suspect cells.
    I did go to my family doctor for a second opinion. He said that I should have the operation. The abnormal/atypical cells could go cancerous.
    My husband and I went to the surgeon on April 16, 2014. The operation is scheduled.
    Is anyone else out there experiencing body cells being destroyed/dying or being damaged due to the use of the ActiveLink?

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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