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 skills-based class. If you want to learn the baby steps of a successful step 3, come join us. This class is ALWAYS fun. This class will begin Wednesday, December 17, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Holy Night (1 week) is our annual reflection on the meaning of light in the darkness. This is a free class, my gift to the community. We would love to have you join us. The class schedule is online. Click here to see what is planned. Please do not sign up for classes that are not yet scheduled. Warmly, Kathleen **********************************************************************
** Quote From Kathleen ** Imagine what life can be like in recovery. It is beyond your wildest dreams. **********************************************************************
** Testimonial of the Week ** This is Mary in Florida. First I cut and pasted Lesson 5 (from the online class on Journaling) and printed it in Word. I underlined the key points and used bold on some. Then I printed it. I put it in a plastic sleeve which goes into my Journal. The other side of the sleeve already has the list of words for Feeling Good and Feeling Not So Good from "The Sugar Addicts Total Recovery Program." I especially liked these thoughts "It (journal) is intended to give your body a voice. Your body wants to help you in your healing . . . by offering symptoms." Those words are in bold. The other words in bold are "Join Radiant Journal. Speak with others. Keep writing." I want to review this advice often. Sometimes when I'm waiting at a light (in the car) I take out the list of words and look at them. I intend to highlight with a marker those words that apply to me at this time. To make journal writing a little easier - I made three little signs that say "Remember to do Journal." I cut an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper in thirds. That is what I used for the signs. I will have one in the middle of my desk which I will move to the keyboard when I leave my desk, another one in the passenger seat of my car and one in the kitchen. At this point I am still not making notations throughout the day so I need reminders. I am paying attention to how I feel, however. Sometimes I jot this down on a scrap of paper and transfer it to the journal. One thing I notice these days is when I'm tired. I'm getting really good at naps (new for me and I enjoy it). To make it more fun - I drew a picture of a person (me) at the top of the Journal side of my spiral notebook. That is to remind me that the journal is letting my body speak to me, etc. (as above). So it's important to do the journal and listen. On the other side of the notebook where I have my seven reminders I drew glasses of water instead of check marks (as I drank water). **********************************************************************
** Radiant Ambassadors ** There was an interesting television program on last week in the UK about sugar addiction. Three self-confessed sugar addicts were given different methods to try to kick their habits over a one-week period. Nutrition was addressed, but not from a Radiant Recovery healing perspective. Interestingly, one of the contributors was a Professor from an English University who was talking about the effects of sugar. I googled his work and found that he is the Director of 'Action and Information on Sugars'. The AIS is a voluntary body of health professionals within the UK concerned with sugar and health. There is already a copy of "Potatoes not Prozac" making its way to his desk as we speak. Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Kitchen ** Rather than sending you a recipe this week, I thought I would tell you about my new kitchen fun. I have been making yummy hot cereal in the morning. I get up and go into the kitchen and put 1/4 cup of hot cereal [oatmeal, buckwheat, teff are what I have tried so far] and 1 cup of water into my rice cooker. It is a small one with a 2-cup capacity. I flip the switch, go meditate and then come back to hot, perfectly-cooked cereal. I add vanilla flavoring from the store, a little cream, a tiny bit of butter and then, YUM! I also have some eggs or some shake with it. It is just wonderful for cold mornings. For more recipe ideas, join us at Introduction to Radiant Cooking, and Radiant Recipes, or Radiant Cooking on a Budget. Also, check out the cookbooks available in the store for wonderful sugar-free, radiant choices.
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** Your Last Diet - More Than What You Think ** YLDonline is a weightloss program specifically for sugar-sensitive people. You do NOT have to be on step 7 to join YLD. You can join it any time. YLD provides a level of extra support beyond the email lists. Weekly chats connect you with others and give you access to the cutting edge of Kathleen's skill and expertise. The chats make a huge difference in being able to do the steps and move to successful weight loss. If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. in us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just have some plain ol' fun! **********************************************************************
** Radiant Recovery® Store ** David manages the Radiant Recovery® Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son.
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. **********************************************************************
** Our Online Groups ** The Radiant Journal list is a source of helpful information and support with journaling. On this list we talk about how to get started with the journal, how to start listening to our body and why giving it a voice is so important. We also discuss how to use the journal for detective work in our program and, of course, how to make journaling fun! Right now the list is rockin' with people supporting each other and making big discoveries with their journal. So whether you are just starting out or are looking for a recharge in your journaling, come on over and join in the fun! **********************************************************************
** Allison's Story ** Allison wrote this for the forum and I asked her if we could share it with you. I think you will love it as much as I do. - Kathleen As of December 1, I have been doing this program for 10 years! During that time, my life has changed dramatically, and what life was like before seems very far away, as though it happened to someone else. In many ways, it did happen to someone else, because I'm not the same person I was back then. Over the 10 years, the program has become part of my way of life. I no longer have to think about it all the time - it's just what I do. Yes, I have to make adjustments from time to time, but I never even consider doing things another way. When I came to the program, I had been depressed, probably for my whole life, but definitely for 26 years. I had horrible crashy blood sugar and had to eat every couple of hours, and I had classic low BE symptoms most of the time. I was addicted to caffeine, drama (and since real fights were too scary, I'd imagine them in my head), shopping and painful romantic relationships. I won't go into all the details, but I took everything personally, was always feeling slighted, and lived in a very bleak inner world. I also had a voice in my head that was telling me what a loser I was, that I was stupid, ugly, no one would want me, etc. I was also ravenously hungry all day. I came to the program already doing a lot of the steps. My massage therapist had suggested I do the Zone Diet because she said I wasn't eating enough protein. When I looked over the plan, I realized I'd have to eat just vegetables, protein and whole carbs to get enough food to keep me going. I didn't think of it as a permanent change, so I did it. After a week of feeling lousy, I began to notice that I was feeling better. The black cloud was lifting. Then I read about sugar sensitivity in Christianne Northrup's holistic health newsletter, and a light bulb went off. I went to the bookstore and started reading PnP. In chapter 3, when I read about the symptoms of low beta endorphin, I recognized all the things I didn't like about myself. I also realized life didn't have to be that way - those things were symptoms, not part of me. Since then, life has been an amazing journey. Lots of things changed early on - the voice in my head went away, the compulsive shopping stopped, I stopped giving others total control of how I felt about life and started being the center of my own life. My blood sugar settled down and I stopped being ravenous all the time. I got out of drama mode and stopped taking everything personally. If someone criticized me, I didn't automatically believe everything they said, and go into "I'm a horrible person, everyone hates me" mode. I got over my driving phobias about having passengers or driving unfamiliar cars. Things are still changing for me. Recently I realized I had gotten over my fear of making phone calls, and that somewhere along the way I'd gotten over my fear of being attacked by a maniac while showering and could use opaque shower curtains. (I call that one Psychophobia). My biggest adventure has been relocating to New Mexico almost 3 years ago. It was huge for me to move 2100 miles away from my family and everything I'd ever known, without a job lined up or any idea what my life would be like. It's been quite a journey, and some of it was pretty nerve wracking, but when I look back, I see how a lot of it shaped what I'm doing now. I came out here, got into bird watching, met lots of cool people, got hired to watch birds for one summer, and now volunteer as a bird walk leader, a bird bander, and a raptor handler. I could not have imagined that all this would happen when I moved here. Recently, my love of birds led to my meeting a really wonderful guy who is also a bird watcher. This is the first relationship I have started since starting the program, and it feels really different. I'm finding I'm a lot braver, too, about reaching out and showing my feelings. I have a lot to learn about relationships, since all but one of the ones I had previously were not great experiences and were unhealthy. When I first moved here, I decided to concentrate on building my own life and not even deal with that aspect, and after 2 years I was ready to think about the possibility that maybe, just maybe, I could have a relationship that actually enhanced my life instead of bringing me pain. I wrote down what I wanted - 6 months later I reread what I wrote, and that is what I have. There have been ups and downs along the way, some major growing pains as I've faced major fears in the past 10 years. I've pushed through many of them, at my own pace. There have been times that were biochemically challenging. But no matter what happened, I kept doing the food. That was my lifeline - there was no way I was going back to what life was like before the program. I'm sure there will be hard things again - life is full of challenges. But I know that as long as I keep doing the food, I will get through things. I will keep growing and changing and getting stronger. And I will be living my life, instead of just existing and wishing I would die so the pain could be over, the way I used to. If anyone is having doubts about whether this way of life is sustainable in the long term, I will tell you yes. And the longer you do it, the easier it gets. The food becomes second nature. Your life will unfold in amazing ways. Allison Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:
Gretel, our webmaster, puts it all together. David runs the Radiant Recovery® Store. Selena provides the weekly Ambassadors column. The banner photograph is by Geraint Smith. ©2008 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, use this attribution: "By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. of Radiant Recovery®", and notify kathleen@radiantrecovery.com of the location. Please visit the Radiant Recovery® website at http://www.radiantrecovery.com for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction. 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. |
