8/1/2012: News - Phase 2

Yesterday afternoon I accepted the Finance Director position at Castle Creations and this morning I gave my letter of resignation to my boss at Enterprise Bank. 

Today was incredibly stressful as I told my boss, then my team, and then everyone else at the branch about my decision to leave the bank.  Several people were very surprised and others were not so surprised, but the hardest thing for me is the feeling that I am deserting my team.  I feel good about the fact that the team is strong and we've built a solid set of processes and procedures, so I know they'll do great.  Yet, there is still a lot that needs to be done as they continue to launch the business banking initiative, and I do feel bad about leaving them before we had everything done.

On the other hand, the new opportunity at Castle Creations is something I just could not pass up.  Castle builds high tech remote control devices and motors for high end remote control cars, airplanes, and helicopters.  It is a growing company in a growth industry that has outgrown its current systems.  I am looking forward to being part of the management team and helping them create the processes and systems they desperately need as they continue to grow.

As I mentioned in my previous post, one of my biggest challenges will be to maintain my weight loss strategy as I tackle this new position.  Ruth, bless her heart, answered my call for help and provided me with a 30 day plan to get through Steve's wedding day.  I am implementing that plan starting immediately.  And maybe that is the best way to handle this, 30 days at a time.  I guess I really don't need to know what I am going to do to stay on track on September 2, as long as I know what I am going to do tomorrow. 

I appreciate Ruth's words of encouragement, support, and advice; so I am posting them here.  I commit to following these steps and blogging about them for the next 30 days:

You have been successful so far because you have been consistently working out, restricting calories, and keeping your blood sugar level. You have a good plan (slow weight loss), inspiration (chart, reading), accountability (chart, blogging), and determination (personality trait). I don’t think that you will revert to your old habit of eating and drinking through transition. I think you are a new person.

Here is what I think you should do for the period of transition (August 2 through September 3):

1. Start reading “Younger Next Year” again to bolster your inspiration.

2. Write something in your blog from “Younger Next Year” every day until you are done re-reading it.

3. Count calories every day until September 3. This has worked for you. Report your daily calories on your blog or in an email to me. Every day. Until September 3.

4. Don’t drink until the actual wedding day, and think twice about drinking that day.

5. Add 15 minutes of cardio six times per week in the evening. This sounds like a lot. You will be tired. It might be dark. You might have a headache. You might have a pulled muscle (in which case you ride your trainer) -- but refer to the determination above and do it anyway.

And with that I'm signing off.  I have some reading to do!!