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1. Who created the 10,000 Steps® Program? 2. Why 10,000 steps? What’s the significance? 3. Why did you choose the Yamax pedometer for this program? 4. My pedometer keeps falling off. Why does this happen? 5. My pedometer got wet, is it ruined? 6. I’ve had my pedometer for over a year and it’s not tracking steps well anymore. What’s wrong? 7. If my family and friends see my pedometer and want to sign up for the program after the promotion I enrolled in ends, can they still sign up? 8. I just got my pedometer in the mail and I think it may be defective. What should I do? 9. What if I lose or damage my pedometer? 10. My friend would like a pedometer, but is not interested in enrolling in the program. How can she get one? 11. Who can I contact if I have questions about the program or want to have a group of people participate in the program at the same time? 12. What is the Verification Code required with credit card registrations? Why do you ask for it? 13. If my life gets hectic and I'm unable to start the program after registering, can I cancel the program and get a refund? 14. When I registered, I was asked to choose whether I wanted motivational emails in HTML or plain text format. What does this mean? 15. What's the best way to track steps for a previous month? 16. Do I need any certain type of computer or software to run the program? 17. During the registration process, I have the option to enter a promotion code. What is a promotion code? 18. Is the information I enter in the 10,000 Steps web site secure? 19. I made a mistake while recording my steps online. Can I fix it? 20. What is the difference between the Lose Weight and the Feel Great editions? 21. How often do I receive emails? 22. What's the best way to track steps for a previous month? 23. How often do the pedometer coach messages show up? 24. I'm going to be doing other activities, such as gardening. Can I convert those types of activities into steps?
The concept of 10,000 steps actually originated in Japan. The Japanese have used electronic pedometers for more than a decade to counteract sedentary lifestyles. A Japanese researcher came up with the idea of 10,000 steps a day as a recommendation for physical activity. The goal of 10,000 Steps appears to be a good goal for the average person. The idea became also very popular in the United States. To support people in their effort to become more physically active, HealthPartners in Minnesota created the 10,000 Steps program.
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Great question. You might be surprised to learn that 2,000 steps is equivalent to about a mile. Adults in America typically average 3,000 to 5,000 steps per day. For health, we should all get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week. Walking 10,000 steps a day will help most people meet that recommendation.
As you start the program you’ll learn how many steps you usually take in a day. It may average out to 3,000 or 10,000 steps a day. As you set your personal step goals, you’ll want to increase your current step level by 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day to see health improvements. Over the years, we’ve received many great comments from people previously enrolled in the program. Many said using the pedometer was an eye opener – they saw the number of steps they walked in a day – and learned how easy it was to make changes throughout their day to reach 10,000 steps. The pedometer is really a motivational tool!
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Researchers have studied the accuracy of different pedometers and found the Yamax pedometer, made in Japan, to be the most accurate among those tested. During a brisk fitness walk, it recorded the number of steps within one percent of actual steps.
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Over time, it's natural for the plastic clip on the pedometer to loosen up a little. On days when your garment waistband is thin, it may not attach as tightly as on days your waistband is thicker. Also, if you're really active or moving things (e.g. lifting objects) in such a way that the pedometer is getting bumped a lot, the jarring may contribute to the pedometer falling off. To secure your pedometer, try one of these tips:
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It may not be – it really depends on how much water got inside of it. What you’ll want to do is immediately use a coin to pop off the front cover of the pedometer. Remove the battery and use a hair dryer to quickly dry the battery and inside of the pedometer. After everything appears dry, reinsert the battery, replace the front cover, and try the pedometer again.
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Most likely, your pedometer’s battery needs to be replaced. Here's how:
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Yes! Just have them log on at kp.10k-steps.com where they can enroll online today - but without entering a promotion code. It's that simple. The regular fee is $27 for Kaiser Permanente members and $30 for non-members.
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First, double-check to make sure you're wearing your pedometer correctly. If the pedometer isn't positioned correctly, it won't track steps correctly. See Using Your Pedometer to review information on how to wear your pedometer. If this doesn't help, contact us and we'll replace it at no cost for up to 30 days after you enroll in the program. Just mail your defective pedometer, along with your name, address, and birth date to:
HealthPartners Attn: Kaiser Permanente 10,000 Steps: MS-21111H P.O. Box 1309 Minneapolis, MN 55440-1309 Back to Top
If you lose or damage your pedometer, you can purchase a replacement for $13. Mail your request (include your name, address, and birth date) along with $13 to the address above. Or you can click on the "Replace Pedometer" link to pay by credit card or echeck.
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To order an additional Yamax pedometer for a family member or friend, call Optimal Health Products at 1-888-339-2067.
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Please send us an email using our Contact Us page. You may also call 1-800-311-1052, option 1, then option 3, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (CT). If you have a hearing impairment, please call our TTY line at 952-883-7498.
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The banking industry recently began implementation of a new fraud prevention tool - referred to as a credit card verification value (CVV) or code. The verification code (also called a card security code) is a 3 or 4 digit number printed on the signature strip of a credit card. (American Express will be using a four-digit number on the front of their cards). These digits will help banks and merchants identify counterfeit credit cards and help protect you against credit card fraud.
If you are not sure what your verification code is, contact your credit card company. In the near future, shoppers will be requested to provide a verification code with all online credit card payments. Back to Top
Yes. If within the first 30 days of registering for the program you find you are unable to complete the program or are dissatisfied with the program for any reason, you can cancel your registration. To do so, just mail back to us your pedometer with the following information:
-Name -Address -Daytime Phone -Date of Birth -Payment type (credit card or check) Mail to: HealthPartners, Attn: Kaiser Permanente 10,000 Steps: MS-21111H, P.O. Box 1309, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1309. *Please allow 14 to 21 business days for processing your refund. Back to Top
One of the unique features of the 10,000 Steps program is the opportunity to receive weekly motivational emails with tips on becoming more active. If you choose to receive emails, you can select which format you prefer.
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language, a universally recognized Web-programming language used to format text, graphics, sound, and video. Emails sent in HTML format look similar to web-pages and will include color, graphics, hotlinks, and look "pretty." In contrast, the "plain text" format provides just the typed text message - nothing fancy. Plain text messages generally download a little quicker than HTML messages and may be the only format older computer programs can read. Depending on your computer and personal preference, you can choose the format that will work the best for you.
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Once enrolled in the program, you can track your steps online. However, you won't be able to track steps for days you walked prior to starting the program.
Note: you can only back log steps up to 30 days. Therefore, make sure you enter your steps as often as possible.
As a policy, we don't recommend specific third party hardware or software because we can't account for all the different computers people use, especially older computers.
The 10,000 Steps program has been designed to run on both Windows and Macintosh systems. To help ensure your experience using the program is the best possible, here are our site requirements we recommend for the program to run smoothly. At minimum, try to make sure the computer you use has:
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 98; Windows 98 Second Edition; Windows Me; Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6 or higher; Windows 2000; or Windows XP Home/Professional or higher; Macintosh OS 9 or higher. Internet Browser: Firefox 1.1 or higher, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) v.5.5 or higher, Netscape v6.1 or higher, or Opera v6.0 or higher. On the Macintosh please use the latest versions of Firefox or Safari. Back to Top
The promotion code is assigned when an organization partners with Kaiser Permanente to promote the program to a select group of people. The code is typically included on specially designed program invitations and/or posters. If you received a promotion code, please use it during the registration process.
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Yes. Any information you provide or exchange with this site cannot be viewed by anyone else on the Web. This web site provides secure communication and has a valid certificate. Secure communication means the information you enter (such as name, address, payment method) is encrypted so it can’t be read or intercepted by other people.
To verify your connection to the site is secure, you should see a "lock" in the bottom left corner of your browser screen and the URL should start with "https://".
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Yes. To edit either the daily steps you tracked online or your personal notes, follow the steps below.
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Both editions have the same content on the Web site but each offers a different set of emails. Both the Feel Great and Lose Weight editions of the 10,000 Steps program include weekly emails with motivational messages and tips about how to be more active. The Lose Weight edition also contains extra tips on how to manage weight. More information about healthy eating and weight management is available for participants enrolled in both editions in the Reading Room section.
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You receive emails with new tips and motivational messages a few times a week during the first 56 days of the program.
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Once enrolled in the program, you can only back log steps for up to 30 days by going to the Step Tracker, just as you would to track your daily steps. The primary reason we do not allow the backlogging of steps beyond 30 days is to encourage you to enter your step values in a timely fashion. This is important because the more regularly you record your steps, the more likely you are to increase your physical activity level. In other words, the faster you receive feedback on your performance (i.e., pedometer steps per day; pedometer coach messages), the more likely that feedback will influence your current and future performance (i.e., increase physical activity). Another reason for this 30-day backlog limit is to prevent participants from waiting until the end of the 56-day program to record their step values.
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The pedometer coach messages show up a few times a week. You will see the pedometer coach message displayed only once in each day this message is planned to show up. These messages include personalized feedback on your recorded steps. If you do not record steps, you will not be able to receive this personalized feedback.
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Yes, certainly! When you are logged in to the program, an interactive step calculator helps you adjust your daily step total for different activities. For most people, simply recording how many steps their pedometer counted at the end of the day accurately estimates how active they were. Some activities, however, may not get precisely counted by your pedometer (e.g., biking) or have a very different intensity than walking (e.g., cooking). If you find yourself primarily doing these activities, you can use this tool as a complement to the Step Tracker to estimate how many steps such activities are "worth."
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