Hi {!firstname_fix}

Well, my big news of the week is the puppies. We have three chunky little ones, one boy and two girls. Two of them look just like Pepper and one like Daddy. Pepper is a great Mom. The birthing was hard, we had some problems and ended up spending all night at the emergency clinic. Sent out for eggs and bacon at 3 AM to keep from crashing. Pulling an all nighter is not something I have done for thirty yars, so it took a while to recuperate. Thing are pretty much back to normal so now it is life with laundry and little noises from the nursery.

These classes will begin the week of July 2, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Step 2: Journaling: An 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.

Learning About Depression is a key class for the Potatoes Not Prozac crowd. Learn in-depth information on the kinds of depression, why drugs will or will not work, how they work and how Doing the Food can help.

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. And even if you are not brand new, this is a really fun class to reconnect with all the treats of the community.

Looking at New Ways of Dressing. This class is open to members of YLD and will explore our relationship to clothes. It is part of the YLD Weight Loss Emotions series. After you start changing your sense of your self, how do you want to dress. What works, what doesn’t work. What about all the clothes in the closet that do not fit. Do you want them? Even if they fit now, are they what you want to wear? How can you have a sense of style? Come have fun and play with us in a journey of discovery.

These classes will begin the week of July 9, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

YLDweightlossinaction is the working class for YLD members on Step 7 who are ready to move to the next level and actually get the skills to get the pounds off. It is always a really exciting class.

The class schedule is on line. Click here to see what is planned. Please do not sign up for classes that are not yet scheduled.

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 and you do not have to be at your computer at any set time. It does not matter whether you are in the US, Europe, the Far East or Australia, you simply respond on your own time. And although I advertise that the classes are one or two weeks, sometimes we are a little flexible and they may run longer.

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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July 2, 2007
** Quote From Kathleen **


Make changes at a pace that works for you. Look for solid, long-term success, not dramatic, short-term results.

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** Testimonial for the Week**


I am feeling all kinds of happy with myself because in June I messed up my Step 6 due to poor planning, all my meal times went out the window, my snacking returned, etc, and now I have been to a family party with my Emergency Meal (that I hadn't really thought I'd need, but brought it anyway thank goodness), and then a couple of days later I went for a three day visit with my daughter-in-law and little grandchildren while my son was at a business conference. I brought my own food and stayed with my program! I even wrote in my journal every meal! Good for me!

Getting back to replies about the Emergency Meal: yes, banana would make it taste better. I'll have to try it. Good idea!

Husbands: my darling husband went to the party with me (the one with cookies, brownies, ice cream, Chinese food, and everything being served at various times) and he ate everything they served. The next day he had a royal headache, allergies acting up...he's been eating what I've been eating at home, you see. When I realized what was wrong I got him a banana, encouraged him to drink a lot of water and eat fruit with every meal (as a former Step 6er I don't have many sweets around). Now he knows I'm not the only one with a sensitivity! (lol) Plus he has a lot of compassion for the old days. "Is this how you felt when you were on the couch?" "Yes." "It's horrible! How did you stand it?" "I didn't. That's why I was on the couch." (Now he can understand why various relatives do what they do to avoid feeling like that. One day when we're radiant I hope they'll try RR.)

On the trip I brought Ezekial bread, oatmeal, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, cans of tuna, salmon, garbanzo beans, and even frozen vegetables (in a cooler with ice). I was determined to assume nothing. I figured the worst that would happen is my dil would have extra groceries in the house. I also brought George's Jr shake, which I left behind for her to use on my dear ss son who can be pretty grouchy in the morning. I suggested that she just do what I did: hand him a shake. If he drinks it, he drinks it. If not, she can have it.

Something I've learned from this community is that we are not weak. We have bodies that are a special challenge to us, and we have the courage to face it and work with it. I learned that it is not weakness to spend the day after I got home taking it easy and not expecting too much of myself. My body needs what she needs and I can't run her ragged without consequences. I love the fact that we do this program in steps. It isn't all or nothing. If it all comes apart we can start at Step One and gradually add back the steps until we're better again. In June all the old sugar feelings returned and I didn't think I'd get better, I just did the steps because I didn't know what else to do. Now I feel stronger than ever. That feeling of having a spotlight on me with everyone watching me seems to be going away, too.

It's good to be back!

Lora

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**Radiant Kitchen**

By Naomi Muller, Step 7, author of Nutritious and Delicious Cookbook.


It is getting hot out and the kids are wanting cold sweet things to eat. I saw this great recipe and adapted it for us since it sounded like a great dessert for the kids! (big kids, too (grin>).

Frozen Fruit Kebabs

  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 16 medium strawberries, hulled
  • 16 (2-inch) chunks cantaloupe
  • 2 large bananas, peeled and sliced crosswise into 16 pieces
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
  • 1/4 cup ground or finely chopped nuts
Mix the orange juice and all the fruit and toss together with a spoon to completely coat the fruit. Skewer the fruit in any order that you like on 4 separate skewers. Roll the skewered fruit in the ground coconut and nuts. You can mix the coconut with the nuts or keep them separate. You may need to use your fingers to help coat the fruit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the skewered fruit out on the baking sheet and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Freeze the fruit until completely firm. Serve frozen.

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

YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself.


YLD has been changing over the last few months. I love how settled you are feeling and how focused on the tasks. I love what is happening in the latest Readiness Class, the Emotions Class was fabulous and now we get to do a new Weight Loss in Action Class. I think it is amazing that the place that used to be so fraught with desperation and angst is now so much fun. Thank you all!

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.
 


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**Radiant Recovery Store **

David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen’s oldest son.



Our wild rice is a wonderful treat for the summer. Make a big batch, mixed half and half with brown rice. Chill it and use it as a salad base. Add yummy things and your friends will love you. It is way better than macaroni salad! If you haven't tried it, it is a great time to do so. I know that Kathleen has it a lot. I love the smell of it cooking.
When you order it, get the little rice cookbook. Kathleen cooks from it all the time. She especially loves making a little rice pudding as a special treat. Hers has no sugar, and it is really yummy. I think her rice pudding has taken the place of the grape nuts pudding my dad loves.




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**


We have a new little group starting this week called Radiantentrepreneurs. It is for folks who are starting or developing their own business. The group will be sharing about how to do business in a healthy way: setting goals that are realistic, learning about relationships to money, taxes, and most important following your dream to make it happen. Come join us if you would like share.

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


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**Numbers**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.


We were recently having a conversation in the weight loss class about tightening up the steps. One of the class members ranked the quality of each step as a 90% or 100%. Then she averaged the seven steps to get a sense of how she was doing. Her average was 90%.

Connie chimed in and said that kind of math doesn't work in this instance. She talked about how the steps are cumulative. And that when you did the math a different way, the actual score was 68%.

Some of us, including me, said, WHAT are you talking about! I asked her to try again. Intuitively, I knew she was onto something. But this explanation is a winner.

A quick Google search didn't show up any high-level intro explanations of quality and reliability in steps, so I'll just make up an example. First I'll use one for an everyday manufacturing process, and then I'll talk about our 7 steps.

For the everyday manufacturing, say Connie decides to make a DVD about Warrior Wellness available at her web site. The steps to get the DVD from the manufacturer to the person, are:
  1. DVD maker sends the DVDs to Connie's mail room (LOL)
  2. Connie takes orders from the net and gets them ready to ship
  3. The shipper, say the US mail, ships to the person
  4. The person gets it
  5. The person can play it! yay!
What we want is, 100% of the DVDs getting from the manufacturer to the person. But let's say each step has 10% problems:
  1. 10% of the DVDs get squished when Connie drops the box in her mail room to sign the invoice
  2. 10% of the addresses entered on Connie's web site are off somehow
  3. 10% of the people's mailboxes are ripped off from local drug guys stealing identities, and they rudely toss the DVD
  4. 10% of the CDs don't work in the person's DVD player somehow (Connie has el cheapo manufacturer)
So, you'd think, well okay, each step is 90% there, so my customers should be 90% happy right? But let's follow 100 DVDs.
  1. After Connie drops the box of DVDs, there are 90 DVDs on the way to the customer. (90% of 100)
  2. After step 2, wrong mail address, there are 80 DVDs (90% of 90 DVDs)
  3. After step 3, the mail theft, there are 72 DVDs on the way to the customer. (90% of 80)
  4. After step 4, unplayable DVDs, there are 63 DVDs that actually get to the customer. (90% of 72)
So of those 100 DVDs starting out, only 63 got to my customer. That makes a "reliability" of 63% for the end-to-end process. But I thought each step was 90% ! well, it is. Still, if what I want is DVDs to customers, I find a way to tighten those steps.

This happens to EVERY process where the later steps depend on the reliability of the earlier steps.

What I think is hard to understand until it's experienced , is that our steps really truly DO depend on each other. No one else in the diet world talks about this and that's why they all say, make these zillion changes all together.

And, our steps each have smaller steps, so imagine the opportunities to get a little off. Here's just ONE path.
  1. Breakfast. Protein is 90% of what it needs to be.
  2. Journal. Writing 90% down, but maybe the 10% not written, is what happened after breakfast with light protein! So now I lost a little feedback.
  3. 3 meals, 90%. Lunch had "justa" whites and it was early. Somehow I was "extra hungry" today but I don't make the connection to breakfast.
  4. Vitamins. 90%. I ran out of vitamin C days ago and keep forgetting to pick some up. Hence, my food is not metabolized quite as well. I'm a little hungry.
  5. Browns. 90%. By dinner I feel off and resentful and have my browns and then some.
  6. Sugars. 90%. More justas. I make the family a program-friendly dessert and have more of it than is appropriate for my plan right now.
For me, this would be a day for overeating either at dinner or at spud time. I might THINK "oh, my program is 90% on" but, that evening sure FEELS like a not-so-good, only 50% radiant day, and sure enough, the idea of multiplying instead of averaging, matches what I'm feeling.

Connie



©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