Yep, this. I'm at about 760 nights and only about 1.4 million points. At this rate I'll need about 950 nights before I get to 1.75 million points. Some of my extra nights where meetings and some were from the rewards card, but I don't think that counts for 200 extra nights. I've been a member for a long time and used to stay at cheap Courtyards among other things.
A few years back, I did some math based on my Marriott stays and came up with the conclusion that in order to meet the points thresholds, you needed to have Marriott status and pay with the Marriott credit card if you weren't staying in the higher end hotels much. I have 693 nights and only 930K points. One of my reasons is also that I spent a year in a executive apartment where I earned nights but not points. No lifetime status for me!