Monday, January 07, 2008

fierce products: weekly fitness journal

A few weeks ago I wrote a rave review about the Streaming Colors Fitness Wall Calendar and mentioned that they had a new Weekly Fitness Journal. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, I finally received my weekly calendar in the mail this past Friday (Jan 4th). Admittedly, I was a little disappointed because I lost a few days. However, I'll spare the company forgiveness just because I like them so much!

Unfortunately, I have a lot on my plate and haven't been able to fully appreciate the planner because I'm up to my eyeballs in planning for the Philippines and getting my fellowship stuff done. UGH! It doesn't help that yahoo! isn't working right now. Right now, I hate you, yahoo! I hate you!!!

Okay... back to my point... Here is my assessment of the new weekly fitness journal. Some things I really like...
- I like how colorful and clean it is, just like the wall calendar.
- There are a lot of great tips in this planner that I really appreciate.
- It's nice and light, so you can take it places (as long as you have the right size bag).
- I like the milestones and accomplishments pages (but I wish they happened at the end of each month).

Some things I think need some fixing...
- Though I appreciate the square format to match the wall calendar, the size makes it a little hard to carry around if you have a smaller bag. There is a 3-column format to the pages, and I think it should be cut to two columns so that the overall planner can be thinner. (If your planner stays in one place, like the office or your bedside, this isn't a big deal. However, I like to carry it with me, so it's a little inconvenient.)

- I think there needs to be a way to mark (1) your currently monthly color guide and (2) your current week. Franklin Covey planners allow you to do this with their adjustable bookmarks. Right now, I'm doing it by using post-its and bookmarks which works, but I wish there was a more efficient way of doing this. A lot of school planners allow you to tear the corner of the bottom page so that you can sift to your current week. Maybe this would be a good way of doing that.

- I wish they kept the squares the same as the wall calendar. This is what the wall calendar looks like:

I really like this format. Unfortunately, The weekly calendars don't have all the lines in between. There's just one large square, like this:

I like seeing a lot of color, so I wish there were more lines in the box to allow for that. It would also make the wall calendar and the weekly planner consistent.

- They have a "Food Diary Worksheet" and a "Food Diary Quick Look-up Chart" which I think is nice, but I think the "Food Diary Worksheet" needs to somehow be incorporated weekly or daily. I also think there needs to be more "Food Diary Quick Look-up Chart" pages.

In this design, one week is on one page and I was hoping that one week would be between two pages, like a lot of planners out there. That way, you have room for your coloring activities, plus your food and exercise journal. Also, it would allow you to give yourself a weekly kudos and such. Granted, this would make the planner a little thicker, but more comprehensive.

I have to say that my review is still a little early and I'm still trying to navigate my way through this journal. It's a brand new product and from what I can tell, the company is still looking for opinions on this. I firmly believe that things take a while to perfect. As a first try, I sill like this planner. Also, I think folks should invest in this planner or the wall calendar because it really is a fun way to get your fitness on.

If any of you have suggestions or would like to share how you're using it, that would be great! I'd love to hear some ideas!

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