Weight Watchers Syncing information

[JHELLETT]

I've asked this of WW customer service and fitbit customer service and now I'm being told to ask here as now one can give me a straight answer.

This is for a Flex.

1. How are WW activity points calculated form fitbit logged information?  I had logged an activity of aerobics, 30 min, and my flex recording just over 10K in steps and WW shows 42 activity points.  This is WAY off.  

2. The other days seem much more reasonable, though I've been told by WW logs not Fitbit activity points for less that 10K in steps I have days that show points that have less than 10K in steps. 

3. Is the Sync real time? If it is not, how oftne does it occur?  It does not appear to be real time.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[JeremiahFitbit · Accepted solution]

---

@JHELLETT wrote:

I've asked this of WW customer service and fitbit customer service and now I'm being told to ask here as now one can give me a straight answer.

This is for a Flex.

1. How are WW activity points calculated form fitbit logged information?  I had logged an activity of aerobics, 30 min, and my flex recording just over 10K in steps and WW shows 42 activity points.  This is WAY off.  

2. The other days seem much more reasonable, though I've been told by WW logs not Fitbit activity points for less that 10K in steps I have days that show points that have less than 10K in steps. 

---

This integration was created by Weight Watchers. You would need to ask Weight Watchers how they interpret the data from your Fitbit tracker.

---

JHELLETT wrote:

3. Is the Sync real time? If it is not, how oftne does it occur?  It does not appear to be real time.

---

The Fitbit API notifies Weight Watchers every time you sync. Weight Watchers then retrieves your data at its convenience. Since Weight Watchers created the integration, I do not know how quickly it retrieves your latest data.

[JHELLETT]

Thank you.  I had thought as much, but they were telling me the issue was on Fitbits side.

[cathyoo]

Thank You!  I've been trying to get answers from WW for several hours now and they keep redirecting me to fitbit.  It makes sense that the problem would be with WW but they're not accepting responsibility.  When I walk 10000 steps WW gives me 1 point.  It would be nice if WW would at least acknowledge the problem and indicate they are working on it but based on concerns posted on this site it appears the problem has been going on for months. 

[meechb]

Finally, a technical answer that tells me that it is WW and NOT Fitbit. I feel better for spending that $100 on my Fitbit now.

Oh, but NOW I have to find someone at WW that knows anything about anything. ugh...

They, of course, kept pointing the finger at Fitbit.

Help me, Mr. Wizard...

[magicwand]

Hi Everyone,

I,ve had my Fitbit one for almost 2 years( patiently waiting on my Charge HR) anyhow, i,ve spent many hours on phone and line with WW for the syncing and activity issues!! WW is working on it! I have to go into my app most days and either make sure it is connected or disconnect and reconnect and it usually works! it is getting better though.  I at first thought after so many steps i would start acc points, but recently i started working out more, On the one, you see the flower grow depending on your activity, so somewhere in there, there is a  baseline, when you have reached a target and just keep earning WW Points, mine has been anywhere from 4200 steps. this morning was walking, treadmill and weights and at 6,000 i already had 2 APS.. so it means just stay active and dont stop.. On the WW app from my US friends(i,m in Canada) there is a setting under healthy tools that shows u a baseline. HAPPY STEPPING.. LOVE MY FITBIT AND THE CUSTOMER SUPPORT OFFERED HERE

[K9dancer]

The problem is definitely on WW side. I've had issues on and off since WW started to sync with fitbit. When I first linked them, it was giving me 20 activity points for my regular day. That really freaked me out. After tweaking their program, it now seems to be more reasonable, although I think I get short changed on my runs. I guess it will be forever a work in progress with Weight Watchers. Fitbit service is great, but WW internet tech leaves a lot to be desired.

[meechb]

I agree. Their ethics aren't the best. I bought my Fitbit specifically because it was advertised, by WW to interface seamlessly. Right...

[guitarwoman]

I think part of the WW Fitbit syncing problem has to do with how you have your activity points set up on the WW dashboard.

I first tried to switch my activity points before my weekly points, and to have the activity points available just on the day I earned them.  This way seemed to mirror the fitbit way of tracking, where you get extra calories to eat from your working out.  This method did not work, the points did not come in until hours later which did not help because I needed them during the day to plan my eating.

So, I went onto the WW dashboard and restored my activity point use to the default.  That is, weekly points are used before activity points, and the activity points earned stay around for a whole week.   

This seems to be working.  I do my treadmill 5K in the morning and shortly after I get my three activity points, and others based on my level of activity during the day.  

Another wrinkle is that there is a new place on the syncing page to sync your weight between WW and Fitbit.  I believe this is necessary as WW gives you different activity points for the same activity depending on your weight.

Now, on to ethics.  It really bothers me that I had to figure this out myself, and WW is now pushing this linking capacity big time to keep and get new membership.   False advertising, and might I say fraud, because WW costs dollars.

By the way, I use the WW Canada site.

[lori405]

I was told the same thing so , I have had 3 days and nothing is showing on my etools will it finally come up! they told (ww) said that something may be wrong with my fit bit  i have a flex. thank you

[sleepswithdogs]

I bought the Fitbit Charge to use along with my Weight Watcher tools.  However it is not syncing any activity.  It shows I have a Fitbit is all.  I will return it if I can not get this to work.  Any helpful hints on this matter?

[juliebalen]

This is my problem too.  If I manually log my workout, 45-60 minutes high intensity on the elliptical, WW gives me ~9 activity points.  When I let the activity be logged by Fitbit, it only gives me 4 points (HR was calculated accurately).  Customer service yesterday said I would need to check with Fitbit to find out how they calculate the points, but in the meantime, if WW is giving me 9 points, she would take that instead.  I'd rather be under-compensated for activity to receive greater benefits (not teasing myself into thinking I can eat more), but I'd like to know which is correct.  That is a significant difference in activity points.

[BSB51]

I wonder if the discrepancy has to do with heart rate zones. WW never gives a straight answer about how to correlate heart rate with intensity - they only talk about perceived exertion. So WW may be giving you points for working at moderate instead of high intensity (that would be 4 points).

My new Charge HR has pre-calculated heart rate zones that are much different than what I have been calculating myself, and they don't really match the activity levels that WW uses. Also the heart rate reading seems to be a bit lower than my old strap monitor. I've been focusing on longer times at a moderate rate, so I haven't worried too much about it.

We don't have any information about what WW is using to translate from Fitbit to activity points (and that would be very helpful indeed), but I bet it's the zone and not the actual HR (that would require you to tell WW about your age, resting pulse, etc.). You might try using the custom HR zone on your Fitbit, set to what you believe your desired training heartrate should be. Maybe then WW would pick that up instead.

[BSB51]

I've noticed that I don't get as many WW activity points from Fitbit as I would if I used the step calculator. For example, on a day I walked for 1:17 at a moderate intensity (9,300 steps), I was given 4 points for the whole day (11,200 steps).

If I had used the WW activity calculator, I would have received 5 points for that time and intensity. But I think that Fitbit only sends the step information to WW, not the "Active Minutes", the heart rate, or the difference between "Active" steps and "All Day" steps.

This is only partly a problem with WW, and also a problem with Fitbit reducing everything to steps. You can set goals for miles, calories, stairs or whatever, but steps (and all day steps at that) seem to be the only thing they really pay attention to. I think it's very telling that the WW Customer Service people have no idea what the calculations are based on. FWIW, this is an issue with cycling and maybe other integrated apps too, not just WW.

[spaceychik]

When I do a Spinning class I earn 11 WW points, according to WW. But Flex shows up only 1 pt.  So, I add the WW points to it.

[Shatzi · Accepted solution]

I couldn't get my WW app to see Fitbit steps at all, nor did support help.  However, I found this on a board last night and it worked,  So I thought I would share it here.                                                                                   1.  On your computer, completely log out of Fitbit and WW                                                                          2.  Log back in on WW page

      3.  Click on profile icon in top right corner and then click settings

      4.  Click the activity tab and click "connect to advice or app"

      5.  Select Fitbit and select continue

      6.  This should pop up the Fitbit log in page.  Log in.

      7.  This should now take you back to the WW settings page.

      8.  Click the "weight" tab and click "connect to device or app"  

      9.  Select Fitbit, select continue.

     10.  Go to My Day, click Activity.

     11.  Click "sync with your Fitbit app" at the bottom of the page.

Remember that you have to be logged out of both systems or this won't work.

[Fitgirl60]

OMG I am eternally grateful.  I have been navigating all over the place trying to get this to work.

There has to be an easier "click WW icon and join" link. 

I tried it your way and it worked.  Here's the caveat that I found if you use your mobile device and you PC you should log out of all of them and then just use you PC to add the Fitbit. Once you have that taken care of, log in using your smart phone.

Horrrible experience.

Thank you again for posting, I'm finally in.

[Shatzi]

So glad it worked for you too!  Now we can start moving and stop searching...I hope!

[Journeytohealth]

I cannot tell you how grateful I am to the two of you. I have had syncing troubles for several months and have spoken repeatedly to Weight Watchers, with no solution. I've followed your steps and it looks like my connection problems are solved. Fingers crossed! Thank you so much!!

[janetaba]

Thank you so much! I just got my fitbit for Mother's day. You are a lifesaver!