I moved to Chattanooga and became a completely different person. I might be exaggerating a smidge. It all started last week when I took a quiz to see who my political candidate would be. When I got my results I was surprised. I then surprised myself again over lunch telling my coworkers I was no longer eating pig because they reminded me of boxer nubins and were incredibly smart animals. I LOVE ham and bacon. Then I caught myself in a conversation with my brother and mother talking about the year I was going to get married even though no proposal has happened. When did I become so pragmatic?

There was one thing I wanted for Christmas. I blatantly told Alex a few times what exactly it was that I wanted, a sleep mask. I have a hard time sleeping at night now if there are lights on, which is a complete 180 from how I used to sleep which was with the TV or some light or noise on. And seeing how Alex sometimes stays up a little later than me playing video games, watching a movie, or reading up on woodworking I figured I might try a sleep mask. I found a few ones I liked and showed them to Alex to give him an idea of what I was wanting. I ended up getting one but it was from my mom. I was thrilled and surprised since I hadn't told her it was something I wanted. I have worn it every night since.

Lately, I have noticed a lot of changes like my sleep mask. For example, I used to really love wearing heels but now I have developed a deep appreciation and love for flats. I have never really enjoyed cooking either but now I love the fact that I can create a delicious meal based on my cravings that is not only healthy but fits within my budget. I also find that I actually thoroughly enjoy spending time with my parents and talking about really abstract and random things. It is fun to see who I align with more. I know that as I get older more changes are bound to happen but it feels as if these changes happened all at once. Overwhelming and surprising but welcomed none the less.

Last week was full of nerves and eating my feelings. Luckily, Bijoux got to come home Friday and is looking almost like her old self which means I can breathe again. This week I am back on track with some serious catching up to do. Starting the morning off trying a couple of new things:

• oil pulling
• chia seeds in my parfait

Change isn't easy. Sometimes I welcome it with open arms because it has to be better than what is present and other times I resent it. Right now I am in the middle.

I started off excited about this challenge and decided I would run at least a mile everyday. Then after three days of running my calves started to tell me to "F" off (you can read my calves story here). This is about the time I start getting discouraged. I have embarked on a mental battle. One in which I am constantly encouraging myself to continue while my calves tell me to stop, more like impair me from walking (wish I was kidding about that). Everyday I reevaluate where I am at and how much I can push. Let me tell you it sucks.

I am one week down with seven more to go. Eating healthy has been relatively easy and I have Alex to thank for that. One of my favorite things to do is cook with him. We eat a lot of salad and veggies with different types of meat or fish. He eats so much and because of that limits me from having more than one helping. Supporting me by eating more. Thanks babe!

Besides eating healthy, I have spent the week listening to my calves. I have been running when they allow it and doing body weights and ballet when they wont. Ultimate Frisbee and hiking were also sprinkled into the mix. Varying it up so that I don't get bored and my calves will play nice is going to be a common theme. I hope that by Day 60 I will have built up a tolerance and will have found a balance of what works for me and my calves. I just need to remind myself to stay focused and remember why I am doing this in the first place. I want to lead a healthy lifestyle one in which I don't think to workout it just happens and where my go to food is a healthy choice because that is what I crave.

Here are two songs from my running playlist. A constant work in progress. Metal is my genre of choice today, Alex would be so proud.