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| January 12, 2015 Hi {!firstname_fix} 
Well, I bought a wok last week. Spent some time getting the *protective coating* off it and seasoning it and then started having fun. I had a wok many years ago when I lived in NH and ate brown rice before it was fashionable, LOL. It wasn't this pretty. I got it in Chinatown in Boston and it was pretty blackened because we used it all the time. But I remembered how to cut the veggies and to sort them by density, and to put them in the wok in order of cook time. I remembered what kind of oil to use and how to heat it to the right temperature by smell...I didn't think I was remembering that, LOL, it just sort of burbled up in my awareness. But the exciting thing is all of a sudden, I, who have struggled forever with lunch, was making meals that were hot and delicious for dinner, and then at lunch the next day I had planned overs that I REALLY was looking forward to eating. This was shocking. Yummy lunch suddenly became *on time* because I wanted to eat (smile). Quite astounding.It was nice to get feedback about the changes in the newsletter at our Monday night chat. People especially liked my little science clip so that will be a keeper. Your feedback is so helpful. David is back to the store from his vacation back East to visit his Dad and Sister. Thank you for your patience. Don't forget he prides himself on his *concierge* service, which means if you want to just call and say *David, can you send me some Shake and pycnogenol and some ProEpa?*, it will be out that day and in your house really, really fast. I thought perhaps I could *help* while he was gone, LOL. He called me with the instructions on box size and the special nuances he does for each order. My head was spinning and I said, *We will wait till you come back* - this was so far beyond the way my brain works. I breathed a sigh of relief at the airport. Don’t forget *last call* for Ranch earlybird. If you have not taken either of the classes coming up this week, take a second look. These are two of our favorites. Many people think *doing the food* just means the food, LOL. It doesn't. Turbocharge your program and find out the back story about what the steps are really doing. These classes will begin Wednesday, January 14, 2015. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:
This class will begin Wednesday, January 21, 2015. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:
The class schedule will be online this week. Click here soon to see what is planned. A number of you have asked me how the classes work. Check the class list page for more information on this. Do not sign up for classes that are not yet scheduled please. And please go read the questions and answers before you write to me. If you have trouble getting through the process, write the tech forum. Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen ********************************************************************** **Quote From Kathleen ** Remember that sugar-sensitive people tend to be people of extremes. You may feel either totally awash in feelings or totally disconnected. ********************************************************************** **Testimonial of the Week ** I just wanted to share with SOMEONE - and I figured that you, of all people, would be the best ones to share it with. I'm not so worried any more because, while all of the obvious signs seem to be pointing in the opposite direction, I can feel the changes going on inside me. I can feel my body getting re-aligned, re- adjusted, re-awakened. And I love it. I can say this because, just a few days ago, I woke up happy for the first time in years. Years. Not "happy" as in excited about something that was going to happen that day, or because of something that had happened the night before. Not a giggly, funny, ha ha happy either. Not even a conscious happy. It wasn't until I was walking out the door for work that I realized I had been smiling since I woke up. That was two hours prior. And I didn't know why, and it really didn't matter. I liked how the smile felt on my face, and I left it at that. I woke up happy, and it was amazing. I've been waking up happy since. Just feeling pleasant in the mornings. What a treat that is. I'm so happy that, even though I've gained 6 pounds since starting SARP, I'm not upset. In the past, this would have crushed me. Not only have I gained 6 pounds, but I'm at the heaviest I've ever been. But I'm not worried. Here's why: Not so long ago, I was deep in the midst of yet another diet. I've been on and off diets since I was 18, and have been continually on a diet for the last 3 years. Non-stop. Counting this and that, eliminating these foods, eating only other kinds of foods, points here, there and everywhere. And a few months ago, while charting up my day's intake of "allowed/allotted" food, I thought to myself that none of this was working. I was practically starving myself, and the weight wasn't moving. "What I need," I thought, "is a way to get my metabolism going." I felt that my blood was stagnant, that no matter what I ate, or didn't eat, nothing was ever going to happen. My body was like an engine that had been run without oil - gasping and sputtering, no matter what kind of fuel I pumped into it, it just wasn't going to run. (for you gearheads out there, please pardon me if that's an incorrect analogy.) My engine is now getting a tune up. I can feel it inside me. I can feel the good foods that I'm eating going out and repairing the broken bits inside of me. I feel like my blood is starting to "live" again, instead of flowing through me sluggishly. Yes, I've gained, but I know why. I dove off the deep end. "I'm not on a diet anymore" I thought, "I'm on a LIFE PLAN, and I can eat anything I want (as long as I have my breakfast with protein and brown/green)." So I did. And then I journalled, and didn't listen when my journal told me that the "forbidden" foods I was now indulging in were making me feel sick. Then I moved on to step three. And as I ate my 3 regular meals, with protein, brown/green, and ANYTHING ELSE I WANTED, I found that I didn't really want anything else. The chocolates, the chips, the garlic toast, they all started tasting kind of bad. I'm starting to eat less and less of them. Not because I'm saying, "no- you can't have that", because I CAN have that, if I want to. I'm not eating them because I'll pick up that next chip and get it half way to my mouth, and then put it back down. I don't WANT it. It doesn't seem appetizing. I'm FULL. Just like being just plain happy, I haven't been just plain full in years. I've been stuffed to the gills, but not full. I've eaten so much on some occasions that I thought I'd be sick, and ten minutes later be right back at the table. Now, I'm eating smaller and smaller meals, not consciously, but almost inadvertently. I'll cook a big dinner, and halfway through, without thinking about it, put down my fork and clear it away. It won't be until I'm putting the chocolate cake back into the refrigerator that I'll notice that I DIDN'T EAT IT. I'm finding that if I really really want to eat sweets or salty things, I have to eat them first, otherwise I'll forget. I know that for a while yet, things will be hard. My car/body is still being repaired. It will stutter and gasp and emit large clouds of ugly black smoke. What that means for the really me, I'm not sure. I'll probably gain a little more weight, or have days when I don't wake up happy, or whatever. But the main thing is that the repairs are getting started! To mix my metaphors - Rome wasn't built in a day, and I'm not going to be healed overnight. But I'm starting. Brick by brick, brown rice by chicken breast, it's getting done. I'm curious and excited to see what happens over the next steps. What will happen when I start with the potato? I've already started to dream again - something else I haven't done in years. I still can't fully remember them, but I'm sure it will come. What will happen when I finally reach detox? Will I even need to? Or will I have just forgotten to eat all those things I used to NEED so badly. Who knows? Anyway, sorry this has been so long. I just needed to get it out to someone who would understand. Cate ********************************************************************** **Interesting Bits of Science ** Kari brought up some interesting questions on the forum about balsamic vinegar. The sent me off on a little exploration. As I was poking around, I found some research that I had not seen before. Thought you would love this. The antiglycemic properties of vinegar are evident when small amounts of vinegar are ingested with meals composed of complex carbohydrates. In these situations, vinegar attenuated PPG by 20% compared to placebo.[Diabetes care, 2004] PPG is short for post prandial glucose. They found that having 2 tsp of vinegar with a meal that has carbs in it changed how the carbs were digested - and effected the rise in blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics. The acetic acid in the vinegar inhibits the action of a number of carbohydrate-digesting enzymes which means they don't get broken down properly. Dr. Carol Johnson is doing research at Arizona State University and is exploring this topic. She later notes that some people have far greater responses than others to vinegar. I am wondering if the *some people* might be sugar-sensitive people. I am also wondering if part of the sugar-sensitive profile is an impaired check and balance in the gut, that somehow we don't produce sufficient enzyme-checking acid, or that our enzyme levels are higher or something. I am thinking I would like to contact Carol and ask her about this. In the meantime, here is a practical suggestion. Make a vinaigrette of oil and vinegar and use that with your salad and veggies for lunch and dinner. I have a special recipe that I will post in the newsletter next week. Johnston CS, Kim CM, Buller AJ. 2004. Vinegar improves insulin sensitivity to a high-carbohydrate meal in subjects with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 27:281-282. Johnston CS. 2010. Examination of the Antiglycemic Properties of Vinegar in Healthy Adults. Ann Nutr Metab 2010;56:74-79 (DOI: 10.1159/000272133) ********************************************************************** **Notes from the Facebook ** I don't know if you are on Facebook, but if you are, the Radiant Recovery Group page is just bubbling with excitement. Food, joy dots, fun stuff keeps on rolling through. Also, a number of very powerful discussions. Come on over and *like* us and meet people who are never to be seen on the lists. It is a whole different world. ********************************************************************** ** Radiant Recovery® Store ** I want to continue the reflection I started last week about George's® Restore. I got a phone call from one of our community members asking me about *heavy metals* in our shake. She said her daughter, who is a dietetics student, had referenced an article that reported finding such things as cadmium, lead, mercury and arsenic in protein powder products. Well, this was pretty startling to me, so I decided to go check it out. First I learned that the original discussion happened in Consumer Reports in 7/10 edition. I started reading. I read the USP guidelines for safety, I read the international codex for acceptable heavy metal levels in food products, and I read the FDA guidelines as well. I also read the California Prop 65 guidelines which requires manufacturers to report levels of just about anything toxic, LOL. That was all very interesting. I found out that alcohol is considered carcinogenic which did intrigue me. Then I read the certifications our suppliers send. We actually have a report that shows where our cows eat (in New Mexico which I love), what they eat, and how the milk is cared for from cow to production to shipment. The flow chart shows how the raw milk is transformed into whey protein isolate. And everything is tested for bacteria and impurities before it is shipped. The certifications did not reference heavy metal. I called. Yes, they test regularly. And they sent me certificates of guarantees that the levels of arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury are under 0.5 parts per million and that under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act may not be adulterated or misbranded. So Restore is clear (smile). I asked the quality control Manger how milk products could be contaminated for something like arsenic. He said, "can be the grass they eat, or the grain they are fed, the the standards at the production plant." This actually made me smile because David and I had made the decision not to buy *cheaper,* i.e. produced in China, and to continue to use the highest quality products we could find. So, you can trust that clean, happy, grass-eating New Mexico cows are producing our favorite protein powder! Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************************** **Radiant Kitchen ** 
I am playing with the idea of developing a new cookbook called Best of Radiant Recovery® Food. It might include things like the Cranberry Chutney or Mosaic's gram flour Yorkshire Pudding or Colette's Yam Cakes... or even 100 variations on a Yam cake, LOL. At any rate, the newsletter questionnaire was so helpful, I thought it might be fun to get your input on this one too.
********************************************************************** **Radiant YLD ** We originally started YLD way long ago at the beginning to offer a safe place to talk about *weight loss*. Since then, my feelings about what *weight loss* should be have changed dramatically. What I totally know in my heart of hearts is that if we simply lose weight without healing all the other stuff, it will always come back. It is the nature of our biochemistry. So YLD is about learning to understand *all the other stuff* and then to engage in what it takes to lose weight. I have seen that this dialogue and this exploration is life changing. The exciting thing is that much of it happens in chat. It is like a river flowing, sometimes high water in the spring, sometimes low water in the summer, but the flow continues. We all look forward to chat for this reason. If you would like to join us in YLD, come find us here ********************************************************************** **Radiant Living ** Last week we had the most incredible discussion about cooking. We talked about making lunches in a wok, whether it needed sauce, what to put in it, what kinds of vegetables to use, and how to make a special dressing. I have heard it said that when we lose *time*, god is present. We started this chat, and when I looked at the clock, it was 5 min to closing. Gosh that was fun. It was like we were in the kitchen together having a blast. We even talked about the idea of making videos and posting them here. Now, its funny, Radiant Living isn't really about *learning* things the way a class might be. It is about learning stuff from one another, and learning the joy of sisters or brothers or cousins having a lot of fun playing. It really is about learning the things we didn't learn because we were so distracted with our sugar addiction, or felt so inadequate with low BE, we just didn't know how to be part of the pack. Now we can. If you would like to join us in Radiant Living, come find us here **********************************************************************
**What Does *Doing the Food* Mean Anyway ** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. We have a number of people who have been around for a while, and who have been pretty active in the community. They take classes, post or read on the lists, come to chat and sometimes to Ranch. They have heard the expression *Doing the Food* a lot. A new person recently asked me what that means anyway. Could a person who just read the book and followed the steps *do the food* and get the benefits of the program? The answer to that question is yes and no (smile). A book is a snapshot in time. So the 2008 edition of Potatoes Not Prozac will say something a little different than the 1998 edition said...changing the order of the steps and correcting a few errors like the number of grams of protein in an egg as well. Were we to have a 2015 edition, it would change things some more since the *process* that goes with *doing the food* gets more refined as we add your life experience to my reflection of it. The dialogue that flows from our conversations on the list, at ranch and in chat literally reshapes our knowing. I still hear from new people every day who say, *Oh Kathleen, I have been doing Atkins for years. I know the drill.* More often now, though, it's *doing Paleo.* I still smile and say, *There is more to the steps than meets the eye.* Responding to those who are sure they have the Pnp Diet down pat is an art. I love enthusiasm and... I want to gently introduce the idea that there is a very thoughtful reason for the way I suggest. There is more to the program than just the food. There is something about the process of healing that is as critical. There are many, many other things embedded in each step like.
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Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:
Gretel, our webmaster, puts it all together. David runs the Radiant Recovery® Store. mosaic contributes to the Notes from the Forum column. ©2014 Kathleen DesMaisons. All rights reserved. You are free to use or transmit this article to your ezine or website as long as you leave the content unaltered, use this attribution: "By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. of Radiant Recovery®", and notify kathleen@radiantrecovery.com of the location. Please visit the Radiant Recovery® website at http://www.radiantrecovery.com for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction. You are getting the weekly newsletter from Radiant Recovery® in response to your signup. A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted on the web at http://www. radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter |
