Hi {!firstname_fix}

This has been a wonderful time for me. I have been shifting gears, learning new things and preparing for a new phase of my life. Last week I spoke with a trusted counselor about some key issues coming up. It has been really fun to take a look at some things from outside the framework of *doing the food*. I want to write some more about this for all of you. I will work on this article this week.

We will be starting these new classes this week (10/9):

YLD Weightlossemotions is the class for those of you who are ready, are on step seven and want to clear out a little of the being fat baggage. You don’t need therapy, a two week class will give you wonderful, wonderful tools to get you on your way.

Resource Center Tour is the second of our free tours. Come see what is in the resource center.

Step 6: Going off Sugar is a class for those of you getting ready to detox or having detoxed and wondering why it is so hard after. We talk about *the flat*.

And we will begin these classes the week of 10/16:

Step 1: The Art of Breakfast is the way to get started. Learn about Step one in a structured way and have fun meeting new people as you do.

Step 2: Journal, an Introduction is our basic get to know your journal class. We always have fun! Come join us.

Using Radiant Resources is our fun free guided tour of the community. If you are new or returning, get on the top deck of the double decker and hear everything.

I also wanted to let you know that we are designing some new classes for you. They will include a journaling class for step 7 people, a *how to* plan, shop and organize, and how to do the food when traveling. And of course, I will be doing the handling the holidays class again soon.

I will be posting a new class schedule through the end of the year on Tuesday. Click here 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. The classes are done online with one lesson each day. You do not have to be at your computer at any set time.

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.

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

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October 9, 2006

** Quote From Kathleen **

Eating at regular intervals, whether you are hungry or not, will ensure that your blood sugar does not drop to a crisis point.

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** Testimonial for the Week**

I had an easy, *uneventful* detox from sugar. Despite the lack of drama, it was a profound, deep change. Immediately, I had no cravings--hallellujah! But I also felt uneasy and unsettled. (Some of that was my diet cola detox, unwisely untertaken hard on the heels of sugar.)

I counted the months till I could get to weight loss and taper off my meds and feel fixed. I wondered when I would feel grounded again. I wondered when my anxiety would go away. I fretted, and my fretful posts were annoying me. I decided to stop posting inside the problem. I waited and kept doing the food. I got exercise steady.

One morning I woke up and realized I was ready to meditate. About 2 weeks later peace fell over me like soft mist.

Jeannie

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**Recipe of the Week**

People have asked me for this recipe so I thought I would share it with you all. It is a bit time consuming, but makes about 6 1/2 dozen rugelach (little dough cookies) so you can always have some in the freezer. I think it is a great treat for the kids, my boys just love them and we have tried all of the different fillings.

RUGELACH

2 1/2 lbs whole wheat pastry flour (about 10 cups)
1 lb. earth balance margarine (if you don't keep kosher just use butter)
1 1/2 ounces fresh yeast (you can get this in your local grocery store's refrigerator case - Red Star is a really good brand to try)
1/4 cup warm apple juice
2 eggs
egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
1 beaten egg (to brush rugelach) - optional

Preheat oven to 350. Mix 1 lb flour with margarine. Set aside. In a separate bowl, dissovle yeast in apple juice. Add remaining flour and remaining ingredients and mix. Combine the yeast mixture with the margarine mixture and knead until smooth. Divide into 6 parts. Cover dough and set to rise for 20 minutes. Roll out each dough into a large circle about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 16 wedges. Add filling and roll up from the wide end towards the narrow end. Brush with beaten egg. Place onto a nonstick cookie sheet or a lined regular sheet. Leave space between each piece for them to rise. Bake for 18 minutes.

Filling options:

1 cup all fruit spread, 1/2 cup ground walnuts (2 T. cinnamon optional). Mix well and spread onto each triangle before rolling up. You can also substitute coconut instead of walnuts.
1 cup apple butter, 1/2 cup carob powder, 1/4 cup coconut. Mix well and spread onto each triangle.
1/2 cup almond butter, 1/4 cup chopped almonds, 1 cup apple butter. Mix well and spread onto each triangle before rolling up.

NOTE: Place whichever spread you choose thinly over the dough

Optional: You can roll each section out into a rectangle, spread the filling over the entire rectangle and roll up from the bottom (the longest side) into a log shape. Then you can slice the log up, placing each piece on the cookie sheet and baking as above.

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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**

I thought you would love to read Holly’s recent note to the Brit list. We really had an incredible time. It opens the door to all you folks in Europe and East. I am so excited that our international community is now doing real time talking. What great fun it is.

You might recall at Ireland Ranch that Kathleen mentioned she was going to start a European Chat. Well, the first one was last Wednesday and it was great fun. Kathleen, Gretel and T.L. were there from the US, Yvonne was there from Sweden, we had an RRer from Cyprus, me, and a couple of other Brits. It was really good fun and it felt so good to feel the connection that I feel whenever I'm with people from this community.

It was great to be able to talk in real time and ask questions to Kathleen and others from the leadership team. We started off just getting familiar with how chat works, but it's really quite simple and easy to use. We got quite silly and I was really laughing at some of the chit chat. I felt really happy afterwards - such a BE lift, especially as I was feeling quite poorly.

It would be really wonderful if some of you guys (no, ALL of you guys!) could join in next week. It's Wednesday, 9pm GMT. You do need to be a member of YLD, but the chats aren't really about weight loss, but more an opportunity for Kathleen to share some of her thoughts and latest research (how cool?!) and, even more importantly perhaps for us Brits, a chance to really connect and communicate with each other. For me it was more powerful than sharing on the lists or the forum. I truly think everyone would benefit, whether you've weight to lose or not.

To access chat, you need to access the YLD part of the website, for which you need the username (just your name we know you by is a good choice) and password. From there, you click on the link to 'chat' where you select your own username, and a password (if you want one). Technical glitches aside, you should then be all set!!

Really hope to 'see' some more fellow Ireland Ranchers on Weds, 9pm.

Lots of love

Holly xx

If you are not a YLD member, 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.

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**David's Corner **

As the holidays are coming round, I wanted to remind you about our cookbook. It has some great recipes. But it also has lots of other neat stuff, like info on browns and how to calculate proteins and material that has not been published anywhere.

I love the cookbook. I think it is a great resource for any radiant kitchen, or for any kitchen wanting to be radiant.

Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

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**Our Online Groups**

Hi I'm Karen the liaison for the RadiantStep3 group. Like the name says, this group is all about our very favorite Step 3. This was a tough step for me when I started the programme and it was definitely the hardest! I either forgot to eat meals, ate the most inappropriate sugar-laden stuff or just grazed my way through the day. It took me ages to master this step, but now I happily eat three meals a day. It's easy and very natural and I never dreamed I would ever say that in my lifetime!

The Step 3 list is a great place to stop by for those who are finding this a challenging step, or who are starting out or who would just like some extra support. We talk a lot about things like: What is a meal, exactly? How do I get my body to cooperate with eating "just" three meals a day? What are some tips to help me with consistent timing? And all sorts of other aspects of this step. We try to make it fun, because... well why not make it fun?? Since being the liaison for this list, I've been thrilled to see so many people come through and "graduate" to the next steps! It's a great place of support... come and join us! (And it matters not if you are new to the step, totally re-doing the step or just shoring up your Step 3 after being further along in the program.)

Or come to the group page to see all our groups. http://www.radiantrecovery.com/list_serves.htm

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**A New Look at Halloween**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

Many of the parents originally felt stumped by Halloween, the Queen of all sugar holidays. But they are getting creative. Vicki is making changes in the treats she offers:

Last year I bought little things, like pencils, cheap Harry Potter glasses, the Halloween long scary fake fingernails, things from the birthday gift aisle at Wal-Mart, etc. and put them in little gift bags tied with a ribbon. My son helped me put them together. We just did a few each night for about a week. I spent a little more than I would have on candy, but I didn't feel guilty about handing them out. I gave a bag to a few friends' kids and they loved them, so I am assuming that the kids at the door liked them too.

Here are some other goodies our moms give out:

Small packets of pencils
Microwave popcorn from Costco
Small toys from Oriental Trading Company (you can buy these on line or through their catalogue)
Small bags of pretzels
Small bags of Goldfish
Packets of cheese or peanut butter crackers

Gail actually “buys” her girls’ candy - she purchases the candy from them in exchange for cash, which they use to buy things they really want, like music CDs. She got a number of the other parents intrigued by this idea. Vicki liked it a lot:

For the past two years, I have bought back my kids' candy. I will give them $15 each and they would much rather have the money than the candy. Originally, I let them pick out 5 pieces that they could have with meals, but not all at once. This year I am going to tell them that I will buy all their candy for $20. Even the five pieces is making me uncomfortable now. Of course that doesn't mean they won't sneak some while they are out trick-or-treating, but at least I am making a dent!.

Melanie now does a sugar-free Halloween party with finger foods and games. She holds a costume contest and then the kids all make jack-o-lanterns together. No one even thinks about the candy any more. Maggi does the same in a big way:

I decided that we would make our Halloween tradition about the pumpkin carving and the costume. That way, there is a special trip to pick out the pumpkin, carve it and eat dinner in the dark by pumpkin candlelight on Halloween. The other thing I had always wanted to do was to teach my son how to sew -- he picks out his costume, we go to the fabric store, pick out patterns, he chooses the fabric and we sew it together (that means I do 90 percent of the work, and he sews a few straight seams, pins the pattern and pins fabric...). This has worked great, as he has costumes for dramatic play that are really nice that he uses all the time throughout the year. The costumes this way are a little pricey and very labor intensive for mom, but his cool midnight blue with silver trim wizard costume will be treasured for many years.

Janie raised yet another alternative. She and her family simply are simply not going to do Halloween.

We decided we are going to go to the Grand Canyon! We will stay a couple of days and then drive the whole way back on Halloween. So we will miss the stupid holiday all together and not have to worry about it. I will, of course, talk to them about all the fun we will be having on our trip, and all the fun things we will be doing instead of trick or treating.

From Little Sugar Addicts

©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 gathers the recipes.
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