Hi {!firstname_fix}

As many of you know, I have been making my way back from Maine to New Mexico. Traveling cross country by car when you are on step 7 is really fun. I packed all my food and ate great stuff no matter where I was. The trip was really lovely.

I am trading the sea for the light of that mountain. I am glad I drove. It helps to make the transition. I am glad to be back in New Mexico. It always amazes me that the shift from Texas to New Mexico is so striking on the highway. Maybe you don't know that NM was once sea. The brilliance of the blue in the sky is breathtaking.

There will be no classes the week beginning Wednesday, April 30, 2008.

I am recuperating and getting ready for ranch. We have 3 spots left if you decide to catch a last minute flight or drive on over, just sign up here.

These classes will begin Wednesday, May 7, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Resource Center Tour is one of our free walking tours through the website. This one takes you through the resource center. Explore all the nooks and crannies and discover things you did not know were there.Even if you have been around for a while, come join us and see what you missed.

Step 2 Journal: 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. This class is for beginners. We will not cover interpretation, just *how to*.

These classes will begin Wednesday, May 14, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

New Science is a class to learn about new science affecting sugar sensitivity, sugar addiction and other issues affecting us. I was over looking at what is being published and got really excited. I thought you would love to hear some of the lab stuff that is happening. I figure if it excites me, it is going to excite you

Step 1: The Art of Breakfast 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.


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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April 28, 2008
** Quote From Kathleen **


One of the markers for your own progress is the respect you command from those around you about your food habits.

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** Testimonial for the Week**


I remember the day I realized I loved my journal. It was about six months after I started journaling. Up until that point it was just an exercise in showing up. I went on a trip and forgot my journal. I was quite surprised how much I missed it. It had become a real way to connect with myself. I hadn't yet developed a back-up plan for journaling without my journal.

There have been times over the last 7 years that I have lost that connection and just showed up for a while. But in the back of my mind I knew that I'd get through that phase and the connection would return. That was before I really started to learn how to review. I still have to consciously remember to review on a regular basis, but that has improved a lot since I returned to this list and my love for my journal has increased immensely since I started developing my reviewing process. I'm very grateful for my developing the habit of showing up.

Terri

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**Radiant Kitchen**


APPLE PIE WITH CHEDDAR CRUST

Ingredients:

For crust

  • 1-cup oat or brown rice flour or a combination of both
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 3 TBS. cold butter
  • 2 TBS. Crisco or other solid vegetable shortening
  • 1/3 cup iced water
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
For filling

  • 2 1/2 LB. apples, peeled, cored and sliced.
  • 2 cups unsweetened apple juice
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 TBS. cornstarch dissolved in 2 TBS. apple juice


Process:

For crust

  1. In medium bowl combine four, baking powder and salt with pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter and shortening until mixture forms coarse crumbs.
  2. Stir in ice water just until dough comes together. Stir in cheese and combine well.
  3. Form dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.
For filling

  1. Combine apples, juice and cinnamon in large saucepan. Bring to boil.
  2. Once apple mixture boils, lower heat to simmer and cook down 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. Return to boil and thicken by adding cornstarch mixture. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir in vanilla.
To assemble:

  1. Spoon apple mixture into 9” pie pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 450°.
  2. On lightly floured surface quickly roll out the crust into a 13’ round. Drape the crust over the apples and crimp edges to seal. With a sharp knife, cut 2 or 3 slits in dough for steam vents.
  3. Place pie plate on a baking sheet and place in 450° oven. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and bake 15 minutes mere or until crust is golden and apples are tender. Let cool at least ½ hour before cutting.


Yield: 1-9” pie


Radiant Recovery
Cookbook

Naomi's Nutritious and
Delicious Cookbook
Sheila's
Kitchen Recipes


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

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


I've been joining the step email lists as I've worked my way through the program. I get ideas and inspiration from all of them. They seem very friendly and homey to me now. The YLD list seems a little quiet. I've been focused on doing the program but I understand if I want to chat about weight loss that's the list to do it on.

I think I've gone to four or five Wed. night chats. I really enjoy them. Several have been very moving experiences for me. It's WONDERFUL to be communicating in real time. I feel very connected during chat. Wed. night chats seem to be very lively and fun.

Email lists and group chats have been new skills I've learned since I started back on the program in March. It was a little scary at first, but I'm feeling very comfortable now with everything.

I've even made web browser favorites for each list I'm on so I can go directly there. It's very convenient.

Diane



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.



picture of products

The freight truck came with two TONS of tuna for us. This is our second order. This means you have already eaten two tons of it. I think we are all in agreement that we like this tuna. If you haven't tried it, order some. It is unlike any tuna you have had. We carry it because not only is it kosher, it has no lead or heavy metals. This is the answer.



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 Jeannie, the liaison for the Radiant Step 6 list. Perhaps you are steady on the first five steps and contemplating your sugar detox. Or you may already be on step six but struggling. You may be wondering why you are bored or restless, since sugar detox was supposed to solve everything--wasn’t it? Or maybe you’d like to share your excitement about reaching this milestone in your program. If so, come join us on the Step 6 list! We offer support and encouragement in achieving a successful sugar detox and in holding tight until everything settles down afterward. We are learning more all the time about this fascinating step and how profoundly it transforms our bodies and brains.

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


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**Entitlement and Blame**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.


Many people ask me how they *know* that they are on step 7. Is it a date, hit detox, and then wham, there you are? Is it having a perfect program, every step clean and organized and sorted? How can someone on Step 7 muck around or be sloppy with the food journal? Do they have to revert? If they wobble, do they *lose* their status?

Now, what I am going to say here may surprise you. But step 7 is really about a state of being rather than a destination. Step 7 is affectionately called the *getting a life* step, but really, that hardly defines it. It is about how you meet the world and it is radically different from how the world was before you started the program. Let me walk you through the transformation.

I know from lots and lots of experience that the hallmarks of untreated sugar sensitivity are what I call entitlement and blame. We feel done unto. My husband, my boss, my mother, my children, my life, my stress, my health *made me*. You feel victimized by circumstance. It made you be this way. If he hadn't....I wouldn't be this way. You do not take responsibility for what happens around you because you do not feel empowered. You feel helpless in the face of things happening. And you blame the outside world for things not working.

At the same time, because you feel victimized you feel you are entitled to things. Well, I deserve to be...because..they owe me. Often this is the company owes me because I am poor and work hard and they make lots of money. I hear this as I deserve to not have to pay for the program because I am poor and am entitled to it for free.

These feelings are biochemically induced. Now, that sounds pretty outrageous doesn't it? However, these are the very feelings that change with the program. Working with your journals helps you to see connections, and something called consequence. If I eat this, this happens. No one does it to me. There is a connection between what I do and what happens. You start making little connections..and over time they grow. As you get more steady, you can make more powerful connections.

Yes, my husband is abusive, but I stay here. Things like that. You start seeing yourselves as players rather than victims. And even more striking, when people critique you, you have this remarkable detachment. You take what is real, own it and are even grateful for the feedback rather than being devastated by it. For example, early in the program, if I offer a suggestion, not even a critique, but a simple reflection that perhaps eating a potato the size of a football might not be the best option, the person who started the program 3 days ago is either devastated or outraged that I do not understand their special situation and they go off in a huff or unsubscribe from the program for a year. If I say that to a person in balance, they say *Oh my, whatever was I thinking about. Thank you.*

I listen for this change. Sometimes it comes early. But most often it is the change that tells me most about Step 7 consciousness. One of my leadership people makes a mistake. We have a code for mistakes called the FANTASTIC! code. They say, *Oh fantastic, let me go clean that one up*. We laugh and it is no bigger than an error to be corrected. Or someone wobbles, and I say, *Hey, how about a sabbatical while you steady up there?* and they say...*yah, yah, let me go catch my breath and tighten up my plan. My timing is off, I am eating out too much.* And they do. Now let me tell you, working and playing with people in this energy is beyond comparison.

You all feel it drifting through. Those of you on the more senior lists drink from the well. Those of you just starting know this is what you want. This is part of radiance, this humor, this joy, this resilience. It is way more than no longer yelling at your kids. It is getting a life. No more blame, lots of taking responsibility. No more entitlement, just humble willingness to work, show up and participate. Pretty nice from where I sit.



©Kathleen DesMaisons 2008.

Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:

Gretel, our webmaster, puts it all together
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