diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 753dc64..1161826 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 .env
+preferred_sessions.json
 log/
 !log/.gitkeep
 
@@ -177,4 +178,4 @@ poetry.toml
 # LSP config files
 pyrightconfig.json
 
-# End of https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api/python
\ No newline at end of file
+# End of https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api/python
diff --git a/preferred_sessions.json.example b/preferred_sessions.json.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..39c36ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/preferred_sessions.json.example
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+[
+    {
+        "day_of_week": 0,
+        "start_time": "17:45",
+        "session_name_contains": "WEIGHTLIFTING LOUVRE 3"
+    },
+    {
+        "day_of_week": 4,
+        "start_time": "17:00",
+        "session_name_contains": "CONDITIONING LOUVRE 3"
+    },
+    {
+        "day_of_week": 5,
+        "start_time": "12:30",
+        "session_name_contains": "HYROX"
+    },
+    {
+        "day_of_week": 5,
+        "start_time": "12:30",
+        "session_name_contains": "CONDITIONING"
+    }
+]
diff --git a/src/session_config.py b/src/session_config.py
index 0cd9340..ffc24da 100644
--- a/src/session_config.py
+++ b/src/session_config.py
@@ -36,20 +36,19 @@ class SessionConfig:
                     preferred_sessions.append((day_of_week, start_time, session_name_contains))
 
         except FileNotFoundError:
-            # Log a warning if the file is not found
-            logging.warning(f"Configuration file '{config_file}' not found. Falling back to default settings.")
+            # Log error and exit if the file is not found
+            logging.error(f"Configuration file '{config_file}' not found. Please create the configuration file.")
+            logging.error("You can copy 'preferred_sessions.json.example' to 'preferred_sessions.json' as a template.")
+            raise SystemExit(1)
 
         except json.JSONDecodeError:
-            # Log a warning if the file is not a valid JSON
-            logging.warning(f"Failed to decode JSON from file '{config_file}'. Falling back to default settings.")
+            # Log error and exit if the file is not a valid JSON
+            logging.error(f"Failed to decode JSON from file '{config_file}'. Please check the file format.")
+            raise SystemExit(1)
 
-        # Fallback to default hardcoded sessions if no valid sessions were loaded
+        # Return empty list if no valid sessions were loaded
         if not preferred_sessions:
-            preferred_sessions = [
-                (2, "18:30", "CONDITIONING"),   # Wednesday 18:30 CONDITIONING
-                (4, "17:00", "WEIGHTLIFTING"),  # Friday 17:00 WEIGHTLIFTING
-                (5, "12:30", "HYROX"),          # Saturday 12:30 HYROX
-            ]
+            return []
 
         return preferred_sessions