 Hi {!firstname_fix} I took a trip up to Vinalhaven last week. I was checking out the option of getting a tiny house to spend summers in. Winter sea is different from summer sea. The ride on the ferry was a combination of both pitching and rolling. The dogs were a little disconcerted. I was a wee bit green. Big waves. Big rocking. We were tucked behind an 18 wheeler. I was thinking, *Dear god, I hope that truck is not rolled off into the water.* Winter on an island in mid-coast Maine is grey. Granite and dirty snow. Lobster men with red faces, heavy sweatshirts and yellow coats. Everyone knows each other. And everyone knows when someone comes from away. I looked at some tiny houses. Stonecutter houses that are about 650 square feet. Winter in Vinalhaven means no restaurants so I went to the grocery store to get food for my dinner. There is one motel. The owners were off the island for the weekend, so they left the key on the counter. Room number one had a small heater and was chilly. I turned the heater on. I then made the mistake of putting my spinach souffle in the microwave and blew the fuse. I was now both cold AND hungry. However, I knew the stove would work because stoves have their own circuit breaker. So dinner went in the oven. The dogs were wrestling and happy since they had eaten both their food from the bag in the car and one of my new LL Bean boots. They were not at all troubled by it being cold. When it got very cold, they simply piled on the bed the way puppies do and made a pile of warm dog fur. The ferry back in the morning was calm sea. The drive back to my cottage was a quiet time of a lot of thinking. No, I do not want a summer house on an Island. I love the idea, but the commitment is not what I want these days. These are days of commitment to something other than more property. Trying on each idea makes it clearer and clearer as I go. And that of course is why I am here. So I came back to regular life. My writing, you, and my winter life here by the sea. I planned the class schedule when I got back. These classes will begin the week of February 20, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Doing the Program on a Budget is a free class we do for people who are working the program without a lot of financial resources. Come learn strategies and ideas that will serve you well.  Magical Introversion is a new 2-week class which has grown out of your teachings. Last year you sat with me and talked about what life is like for you. I have taken that material, added the brain component, and put together the implications for sugar sensitives. I think this class will be really fun. This class will begin the week of February 27, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Depression seems like a good mid winter class (smile_...come over and learn the chemistry of depression. Learn about antidepressants and learn why sometimes they don't work. If you are currently on medication, this is a great choice. You will get a chance to speak with Kathleen directly about your drugs and what they do. A new 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 **********************************************************************
February 18, 2008 ** Quote From Kathleen **
You are telling your body it is important. You are noticing what you are eating and what you are feeling. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
I was thinking about this early this morning.... I can remember how everything just felt so hopeless and overwhelming when I first started this program 8 years ago. Even the smallest of things would send me into a spiral, down, down, down. Or maybe something would happen like not being able to get the lawn mower started and I'd go in the house ranting and raving, grab me some sweets, and decide life wasn't worth living. Ya. Wow. My life is so different now. For instance.... I found out yesterday that my son, who just got back from Iraq is going to be able to come down and see me on his way to CA, but he can only be here next week from Tues through Thurs. Well, I was supposed to show up for jury duty selection and work both Tuesday and Wednesday. I imagine in the past I would have not been able to work on a solution and then not have time with my son and end up all pissy and depressed. Not now. I called the court person and left a message on her voice mail explaining the situation and asking to be excused from appearing for jury selection this coming week. She called me back and said, no problem, you got it. Then I talked with my manager to see if I could flex off on Tues and work Sunday, but they didn't need anyone for Sunday. Okay, plan two, I had a couple of personal vacation days and asked if I could put in for them. So I got Wed. off as a personal vacation day and put in for Tuesday. And my manager and Unit manager said that if it didn't go through they could push it through for me. So I will have three days with my son who has been in Iraq the past year. Instead of curling into a ball of tears, eating tons of sweets, figuring life was unfair, whining, and all the things I used to do, I simply looked for and found solutions. :) And get this too, if it couldn't have been worked out I still would not have whined. I would have been able to trust that it wasn't in the Divine plan and let it go and spend the evenings with my son. I am such a different person now, and this is just one piece that has changed. But it's a big one for me. I wanted to share it here. Because I got to thinking...you may feel "it's just breakfast", or "it's just the journal"..."it's just three meals"..."it's just a potato"...."it's just browns"..."it's just no sugar"....but.... It is SO much more. It is creating the miracle inside of you; creating a life transformed beyond your wildest dreams. Just had to share. It is still amazing to me. In fact, reminds me of a song I wrote back in 2003 titled "It's Amazing." Here's the chorus: It's amazing, it's amazing, it's truly amazing where my life has brought me to, It's amazing, it's amazing, it's truly amazing what recovery can do, It'll give you hope where there once was none, And a radiant soul to shine on everyone, It's truly amazing what recovery can do! Patti ********************************************************************
**Radiant Ambassadors** We are working on a couple of special projects. We will report more next week. Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. ********************************************************************
This is a recipe I invented a few years back. I love that you can have your whole meal baked up in one dish. Baked Tilapia, Broccoli and Potatoes
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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself. Well we have the patient ones who have worked and waited for the Weight loss in Action Class. They are rockin'. And the new graduates of the readiness class are sharing and sharing. The chats have been just fabulous. Last week just about knocked my socks off, 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. ********************************************************* ***********
**Radiant Recovery Store **
David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son. I am sure a lot of you have already gotten a copy of the new edition of Potatoes Not Prozac, but if you haven't, we have plenty and I am happy to send a few along. If you would like to make a 'welcome' package up for a friend, how about:
Now, THAT would be some mighty present! Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups**
Are you sitting on the couch a lot this winter, suffering from being inside too much, and thinking about a wee bit of movement? We would love to have you join us in exploring new ways of moving on the Movement List. ********************************************************************
**Choosing a Solution**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. I have to share what a moving and profound experience last night's chat was for me. The whole ambivalence, commitment, fear thing is exactly what I have been working through the last few months as I struggled to figure out why I never got beyond step 2. It happened just like Kathleen said, I got friendly with my ambivalence and I found my fear. I am afraid of where radiance might take me. I cannot imagine me radiant. But once I found the fear and could name it I was able to commit to healing. Anyway, I post whether I 'feel' like it or not. I eat 3 meals a day whether I 'feel like it or not. And it does not feel like self-discipline, it just feels like 'doing it' because I want healing rather than to hide in my fear. Journaling is even getting easier.The nature of the sugar sensitive person is to give up when things get difficult. Like the C57 mice, you crouch in the corner and think you can't stick to your plan. Your biochemistry supports learned helplessness. You feel inadequate, overwhelmed and unable to follow through the way you hoped. A thousand failed diets from the past reinforced these feelings. As soon as you "sleep", you say, "Yah, see you did it again!" So you run away from the program, run away from yourself. This time it will be different, because knowing you are sugar sensitive lets you finally, finally understand the nature of who you are. Knowing you are sugar sensitive lets you shift the perspective from worrying about a thousand "failed" diets to being open to a solution. Think of that. You are tenacious. You keep going, you search and continue. You may be impulsive and impatient, but you can be and are committed to finding a solution. This program helps you use your tenacity in a new way. Because you now finally understand why other diets haven't worked, you can start to make choices. You can change the voices that say, "I know this won't really work" into "hmmmm, let's sort this out." "Why am I bored?" "Why don't I like the journal?" "Why do I sabotage my efforts?" These questions become a part of our healing. They are not the old tapes of inadequacy. They may be the same questions, but they are asked from a different perspective. Say to yourself, "I will do whatever it takes to heal this. I will give it time, money, energy, whatever it takes. Taking care of my food will be at the TOP of my list. Not after my job, or after my family or maybe when I get to it. But every day." You have made these affirmations a thousand times. But generally, you make them in your head. You "think" about your affirmations. But mostly you do not actually put the affirmations into practice. What would it mean, really mean to "do whatever it takes?" All of you will have slippery times, or times of just going right off track. This is totally normal. We are more interested in progress rather than perfection. I honestly believe there is NO failure in this program. There are simply opportunities to learn about yourself and to keep going. Your skill set needs to include what to do when you get in trouble. As your program progresses, you will become more and more adept at catching the warning signals that your food is off. ©Kathleen DesMaisons 2008. Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together: Gretel, our 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. ©2008 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 |
