 Hi {!firstname_fix} So my pumpkins are gone and the Felize Navidad and the lights are up. The old reindeer died last year from rust, so a new buck stands proudly on the roof. The folks at Lowe's said, 'you want that one? we only have the floor model.' So I said, 'yes,' and they got a big truck called a cherry picker, the guy put on a harness, the supervisor watched and they plucked the buck from the highest shelf and carried him out to my car. He rode home with me, and then Harold took him up to the roof and secured his hoofs to the board. After dark, you could see him from all the way down the street, proud deer that he is. I put up the tree while playing the Messiah. Each ornament has a memory and a story. A little white sled that says Kathy 1985 came from my mother, a straw deer from 1965, my first Christmas as a young married woman, a santa in a yellow slicker from Maine, little ornaments with the smiling faces of my grandchildren, dog ornaments....I think you can tell a lot about my life from my Christmas tree. Last night felt settled. I had chicken soup from Thanksgiving. I don't like turkey so I got a HUGE chicken, cooked the bone for many hours. Then the dogs had a special meal. They love leftovers... So read the class list carefully this week....sign up for the Handling the holidays if you want to transform what this time can mean. I will look for you. These classes will begin Wednesday, December 3, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Radiant Store Tour (1 week) 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. And it is a great time to learn about what you can send your friends in far away places. Step 1: Radiant Step One Class (1 week) 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. Brain Chemistry: Beta Endorphin (2 weeks) is one of our most popular classes. It will teach you the core of the science behind the program. This is the outline for a critical part of sugar sensitivity, why you act the way you do and what you can do to change it. I love this class and so do all the people who have taken it. Somehow BE rocks! Handling the Holidays: Christmas (1 week) is the way to transform stress into enjoyment. This is a wonderful how to reframe old stories. These classes will begin Wednesday, December 10, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Step 2 Radiant Step 2 Introduction (1 week) 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 3: Radiant Step 3 Class (1 week) is one of our core classes. This is a skilled based class. If you want to learn the baby steps of a successful step 3, come join us. This class is ALWAYS fun. If you are on disability or low income (your household income is less that $1000 a month), you may take classes for free if you get certified. I have put the guidelines for certification on the class schedule page. 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 **********************************************************************
December 1, 2008 ** Quote From Kathleen **
Learning that you can have positive feelings from a thousand things other than food is a wonderful insight. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
That so reminds me of how it used to be for me. Pre-RR my every waking moment was consumed with planning how and when I could eat my chocolate stash. My first waking moment was always, did I have any choc, where was it, how long before I could eat it and if I didn't have any, when could I get some, where would I buy it, when would that be and how much money I had to be able to buy some. My whole thought life was chocolate! It seems unbelieveable to me now, but it is really true. My next fix was all consuming! Now I have room in my head to plan proper food, shopping lists, budgets and ... I have room for my complementary therapies degree study. That needs so much time and thought and I really couldn't have even attempted to study anything if I hadn't found RR and worked my way through the steps. Freeing is definitely the way to describe the difference this program makes. Thanks for reminding me how far I've come! And well done on coming so far yourself! Keep going, it only gets better from here!!! Cat ********************************************************************
**Radiant Ambassadors**
Have you found a way of getting Radiant Recovery noticed? Perhaps by putting RR business cards on your works noticeboard or talking to friends? If you've found something that works, don't keep it to yourself - come on over to the Radiant Ambassadors list and share it with us! Over on the list this week, Kat came up with the fabulous idea of producing something about Radiant Recovery for television. After some discussion, we're now looking into getting something on youtube - watch this space! Selena Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. ********************************************************************
**Radiant Kitchen**
Crisp Potato CrustIngredients:
Directions:
Shell is now ready to fill with your favorite quiche or favorite pie recipes (like chicken-mushroom pie, cauliflower cheese pie or scallop pie.)
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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself. Last year we did a stocking exchange in YLD. It was soooooo much fun for all of us who participated. I have put up a data base at the YLD home page and will write to the main list about how we do it. I also will be writing a whole lot more about what I have recently learned about losing weight. I think you will be excited and pleased by this new information. 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. Well since our fearless leader is well into the spirit of Christmas, I thought I would see what the store might do to help you with this.... First of all, if you would like to send a Radiant Recovery Stocking to someone you care about, we have stockings and we can fill them with shake, wild rice, shaker bottles, books or CDS. Or really anything you might like. And some exciting news. The Hoof Alive® owner was in town and got us all excited about restocking the product. We decided to carry the smaller size ones that are less expensive and can be carried in your bag or car.
We talked to him about making a doggie product. He is on it, but in the meantime, put Hoof Alive on your dog's pads for great pad health. Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups**
The radiantdepression group is all about support for the person who is depressed and trying to work Kathleen's 7 step program of recovery from sugar addiction. Many of us have struggled with severe depression for years without any hope of finding an end to it. But through doing the food we have found that hope returning and have found light where before there was only darkness. Some of us are taking anti-depressants while doing the food, so we talk about how the two are compatible and we also share about getting through the tough spots together, with support from each other. If you are feeling depressed please come join us. There is hope. ********************************************************************
**The Light** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. My son sent an article about a different way for Christmas. The author was suggesting a time out on gift giving and an emphasis on just spending time with people you love. I read it and thought, there is more to the story. This is the time of darkness, each night deeper. And then in another month, that will shift. Light will grow again. Whether it is Christmas or Hannukah or Soltice or Quanza does not matter so much to me. But the story of growing light does. Maybe it is because I associate radiance with light growing, with awakening, with being filled with a sense of hope and possibility. Yesterday, I went down to Old Town to the Blue Portal, a crafts center that sells goods made by seniors. I bought some hand-crocheted scrubbies, some pot holders and some tea towels with crocheted tops. Today I went to a crafts fair. The hall was filled with the most extraordinary art made by regular people. One woman had the most amazing collages made from *stuff* and put into baskets. The colors, the messages just took my breath away. She worked for 40 years as a nurse doing dialysis. She was a single parent raising her children, working with the dying and then going home and making these beautiful art things. Another man has gorgeous hand-made burnished tin. He came to this country with his wife and she stayed home to care for the children. She got bored and started making tin art. They decided to learn from Russian artisans and Italian metal workers. I bought a picture of the church that was in Tucson when I was growing up. Creative spirit bursting out. Now, I think this is related to doing the food. I think sugar and lurching and erratic eating derails us from that spirit. We forget the whispers, or we miss them while we are lurching. We thrash with day jobs, boredom, regular life. And then breakfast...settling...then step three...we start hearing. More energy emerges, focus and paying attention. And then comes step six, then the flat, the restlessness...wait, I am still fat, what is happening here. Wait, who are are these dysfunctional people... But then, the whispers...pick up your flute, make some music. Where is your camera? What about going to school? You do not need to stay with someone who is drinking, you can have a life..you can have the life you dreamed of. When this starts to happen, then the issue of *presents* or spending money or all that stuff just starts to fade. Today, I was so filled with artistry, with the gift of creativity, that I could barely hold it. I came home, put on the Cherry Tree Carol....if you don't know it, it is an old ballad....Mary says to Joseph, can you give me some cherries. Joseph says, get them yourself, I am busy. I have a report to write. My proposal is due. So Jesus speaks from Mary's womb and tells the cherry tree to bend down....it does...and Joseph remembers. This is my favorite carol. Then I turned the lights of the tree on. And simply sat thinking about how far you can see light when it is very, very dark. I will be writing about creating light. I will be writing about how we feed the light in our hearts...what it is that holds that yearning, that gives it spark, that finds a way for its expression. More is coming.... ©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 Geraint Smith |
