FAQ

1. What is the Streaming Colors™ Fitness Journal?
2. Who should use it?
3. Can I use the Streaming Colors calendar with other fitness or weight loss programs or with my trainer?
4. Do you offer quantity pricing for support groups and training teams?
5. Can children use the Streaming Colors calendar?
6. How was the calendar developed?
7. When is the best time to start using the calendar?
8. Can I track my progress toward meeting the new Food Pyramid guidelines on this calendar?
9. What is the lead-time for businesses or professionals who want personalized or customized calendars?
10. Where did you find the quotation on the back of the calendar?
11. Where can I buy Steaming Colors™ calendars?
12. What makes the Streaming Colors calendar so motivating and effective?
13. What else is included in the Streaming Colors calendar?
14. Is streamingcolors.com a secure site?
15. Can I pay by check?

What is the Streaming Colors™ Fitness Journal?

It's a journal, available in a monthly calendar or weekly planner format, that you color in each day with your positive fitness actions, according to a color key you set up at the beginning of each month. You can still write on it, as you would with any other fitness journal, log, or diary, but it's the patterns of color that make it easier to see what you've done (or not done) over time to establish better health or fitness habits. (Of course there's much more to the journal, but that’s the basic idea.) Color also makes it more fun and interesting to stick to your program.

Who should use it?

Any adult or older teen in normal health who is trying to be more mindful of any of their health and fitness habits in order to improve them. This can include people who are just beginning to think about improving their health—to highly fit athletes, and everyone in between—since just about everyone has room for improvement. Be sure to check with your doctor first.

Can I use the Streaming Colors calendar with other fitness or weight loss programs or with my trainer?

Absolutely. It was designed to be flexible enough to track just about any health or fitness habit or activity you need to track including the new Food Pyramid Plans. We make very few specific recommendations in it except for providing a special place to keep track of how much water you drink. In fact, fitness and team trainers, health clubs, and health care providers love the calendar because coloring makes it more fun for you to comply with their request to keep a journal. The color-coding also makes it much easier for them to review it.

Do you offer quantity pricing for support groups and training teams?

Yes. EVERYONE wants Streaming Colors Fitness Calendars and that's why we've standardized our quantity pricing for EVERYONE. So whether you're a fitness pro, retailer, health professional, employer, insurer, support group, fundraising group, training team - or just a big family or group of friends that wants to become more fit - the same quantity discounts apply.

QUANTITY DISCOUNTS
Order online at our Shopping page at www.streamingcolors.com. When your single order reaches the quantity levels below, your quantity discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

SAVE 30% on your single order of 12 to 95 calendars
SAVE 50% on your single order of 96 or more calendars

In addition,
SAVE 10% on your single order of 6 or more Zazzle Brights highlighter sets - Reg. $12.95
REQUEST A QUOTE on your order of 1,000 or more calendars. We can customize a cover or entire calendar to meet your product and bulk considerations.

Note: Quantity discounts apply to MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) of individual calendars and may not apply to bundled offers or other special promotions. Coupons may not apply. Entire order must be sent to one shipping address.

Can children use the Streaming Colors calendar?

It was not designed for children to use on their own. For instance, the instructions and setting up of reasonable goals may be too difficult for children to implement and evaluate on an ongoing basis. However, with the guidance of a qualified fitness or health professional older children and teens should be able to use the calendar effectively. We are highly committed to improving children's health and believe the coloring concept will be very appealing to them. We're developing products to make it more fun for kids to develop healthier habits early in life. If you would like us to notify you when they become available, please sign up now for Streamail and indicate your interest.

How was the calendar developed?

The calendar was written and compiled by its creator/publisher Jennifer Luhrs, IDSA, who in 1996 wrote and directed the HealthBuzz™ health improvement web site that was co-branded with msnbc.com (www.msnbc.healthbuzz.com.) It's based on a calendar system she developed for herself in 1999 to evaulate her fitness program. Having worked on the health promotion aspects of the HealthBuzz site with Dr. Wes Alles, Director of the Health Improvement Program at Stanford University, Jennifer contacted him to review the calendar content to assure accuracy of information. Ralph S. Bovard MD MPH FACSM, a St. Paul, MN physician active in health promotion and sports medicine, also reviewed the monthly tips. The coloring calendar concept is unique and patent protection is pending.

When is the best time to start using the calendar?

Any day is a good day to start improving your fitness and health. After all, it's your good health that's at stake, one of your most important assets in life. But even if you’re not ready to start taking action, keeping track of what you're currently doing (or not doing) helps you set a baseline for future comparison and also see where you need to do more. The calendar provides a natural break at the end of each month to evaluate what you've done before setting up new goals and rewards and a new color key for the next month. In that sense, the first of every month is like New Year's Day, when most people decide to make positive changes. So start any month, week, or day of the year. The important thing is to just get started.

Can I track my progress toward meeting the new Food Pyramid guidelines on this calendar?

Yes, in fact it’s the perfect tool to help you start building the healthy nutrition and exercise habits described in your customized “My Pyramid Plan”, available at MyPyramid.gov.

Because there are numerous Food Pyramid plans and recommendations (and because we’re all at different stages in meeting them) the calendar won’t tell you exactly which of your recommendations to work on first (be sure to check with your doctor), or how to track them. That’s entirely up to you. But the Streaming Colors daily module is versatile, and you’ll quickly learn to color it so it’s meaningful and motivating for you. Use the colors of the Food Pyramid to track your food groups, or choose colors of your own.

The daily module is not designed to track all of the recommendations in your Food Pyramid Plan every day, as that could be overwhelming -- and not much fun. Instead it accommodates several of the behaviors you choose to target each month, in as little or as much detail as you wish. (You may want to start with areas in which you think you’re most likely to succeed, or that might produce your most desired results first, such as helping you look or feel better.) Every month you can change your goal and color key, if you wish, to keep things fresh and moving along.

Because it is highly visual, the Streaming Colors Fitness Journal is easier to use and review over the long term than the tracking tools you’ll find at MyPyramid.gov. It’s also more convenient because you don’t have to go online to use it.

To help you get started, we describe some examples of ways to track the new Dietary Guidelines. (You may wish to refer back to the examples as you progress with your calendar.) We also offer some free, handy worksheets and charts you print out to get started.

The new science-based version of the USDA Food Pyramid offers an important starting point for Americans to become more fit and healthy. It deserves your attention. If the recommendations seem out of reach for you, just get started and work gradually toward your goals. Be sure to choose some exercise activities that are truly fun for you, and get creative about coloring your calendar, setting your goals and rewards, and involving friends and family. You’ll be amazed at how natural and enjoyable a part of your lifestyle the new Food Pyramid can become when you take it in small steps each day.

You can learn more about the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and order the government’s consumer brochure at healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines. You can get your own customized Food Pyramid Plan online at MyPyramid.gov.

What is the lead-time for businesses or professionals who want personalized or customized calendars?

For quantities of 500 or more, allow four to six weeks for custom covers with your name or logo. For a custom designed or written (private label) calendar allow twelve to sixteen weeks before the time you want to deliver it to your members, clientele or retailers, depending on the quantity and extent of customization. Contact us and we will be happy to give you more information and a quote.

Where did you find the quotation on the back of the calendar?

Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul, MN is the site of many great road races. The quote is on the monument on the Ohage Great Lawn.

If you look on the inside last page of the calendar you'll see the full message from the calendar's creator telling the story of that inspiring quote from Dr. Ohage.

Where can I buy Steaming Colors™ journals?

Currently, at www.streamingcolors.com and amazon.com, and at a growing number of other web sites and stores near you. Please ask your local retailer or health club to carry Streaming Colors products, or tell your fitness trainer, health provider or physician about your interest. Where would you like to buy your Streaming Colors fitness journals? Let us know at customerservice@streamingcolors.com.

What makes the Streaming Colors Fitness Journal so motivating and effective?

• Coloring in positive actions each day is fun and an immediate short-term reward.
• Color makes it easy to see what you've done over time, and where you might need to do more.
• The color patterns make it easy to spot trends and learn what works for you to become more successful.
• Seeing a lack of color can motivate you to go out and do something positive for yourself just so you can color it in.
• As you focus more on taking positive actions, you find ways to overcome the obstacles that were holding you back before.
• Coloring small steps each day helps you gradually improve over time increasing the likelihood that your new actions will become a natural part of your lifestyle.
• The calendar's flexibility in allowing you to choose your own activities also makes it more likely you'll stick with them over time.
• Seeing all that color gives you confidence in your ability to continue to make more positive changes.
• The journal gives you a realistic picture of what you've actually done (or not done) and helps you hold yourself accountable to yourself, so that your motivation becomes more internalized. You become less dependent on the support of others.
• It becomes a permanent record of all you’ve done to take ownership of and improve your fitness and health over the years. In that sense, it's very motivating to want to make that permanent record a great one!

What else is included in the Streaming Colors Fitness Journal?

In addition to thirteen monthly pages just waiting for you to color them in with your positive fitness or health actions (January through January) the journal also includes:

• A place at the beginning to personalize your journal and rate your current health and fitness habits for comparison at the end of the year.
• A handy place to record your MyPyramid Plan guidelines from MyPyramid.gov.
• A place to record your beginning and ending health stats.
• A section on getting started that helps you decide which health habits to improve and shows you how to set up your monthly color key.
• Monthly tips for both beginners and more experienced exercisers.
• An area for setting up goals and rewards each month.
• A special section for people who need more help getting started, including advice on how to make exercise more comfortable and easier to stick with, and a section on overcoming barriers.
• Plus lots of interesting facts and statistics on why it's so important for all of us to do what we can to improve our fitness and health.

The weekly planner format introduced in 2008 also includes:

• A new FOOD PYRAMID Quick Reference Chart.
• A page to list information on the foods you eat most often and also a food diary worksheet.
• A page to make notes on your activites or workouts.
• Two pages to color in with your special milestones and accomplishments throughout the year.

Is streamingcolors.com a secure site?

Streamingcolors.com uses a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. All credit card information supplied by users is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. All personal information collected on streamingcolors.com is stored in a secure operating environment that is not available to the public. If you would like additional information, please read our Privacy Statement.

Can I pay by check?

For fastest turnaround, pay by credit card. To mail us a check, enter your order in the customary way on our Shopping page. When you reach the Payment Option box at checkout, select "check". Your order will be calculated and you will be given mailing instructions. Your order will be sent as soon as your check is processed. For companies who wish to issue a Purchase Order, please phone us at 651.276.4050.