Visualization & Other Tips To Stay On Track During The Weekend

Have you ever heard of visualization?⠀

It’s an awesome mindfulness technique to help focus your mind on what you want (aka your goals), ground yourself & reduce feelings of anxiety, organize your thoughts, relieve/relax pain, guided imagery (going to your happy place) & mentally prepare you for what is to come in your day/future. ⠀

Using visualization triggers hormones & synapses that make it easier to achieve those goals. When you've already envisioned the scenario, the real thing will feel familiar & much more feasible. ⠀

It will be as if you've done it before. & inside your brain, you have.⠀

I didn’t formally know the concept in high school, but this is what I did before almost every race I ran in track & field. I visualized my goal — myself winning the race.⠀

Summoning all the sensory feelings & emotions while visualizing. Imagining all the sensations, the way it felt to win, the way it felt to get there, how my body felt running. & when it was race time — I would win.⠀

I’d win because I’d imagined it already. I knew what it felt like. I had built the confidence through belief, because I imagined it so much & with that confidence, motivation, & belief mixed with action — it became my reality.

Imagine if we utilized visualization in other or all aspects of our lives? Just like our powerful thoughts can muster up physical sensations of fear or anxiety — imagine we spoke back to our brains — paved out a different path in our mind & mustered up those physical sensations as our reality. ⠀

Can you imagine it? Then you can do it. Because every single tangible thing that has been created — 1st lived as a thought in someone’s mind. Expand those thoughts. Breathe life into them through belief, & action. Don’t be afraid to fail or give up when it doesn’t work 1st couple of tries. ⠀

Keep practicing. Keep going. Keep imagining. Keep believing.

Often times it's when the weekend comes that our routines deviate or go out the window all together. Visualization can be used to take back control of our weekends & living the lifestyle we choose, each & every day.

Here are some additional tips to staying “on track” with your wellness over the weekend:⠀

1. Prepare & plan ahead with meals

- If you know you have plans & want to indulge, dial it in during week & other meals you have that day.⠀

- Prep meals just like weekdays.⠀

- Check out menus ahead of time or bring your own dish to gatherings.⠀

2. Breakup with your cheat day & legalize all foods⠀

- Treat not cheat, it’s a mindset!⠀

- Allow yourself to have indulgences throughout the week; don’t restrict all week so you overindulge on weekends.⠀

- Having food guilt only exacerbates an unhealthy mindset, if you ate it, great...it's okay —> move on!⠀

- What you resist, persists!⠀

3. Don’t skip meals to “save” for later⠀

- skipping meals leads to overindulging in the long run, eat as you normally eat!⠀

- You’ll be eating for the length of your entire life, let’s nourish, not starve our beautiful bodies and brains.

4. Sleep⠀

- Keep your bed & wake times around the same as weekdays & prioritize getting *enough* quality sleep.

5. Stay active⠀

- Schedule at least 1 workout or form of activity regularly.⠀

- Hiking, swimming, walking dog, dancing, biking, gardening/yard work, etc.⠀

- Remember: Training for life, not workouts here & there!⠀

- Find activities that bring you joy to move your body, not that feel like a chore.

6. Make time for just you⠀

- Spend time loving on & being mindful in self care/activities that bring you joy and/or relaxation.

- Stick to your morning/nightly routines.⠀

7. Make non-eating social plans ⠀

- There’s so much fun to be had out & about, in nature, & reward in other activities. ⠀

8. Choose your booze wisely⠀

- Alcohol doesn’t have to be off limits, everything in moderation!⠀

9. Keep your goals in mind⠀

- Keep your goals & your “why” somewhere in sight. ⠀

10. Ditch an all or nothing attitude ⠀

- Being healthy is a way of life! ⠀

- Treats & indulging, even over indulging doesn’t mean you’ve “fallen off” just like eating an apple 1 day doesn’t make you “healthy.”

- No need to compensate from the weekend on Monday either.⠀

- Let yourself be human & move forward.⠀

Hope these benefit you!