Fitness and Potty Training

Yes, you read that right.

Fitness and Potty Training.

Surprisingly, they are very much alike.

I am currently in the process of potty training Nono.  Ok, in reality, we have been trying for almost 6 months now.  She is having her ups and downs in the process, and today, looking at her chart, I saw a correlation between her journey through potty training and mine through weight loss.

At the start, Nono wasn't too serious about her potty training.  It was a constant struggle to get her to get to the bathroom, to even try.  But then it started to become a more normal thing for her and she got used to me saying "Go potty, Nono" and she would go.  When I thought we were getting somewhere, I stopped pushing, and she started to falter.  So, I made her a chart and gave her an incentive to do it on her own- stickers and tootsie roll midges.

And WOW!  She got a move on!  Soon it was every 30-45 minutes she was running out of the bathroom, potty in hand.  "Moooommmmyyyy!  I go potty!  Sticker and chocolate!"  Sure enough, she had gone.  And she was proud of herself!

(A LOT of stickers are missing because she likes to wear them....)

But through this process she had to learn to listen to her body, keep pushing forward, accept that she had accidents, and that in the end she would get a reward.  And, although she may not know it now, soon this will be a normal, daily thing and she won't need to be rewarded to do it.  It will become a normal part of her lifestyle.

^^^^ Do you SEE the correlation I saw?!!! ^^^^

Becoming a fitter, healthier me is a process, it takes time.  I will struggle, I will fail, but I have to keep going.  Give myself rewards and incentives.  Soon, this will just be a normal, everyday thing.  I will look back and think "wow, it wasn't that hard, I just needed to learn."

So I am thinking of making my own "Potty Chart."  It seems silly but there is some sort of satisfaction with putting a sticker on a chart and knowing at the end there will be a reward (hers is a new toy, I am thinking maybe a pedicure....)  It will be my "Work out and Eat Better" chart.  One month of slots for both and then I get my reward.  It will soon just be a normal thing and I won't need it....  but in the meantime, incentives work....

Amazing how my daughter can be an inspiration.  Two different things, but same goal - a new us!

-Never give up, Never surrender-