I am surrounded by citations, papers, notes and all sorts of other things as I am working on the revision to Potatoes Not Prozac. It sure is fun to work with the information and think of all of you out there. It feels more like a class report and update rather than an anonymous revision. And the fun thing is the discovery of what the scientists have been working on since I did this kind of in-depth analysis. You will be hearing more of that after the manuscript goes out the door to Simon & Schuster. Regular life continues and we will be starting these new classes the week of 3/7. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Brain Chemistry: Serotonin is the other of our most popular classes. It helps you make sense of why the potato works, why you have a problem in the winter and how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can play into this. If you munch in your mind, if you are depressed or edgy or feel sad, this is the class for you. Step 1: The Art of Breakfast is our foundation class to get you started. Learn all four parts of Step 1 in a structured way. Learn how to progress through them with enjoyment. Let us support getting your program off to a fabulous start. Doing the Program on a Budget is a special free class for those of you with limited funding who are trying to make do. Come hear some fun ideas to maintain your humor and find tasty and inexpensive solutions. We will be starting these new classes the week of 3/14. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Step 2: Journal, Introduction will teach you the basics of journaling. The class will give you step by step instructions in how to record your food and feelings in a way that gets you excited. Step 5: Browning Your Family is one of our favorites. Learn the art of whole grains. Get lots of information that you won't find anywhere else. I picked the brains of one of the world's leading *brown* experts for this class. Using the Resources of the Community is for those of you who are brand new and would like to find your way around town. Come sit on the top of our double decker bus for a guided tour by Kathleen herself! And even if you are not brand new, this is a really fun class to reconnect with all the treats of the community. Radiant Store Tour is a free guided tour of the store. David will be leading this class so if you want to get to know the guy that makes it all work, come sign up. I have posted a new class schedule on line. 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 **********************************************************************
March 5, 2007 ** Quote From Kathleen **
Don't forget the details. They will point the way to healing. If you notice something unexpected in your journal, highlight it so you remember to go back to it when you do your review. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
Allison, Step 7, 7 Years into the program, Liaison for the Community Forum Allison wrote this a couple of years ago, but I love it so I am reposting it. Monday was my five year anniversary on this program. The program is so much a part of me now that I can't imagine living any other way. When I think back to who I was before I started this program, I can't even believe I was the same person. I was an emotional, strong willed child, at least at home. Outside of the house, I was a very shy child who never quite fit in with the other kids. I usually managed to have one or two close friends, but that was all, and I wasn't very good at having acquaintances. I had symptoms of low BE all my life, but things didn't get really bad until I was 13. That was when my depression and self hatred started. I was always depressed. Some times were better than others, but it was always there. There were a few times in college and my early 20's where I might have ended my life, except that somewhere inside, I knew things would get better eventually, and also I believed in reincarnation, and I was afraid that if I ended this life, I'd have to repeat the same kind of life, so I thought I should just stick with it and get it over with. Hardly a good attitude to have about life! I always felt left out of any group. I always felt like people didn't like me. I always had a negative attitude. I was addicted to bad relationships and always picked men who were not available. If they didn't already have a girlfriend, they were unavailable emotionally. That way, I could play out the rejection/abandonment story over and over. And every time I did, I'd dredge up every past similar experience and stir them up in my head and even embellish them to torture myself emotionally so I could get a big BE spike. I'd also replay arguments, or make up fights in my head, where I'd say bitter, hurtful things about myself and so would the imaginary participant in the fight. I also had this internal dialogue going on in my head all the time, either obsessing about or overanalyzing every little interaction with people, or saying horrible things about myself. Also, I took everything personally. The slightest criticism hurt my feelings horribly. I was always trying to be perfect so that no one could criticize me. And if someone said something negative about me, I'd automatically believe it was true. Finally, after a really painful addictive love affair, I decided I was ready to try to do something about my problems. Before that, I'd denied I had a problem, because I was so scared. I wanted desperately to be normal, so I was in total denial. So, I tried to get help. I did personal development workshops and retreats. I joined a therapy group for people who put themselves down all the time. I went on Prozac. I read tons of self help books. But no matter how hard I tried to apply what I learned, I couldn't. I remember trying to have a positive attitude, and only being able to do it for an hour or so, and then I'd be back to being negative, and hating myself because I couldn't stay positive. And in the therapy group, the other people all had these awful abusive childhoods, but I didn't. So I had compassion for them, but I just beat up on myself more, because I must be some kind of super wimp to be emotionally like people who were abused as children. So, at the age of 39, I had hit bottom . I had suspected for years that I was going to hit my stride in my 40's, and I was determined to feel better when I hit 40. In addition to the emotional issues, I also was having blood sugar crashes every couple of hours unless I ate something, and on a diet of sugar and caffeine, I was either totally hyper, or practically comatose. My massage therapist suggested the Zone diet, because she said I wasn't eating enough protein. I bought the book, figured out that I'd have to eat browns instead of whites and go off sugar to get enough food, and changed my eating habits. I felt awful for a week, but then I started to feel better. I didn't mind giving up sugar, because I told myself I could have it in social situations or for special occasions since I wasn't trying to lose weight. (I wasn't eating huge amounts of sugar, but I'd been eating it at regular intervals through the day. Most of my BE spiking was from behaviors and not sugar.) Three weeks later, I was invited to a friend's house. I ate the old way - lots of snack food, champagne, a couple of desserts, coffee. Wow! It hit me like a ton of bricks. I got a bad headache, got really tired, and went home and yelled at my pets all evening. The next day I had an awful hangover. What a clear illustration of how bad sugar made me feel! I'd never noticed it before because I ate it at such regular intervals. I knew I had to either always eat sugar or never eat it, and I felt so much better off of it that I decided not to eat it. A couple of weeks later, I read about Kathleen's first book, PnP, in Christianne Northrup's newsletter. It sounded like the answer to the question that had been plaguing me for years - what is wrong with me? I went to a bookstore to check out the book. In chapter 3, I saw a chart of the symptoms of low beta endorphin, and it listed everything I most hated about myself. What a liberating moment! So, I switched from doing the Zone to PnP, worked my way through the steps, and here I am, 5 years later and a totally different person. The voices in my head are gone, I don't have fake fights in my head or torture myself emotionally, I have a positive attitude without trying. I don't take everything personally. Hey, sometimes I don't fit into a particular group, and that's ok. But I don't feel like an outsider in every group the way I used to. I make friends more easily. Now, if someone offers feedback about how I could do something better, I don't fall apart and feel like a failure. And if someone says something negative, I evaluate it and decide whether what they said is true. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it's more about them than it is about me. And just because someone else doesn't like something about me doesn't mean I have to change. Also, about a 18 months into the program, I really began to understand about beta endorphin. At that point, I realized that most of my BE spiking behaviors had vanished on their own, and I recognized the others and could work on them. The best thing is, that now I love life and I love myself. Life used to be something I had to endure. Now I enjoy it. I see beauty all around me. I don't need some huge exciting event to feel happy. Just the little every day things that are around us all the time make me happy. And things just keep getting better. I keep growing and changing, and life keeps opening up. Recovery is a never ending process of discovery. ********************************************************************
(Editor's Note: Well, how embarrassing, LOL, not only did I make a typo in the recipe two weeks ago, but also last week. So I am repeating that recipe corrected as well as the new Chicken Potato Kugel recipe for this week). Georgia Sweets
Chicken Potato Kugel
Grate potatoes with skins (food processor recommended) and squeeze out any liquid. Grate onion. Mix potatoes, onion, eggs, salt and pepper until combined. Pour potato batter over the chicken. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. ********************************************************************
**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself. We started up a new support program for brand new people - the ones who are really, really concerned about being fat and having to do something right NOW!!! They will have their own chubby cherub assigned to them to help them get connected, calm down and get focused on how to start. This idea came out of your input and your needs. It is always exciting to have the program evolve right on chat. Thank you!!! 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. ********************************************************* ***********
**David's Corner **
David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen’s oldest son.  Well, I am changing out the photo so you can see the one of me and my daughter, Madison. Hope you like it.
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups**
Terri Louise, Step 7, is the Liaison for all the Geo Hospitality lists. This week I want to feature the Colorado list. We started out with a Radiant Southwest list with AZ, CO, NM, and UT - the states of the 4 corners. However, the folks in Colorado started having so much fun, we figured they better split off and have their own Rocky Mountain High. TL lives in Boulder not far from a beautiful alpine field. We have been following her descriptions of a local athlete, a shot putter, who is practicing in the field. Apparently, he shares the field with the local cows. TL sent this note to the Colorado list this morning. I asked her if I could quote it. It does give you a flavor of what happens when step 7 people learn to play. The whole Colorado list is like that, LOL. The cows all turning to watch the shot-putter just cracks me up! A little something they had probably never seen before. (What cows do when THEY go on safari...the cow guide was probably telling the other cows how the humans get together in the spring and it appears they compete, seeing who can throw this thing the furthest.......(cows all nodding in interest and fascination) Cow #1 asks the cow guide:'Do you think it has something to do with mating? Cow guide: 'We're not sure, though throwing the heavy ball and grunting could be attractive to another human'. LOL 'We just don't know'. Today I am coming down from the mountains. (Yes! It is COLD up here) I will check on my cow field as I come into town. ********************************************************************
**Some Thoughts on Service ** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. The Radiant Recovery® community is built on the service generously provided by those who want to give back in gratitude for the healing they have experienced. This week I want to share a little about another kind of service. Each year, we hold a seminar in Albuquerque. Orignally, I started this practice as a way to convene our leadership to check in, vision together and play. From the first seminar of 17 people, we have now grown to a full and exciting annual event open to the community. We use the time to share new learning, to meet new people and to affirm old connections. Over time, we have extended our hospitality through our scholarship program. The program is two-fold. It includes a 50% reduction in tuition for the liaisons, tuition reduction for a number of attendees, and when possible, direct financial support to cover travel expenses. This year, we made a commitment to Kath to come from Australia. As many of you know, Kath has provided continued and committed service for a number of years. In this past year, her husband has had to leave employment and go on disability. Kath is holding it all together. We wanted her here, so we have committed to pay her airfare from Australia which is a LONG way (smile). We have also invited the staff members from the substance abuse program at Hopi to attend ranch this year. We met them when they came down to Albuquerque last month for a conference here and stayed at my house. Their scholarships to that meeting covered tuition but not room and board. They fell in love with SHAKE and got excited to come back and learn more about the program at Ranch. They are also excited to meet all of you. We would like to provide not only tuition, but funds to stay at the hotel and eat meals with the group while they are here. So this week’s newsletter is an unabashed pitch for money to support our scholarship fund. I think you know how much energy and time we all put in to provide so much. It is very important to me that the website, the newsletter and our lists continue to be at no cost. I want the program to be accessible to as many people as possible. Will you share your generosity with us as well? Thank you very, very much for you kindness. We have set up a link at the store for you to make a donation directly through the shopping cart. Warmly, Kathleen ©Kathleen DesMaisons 2007. 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. ©2007 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 Patti Holden, Step 7 |
