 Hi {!firstname_fix} I saw a HUGE Robin sitting right outside the window, yah! This is a good sign. And then one morning last week, I went out with the dogs and I could hear a deep hum in the trees and grass as they were practising for spring. Nothing evident yet, but a pink cast to the branches, but the air is different. The next day it was grey on white and snowing. I thought,'Oh goodness, this is the hardest part.' But I see beach grass now rather than drifting snow. It is dried and withered, but I am optimistic. We started the step 7 class. I had been doing notes from the last time I did it - which was quite a while ago. We had a lot of people in the class. That in itself is fun. I asked them to speak of what step 7 is about. The answers about knocked my socks off. Here is my favorite: Step 7 is like, after having thought for your entire life that there are only 4 color crayons--red, yellow, blue, and BLACK--you get handed a box of Crayola 64's (yes, the one with the handy-dandy sharpener in the back LOL) and told, "Paint the colors of your life." A teensy bit scary and a whole lot wondrous. Ann Margaret I think I am going to add a Step 7 segment to my Ranch presentation. What we are learning is too exciting not to share. A couple of notes about 2008 Ranch: If you are a guy, come early. We are going to do a special guy's meeting on Friday. If you have children you would like to bring, they will have company. We have some children coming as well. And most important, if you are thinking of coming, but haven't signed up yet for whatever reason, please make sure to call the hotel ASAP and reserve your room. The Special Block of Radiant Recovery rooms will go off the docket Tuesday and I would hate for you to have to pay rack rate. I am slowing down the class schedule a bit to let everyone catch up and catch their breath from all our new learning. This class will begin Wednesday, March 19, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Step 1: The Art of Breakfast is our foundation class to get you started. This is the BEST class for beginners. 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. This class will begin Wednesday, March 26, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Step 3: Three Meals is perfect for getting to know what is involved in the lynch pin of your program. Step 3 is pretty complex. This class will give you a guided tour and lots of special hints on how to make it successful. 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 Recoveryć website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen **********************************************************************
M arch 17, 2008 ** Quote From Kathleen **
You will be thrilled and excited when you master the moods that have haunted you for so long. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
We often say that step three is the hardest of all the steps - there is so much more to it than just the three meals and such a lot comes up for us around meeting our needs and saying 'no'. To balance this out, though, there are so many reasons I love step three - for me it was life changing on many levels. Whenever I started a diet in the past I would get a big buzz from 'being in control,' but of course there would be the corresponding devastation when I couldn't sustain whatever weird combination of foods were being foisted onto my body. On step three the feeling of being in control was softer but it lasted, and it kept on building. Looking after myself really raised my self esteem and inner security. This was genuine 'control' coming from a loving and self caring place and the feel good factor just kept right on going. (smile) Step three raised issues for me on getting my needs met and I had to stop being the invisible family servant. Our usual family get together on Sunday ceased to be a 'cook when everyone turns up' and became 'dinner is at 5.30, if you want it be there'. To my surprise nobody died, nobody went insane, they all said 'ok fine' and turned up around 5. Next I began to say 'sorry but that doesn't work for me' and we ate at lunchtime instead of grabbing something at 3 pm when it was convenient - I ate lunch and stopped feeling like a martyr or a sugar crazed freak. The three lots of protein a day worked fairly quickly on my serotonin - I became calmer and some days I even felt happy. My blood sugar evened out and I no longer turned into Godzilla at 4 pm. As I listened to my journal, shopping trips became an absolute doddle - I knew exactly what I needed and which aisle to go up. There's a lot more but this is getting long - I just wanted to say that the hassle is reeeeaaaalllly reeeaaallly worth it. Jaki ********************************************************************
**Radiant Ambassadors** Kat came over and shared her column with us. It was fun to read a *local* insight on the program. Milly gave us the three articles on Times Online which I passed on to the list. I sent three comments to the articles, one of which is still being shown: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article3524077.ece Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. ********************************************************************
**Radiant Kitchen**
Cottage Cheese-Cinnamon Pancakes
Chop the oatmeal in the blender or food processor; add cottage cheese and blend until the mixture is smooth. Beat the egg whites until fluffy. Add to oatmeal cheese mixture. Add vanilla and cinnamon. After blending, stir in fresh fruit. Cook on nonstick skillet or lightly greased griddle over medium heat. Turn when edges are lightly browned and bubbles break in pancakes. 2 servings ********************************************************************
**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself. It was nice to have the conversation about stepping out of misery addiction. I must say, these discussions in chat are beyond anything I every imagined for YLD. It is as if we do the weight loss loss, but really focus on the FUN of learning new things. I just love working with you in this way. 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. A quick note about last's week's getting started special promo. Sorry I did not make the international shipping issue clear. The shipping is free within the US. Outside of the US we can offer a $5 shipping savings on the starter pac and $10 savings on the deluxe pac. I have had some newly pregnant women ask me about which fish oil to get so I thought it would be good to say a little about the different oils we carry.
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups**
Most of us underestimate the importance of breakfast and try to do all the steps in the first week. When that doesn't work, we begin again. We concentrate on Step 1, breakfast, and find our lives begin to change. The RadiantBreakfast list is a great place to learn the nuances of breakfast, build a strong foundation for the rest of the steps, and find how helpful it is to share our journey with others. It is great for new people and those who have been on the program a long time. Sharing helps everyone. The awesome thing is we all, Step 1 or Step 7, eat breakfast every single day. How cool is that? We have had a lot of people join us this week. Do plan on coming over to the breakfast list to talk with others about what you are learning. Since we are doing the breakfast class this week, it is a nice combination. ********************************************************************
**More on the Misery Story**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. Last week's article followed up on the chat we had about misery addiction. This week, I want to show you the process of how these ideas are emerging. I want you to have a sense of the community being a living group that literally shapes how we understand sugar sensitivity and its healing. So last Wednesday, we took the addiction to misery subject up once again. I wanted to talk about the antidote. I think it is really important that as we define places that are hard, we also make a commitment to solutions. The chat was amazing. Funny, sometimes a little chaotic and a couple of times we had to stop for a cup of tea to catch our breath. I am going to share the chat with you. I have edited it so it is a little easier to follow. My initial plan was to write up the concepts as I had done with last week’s ideas. Then I thought, no, I want you to see how this process is working. I want you to catch how dynamic these dialogues are for all of us. So this is a little messier, but you will glimpse something unique. I have changed the names for the participants. I did not change names for people in leadership since I have an ongoing permission from them to quote. I admit to having a little fun with the names. I will eventually write this up. And then you can be privy to the whole process. The spark, the conversation, the living into it, and the final form. This is why I love chat so much. And I will love hearing your comments.
©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 Recoveryć Store talks about what new products we have. You are getting the weekly newsletter from Radiant Recoveryć 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 Recoveryć. 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 |
