When I was in my early 20’s and still living at home, every sunday afternoon my best friend would pick me up and we’d head on over to Dunkin Donuts for some coffee and then just drive around for about an hour discussing the highs and lows of the past weekend. We called it our Weekend in Review cruise. (Back then there was so many fun things to talk about, like the cute guy we’d met out friday night, or the date one of us had with a cute guy or the workplace drama that was going on—we both bartended at the same place. So many things to discuss, it was so much fun rehashing all the events!) It was a great way to wind down the weekend. Now that we’re older we find ourselves discussing more about food journaling than dating… my how times have changed!
Anyway, the point of this little stroll down memory lane is to not make myself feel old and lame, (successful on both points), but to take this weekend in review idea and focus it more on fitness and exercise.
What I’m suggesting is for you to create your own review session, just extend it to cover the whole week. So every Sunday, take 10 minutes for yourself and review your eating, exercising and emotions over the past week. For example, some things you can ask yourself is:
- What kind of exercises did I do this week?
- How many times did I exercise? Was that enough for me, am I happy with that number?
- Did I drink enough water?
- How was my eating? Did I watch my portions or did I overindulge?
- Did I get enough sleep?
Now granted, these questions are a lot less fun than talking about a fun night out with your friends or how cute your date was, but hey, we’re older and food doesn’t burn off the way it used to! We all need to be accountable when it comes to fitness and by reviewing your actions, you’re doing just that.
Paying attention to your emotions is also important. Were you stressed out a lot during the week? Were you overwhelmed and frustrated? Jot down what you remember. Seeing your emotions on paper helps you to remember them and to figure out why you felt a certain way. This helps because if you were stressed out, you probably didn’t work in as much exercise as you could have if you weren’t stressed out. Figure out these trigger points so the following week you can make the choice of not letting something bother you as much. This helps you to prepare and handle stressful situations better.
Reviewing your actions throughout one week will go a long way in helping you to become more physically active. And to make it easier for you when you take the 10 minutes on Sunday to review, jot down a few things during the week that will help you to remember. Buy yourself one of those small, cutesy notepads and use it for your fitness review sessions, and talk it over with a friend. Better yet, set up a time on Sundays to walk with a friend and both of you can divulge your week to each other. (If you can’t be accountable to your friend, then who can you be accountable to?)
Give it a shot and see how it goes, the worst that can happen is you have a new little notepad (that you can start using to food journal!)
Anne Marie Costanzo is a nationally certified personal trainer and owner of Little Black Dress Personal Training. She can be reached at am@littleblackdresspt.com or (914) 841-1121.
