I was outside filling the bird feeders yeserday morning and noticed that there were hundreds of birds singing in the yard. There was a hint of spring in the air. My daffodils, the ones I planted after 9/11, are up about 3 inches. I was out driving and saw the trees in the valley along the river are turning a slight pink - the buds are starting to hum. And this morning, the 4 male peacocks down my road were strutting their stuff, literally. Feels like this inside as well. A humming with new life. The community is settled and just doing regular life now. Recovery is good. These are the classes that will be starting this week: Brain Chemistry: Beta Endorphin - Week 1 is one of the old standbys now. If you really want to understand why BE is so important, come join us and learn more. Learning About Depression is a way to learn the physiology of your depression. Learn about how both serotonin and BE can affect depression and how drugs work. Learn about how doing the steps can help so much. Back to Basics 2 is the continuation of our Back to Basics 1 class. A number of you have asked me how the classes work. Check the class list page for more information on this. The classes are done online with one lesson each day. You do not have to be at your computer at any set time. Please note that we have added the classes to the new schedule so you can see what is coming up. And go read the questions and answers before you write to me. The classes are done online with one lesson each day. You do not have to be at your computer at any set time. If you have trouble getting through the process, write the tech forum. Please feel free to pass this week's newsletter on to your friends and family. Don't forget to let me know what you like and would like to see me cover. Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery® website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen **********************************************************************
February 27, 2006 ** Quote From Kathleen **
The more you are able to observe and note your food and feelings, the easier it will be for you to make changes in them. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
I have been taking a hiatus from the computer to take care of a shoulder injury. but i feel moved to share about my 4th anniversary on this program which is in March 2006. When I read SATRP in March 2002, it was the first time I had hope that I might not be permanently broken and un-fixable. I had been bingeing almost daily since I was 8 years old. I stole money from my mother's purse to buy food and hid my "empties" under my bed. Pounds and gallons and boxes and bags of food. I grew up feeling pretty much constant shame and inadequacy. When I got older, I read everything I could about emotional eating, stress eating, fat as a feminist issue, eating to fill the "hole in the soul"...I thought I must have the biggest hole anyone had ever seen. No matter how much work I did on my emotional issues, the eating continued. I would always eat to the point where I felt stuffed and sick, and then I would wait until my fullness abated so I could cram some more in. I was overstuffed and undernourished all the time - it is impossible to experience pleasure from food in that state! As I got older, I could only vaguely manage my weight by compulsively exercising (then I had 2 monkeys on my back - food and exercise). Still, I was always moody, always 20-50 pounds overweight, and could never stay at one weight for very long. I had no sense of what a balanced life might feel like. In March 2002, I began with breakfast. I did not set a timetable for my program, and I took extra time with step 3 and step 5. I just wanted to be out of the prison of compulsive eating. Today, I am still a work in progress (of course!) but I no longer binge. I am no longer a compulsive exerciser. I am at a healthy weight. I no longer have multiple sizes of clothes in my wardrobe. These things didn't change my life, though. What changed my life was the biochemical healing that allows me to feel that I am living the life I am meant to live. There is ever-growing patience, kindness, gratitude, and happiness in my life. It all started with breakfast. SB ********************************************************************
**Recipe of the Week**
Here is another recipe from Maggie. I have made this and can tell you it is YUMMY. And I don't even like cauliflower! ROASTED CAULIFLOWER
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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
Reading through all of the information on the home page is what convinced me to join YLD. I read everything and then bought all of the books. I am an avid reader and I just couldn't soak up enough information. I felt like I had finally discovered the answer that I had been searching for. The site is easy to follow and contains a wealth of information. It's a great refresher site when I feel like my steps are getting a little "mushy". It's awesome! Our weight loss class is exploring new *looks* - what to wear, where to shop and things like that. They are an inspiration. I love hearing these discussions. Come and join us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun. It is not too late to get into the classes if you come right now. ********************************************************* ***********
**David's Corner **
 Here is a note Emily wrote about the children's fish oil capsules Thanks! Alex wanted more information. She really wanted to know why she should take it, so I read her most of the article in the resource center and then she ASKED to take a 2nd capsule today. She took one in juice and another I just broke onto a spoon and she downed it and then took a sip of water. She said that way was better. Knowledge is power! If I'd suggested she take it straight yesterday, I'd have been shot down, but with information she was willing to try. (smile) She said she wanted to take it because it could "help my brain be smart and help my allergies." Laura said "You mean this could make me not have scratchy skin?!" Emily
I thought you might be interested to hear what research is being done with Nordic Naturals oil:
If you haven't been to the store for a while, how about just coming over and browsing. You will be thrilled to see all the changes! Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups**
Hello. My name is Janie. I'm the volunteer liaison for RadiantParents. I have four children, three of them are teenagers, yikes! I have suffered from depression since my early twenties but it wasn't until I had children that my depression really got worse. I went to all different doctors and tried all sorts of medications and remedies but nothing ever worked for me. It wasn't until I found Potatoes not Prozac that I finally found the answer to what was wrong with me. I started doing the steps and have never looked back. Then when I read The Sugar Addicts Total Recovery Program and discovered that there was an on-line community, I was in heaven! After I had been on step 7 for awhile I decided to turn my attention to helping my children. I definitely noticed that my twins were sugar sensitive. They were just like me, overly emotional, sensitive, dramatic and absolutely adored sugar. It took me a little bit longer to figure it out with my oldest daughter, Alexa, and my youngest daughter, Grace. I think Grace has had the most dramatic turnaround. She used to get so enraged she would bare her teeth and growl at me. Now, she is just an angel. I really love helping other parents with their sugar sensitive kids. I can really empathize with parents who are new to the program and they come seeking help. I want to be able to help them create the life with their kids that I now have with mine, thanks to Kathleen. On the list we discuss ways to get our children to buy into the program which I must admit has been a hurdle for me but it's fun to get advice and hear about all the things the other parents are doing. We also share recipes and success stories. It's a great list and I feel honored to be a part of such a caring and wonderful group of parents. Come join us! ********************************************************************
**Making Choices in a New Way** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. I have been thinking a lot about that whole discussion on the forum about “Why am I still fat?” I listened to a tape we made two years ago called Warrior Wellness. It was pretty prophetic. I thought it would be fun to share a few excerpts from that talk. We came to this program and we learned how to do the food. Those of us who are on the chubby side began learning about weight loss. Some people have lost weight and it’s been not an issue. They just do the program. Some people open the book and start to lose weight. And there are a group of people who get to step six and stop eating sugar, stop eating refined flour products, they lose weight with no effort. Some have to exercise – not too seriously, but they get moving and they start losing weight. And for some people not only do they have to do the seven steps really well and really diligently, and exercise really diligently, but they have to do all this other stuff. They say, “OK, I’m doing step seven and I’m exercising and this is not budging. What is wrong with me?“ The program is about being willing to find answers when we didn’t know. We didn’t know. Everything that we were taught – everything, every single piece of it didn’t work and people were still judged as being bad if they were still fat. But something happened. Now we know what to do. Now we have CHOICES, We’re going to talk about it. We’re going to talk about it without shame. And we’re going to say what we’re doing collectively as a tribe is we’re stepping into a different place of understanding there. We’re going to stand up and live as a community and say, number one, we’re going to be healthy. That’s number one. We’re going to create a foundation in order to heal our bodies, and then we’re going to make a choice about what we want and what level of work we’re willing to do to get there. We are going to clear out, literally on a body level, the old patterns of shame and hurt and anger, because we don’t need that anymore. We do not need to carry that kind of burden around with who we are any more. It’s time for that to go. And we need to have the freedom, whether we’re fat or whether we’re thin and not healthy or not in condition, to be able to say we don’t have to look for answers anymore. You know how we’ve spent 30, 40 years – 20 years looking for another diet, another fitness plan, another teacher, whatever? We don’t need to do that anymore. We have what we need. We have it. And we can choose to do it or not. ©Kathleen DesMaisons 2006. Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together: Gretel, the liaison for the recovery list and the webmaster puts it all together Naomi, liaison for big ones gathers the recipes Marie, the liaison for diabetes gathers the info on the online lists David, who runs the Radiant Recovery® Store talks about what new products we have. 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.htm. ©2006 by 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 and use this attribution: "By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. of Radiant Recovery®. Please visit Kathleen's website at http://www.radiantrecovery.com for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction." Please notify me at kathleen@radiantrecovery.com to let me know where the material will appear. Banner Photograph by Geraint Smith |
