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March 14, 2011 Hi {!firstname_fix} I intended to write an article about tsunami. I had done that after the tsunami in 2004. I decided that it would make sense to go and watch some footage before I wrote it. I am simply stunned by the magnitude of this disaster. What I thought I would say is simply inadequate. I think in these times we simply do life and hold these people in our hearts, our prayers and send healing from the depth of who we are. And do not think if we live far away that we are unaffected. Something like this touches all of us on a cellular level. It is too big for us to make sense of. Here is your newsletter with the comfort of simply doing regular life. There is a lot of energy streaming about RANCH. We will be using this time to present material for new people wanting to learn about the steps and how to best do the food. I am also preparing the new material we have been working with all year. I will do a session on the power of play in our healing and another session on the art of radiant weight loss. Both will include my reflections on the neurochemistry and how they relate to sugar sensitivity. We have changed hotel venues to make Ranch more affordable. And we are doing lots of adaptation of our style to accomodate the rhythm of introverts, including putting tennis balls on the chair legs to cut the sound. (smile) HELP WANTED: We are looking for someone who is a Mac programmer to help us convert our chat transcript program into a Mac-compatible one. The original was written in PC and our new volunteer has a mac. Email me if you are able to help. These classes will begin Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Please note that I will post the welcome letter on Wednesday evening after chat. This allows us to make sure that everyone who signed up is in the class. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:  Radiant Problem Solving (2 weeks) is a new class for the stuck. If you have been doing the program for years and don't feel the way you think you should, or if you feel stuck, or if you don't honestly do know what you should do next, come to this class and explore your specific concerns. This class will be an intensive tutorial. There will be homework and you will be asked to be an active participant. This is an unusual opportunity to get answers. If you don't want input, or if you are afraid that Kathleen will be direct, do not sign up. This is for the motivated and willing. The class size will be limited.These classes will begin Wednesday, March 23, 2011. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page: Step 3 (2 weeks) is one of our core classes. This is a skill-based class. If you want to learn the baby steps of a successful step 3, come join us. This class is ALWAYS fun. Step 5 (2 weeks) is one of our favorites. Learn the art of whole grains. Get lots of information that you won't find anywhere else. I picked the brains of one of the world's leading *brown* experts for this class. The class schedule is online. Click here to see what is planned. Please wait to sign up for classes until a week or two before, and 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. 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. Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen **********************************************************************
** Quote From Kathleen ** Nothing is lost in your moving through the steps. Every challenge and every success builds the power of your program. **********************************************************************
** Testimonial of the Week ** Last night I had a moment with my kids where I thought, wow, this is what living in recovery is like. I wanted to share :-) Wednesday night is Conversations Chat, and this is an important time for me. But the chat happens right during my kids bedtime routine. This timing has been an ongoing challenge for us, my husband has tried to take care of things with the kids on Wednesday nights so I can do chat, but he has less energy for helping them than I do, and they don't usually settle down so well. I often finish chat and find two overtired, cranky, or hyperactive children waiting up for me. Last night my husband needed to be away. So I told my kids the situation: tonight is chat, this is important to me. And I said, "I actually have no ideas for how to make this work with getting you guys to bed, do you have any ideas?" My 10 yr old suggested that she take care of her little sister, saying she would help with bedtime, and then would put herself to bed. I had to laugh, well that would be great! (thinking to myself-why didn't I ask for their input and help with this situation before?!) So while I participated in chat, I heard from other parts of the house the sound of the kids fixing themselves bedtime snacks, brushing their teeth, then my 10 yr old reading stories to her sister. She made up a story too, and sang like ten bedtime songs to her. I was just smiling and smiling. A few years ago I would have never believed this kind of gentleness and independence could happen in my family when my oldest had rages everyday, and even the most basic things like getting shoes on or brushing her hair seemed like impossible tasks to accomplish. Doing the food, this program has brought so much to our lives. I've learned healing is possible for our SS kids. Each of us can have this radiance. It seems to start with little glimmers, like a smile from our kids during breakfast. Or our children handling a challenging situation in a calmer way. I'm wondering, has anyone noticed a glimmer, a way in which doing the food with your kids has changed things? I think even the littlest shifts mean so much. Please share if you'd like, it's good to hear these stories! Angela **********************************************************************
** Radiant Ambassadors ** 
I wrote about Yahoo Answers recently and thought it might be fun to share how you can reply to a question on being a sugar addict or sugar addiction if you feel so inclined.As you may remember, Yahoo Answers is a website where you can ask any question you like and you will hopefully get a reply from an eagle-eyed reader. So, first things first - go into answers.yahoo.com There's a little grey bar under the main green headings called 'Search Y Answers' - input whatever you want to answer a question on (I normally input sugar addict or sugar addiction in here). On the left hand side is a column called 'Refine Search', change the Question Status to 'Open Questions' (so that you don't have to look through lots of questions that have already been answered) and then 'Apply.' Then, take your pick! There are generally several to choose from at any one time. Let us know how you get on! Selena selenas@blueyonder.co.uk Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. **********************************************************************
** How I Found Radiant Recovery ** Hi, My name is Brenda and I am from Minnesota. I was introduced to the book Potatoes not Prozac by a friend and decided to buy it for myself. I have been in OA since 2004 and have had my ups and downs in that program but currently still attend OA. I have been struggling a few months and finding this book gives me a new hope. I know I am sensitive to alcohol, too, but the food has always played a stronger role. I am currently on step 1. I usually try to eat breakfast on a regular basis, and have been doing prior to Radiant Recovery. However, I am kind of starting from scratch and doing step 1 with an open mind. I was working a pretty strict weight and measure food plan last year before my slip that worked pretty good for about 8 months. However, my emotions were still out of whack and physically I felt better, lost weight around 50 lbs, but always on alert feeling like I was going to mess up. Now fast forward another 8 months and I have gained back 35 lbs and feel quite unmotivated sometimes. I know eating good protein and good carbs have been what has helped me lose weight and feel better, but I have had a hard time staying on it for the long haul. I feel like Radiant Recovery can help me accomplish the long haul. Life is pretty good, I am employed full-time in a stressful job, which I like for the most part. I have a 21 year old daughter who lives with me going to college and working part-time. I plan on joining some other classes in the future, too, but felt like this is a great place to start. Thanks for letting me share. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Recovery® Store ** David manages the Radiant Recovery® Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son. 
We have had a lot of new people come into the program this month, so I thought it would be good to remind you of one of our best resources which presents the Theory and Practice of Radiant Recovery®
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Kitchen **
This recipe was contributed by Sally from the Radiant Recovery Community Forum. From a label on some fresh asparagus. For more great program-friendly recipes, check out our cookbook in the store. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Conversations ** When you become a Conversations member, you have access to being a part of the cutting edge of our work. How many authors do you know that invite you to participate in the growth of the healing work? The combination of chat and the study list give us a way to participate in our future dicovery. Chat is where we discover things before they come out in the articles and the books. We love it! Here is a fun quote from Sandra about chat. I just read the chat. Sooo awesome! I really am inspired. It got me thinking. Yesterday, I was munching a bit. Later in the evening. Have those poor me thoughts. But when I was with people, I didn't allow myself to go there. I stayed focused on my task and in the present moment. I think that is sort of like meditation. Which might be why I felt soo much better. I was engaged. My brain was focused and present. Well those are just some thoughts that came up for me after reading chat. If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. Click here if you want to be a part of the latest and greatest or just have some plain ol' fun! **********************************************************************
** Our Online Groups ** New York State...Yah for upstate. My father was born and raised in Utica. We decided that NY is about more than the Big Apple (smile), so we are making a space to play for all the rest of the New Yorkers in the community. **********************************************************************
**The Broader Role of Serotonin in Healing Sugar Sensitivity ** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
Many of you have found the science of the sugar sensitivity/obesity story uniquely helpful. Learning about serotonin and beta-endorphin has helped to the take the edge off of guilt and self-hatred. This is not about will power or commitment. It is about biochemistry. You know how strongly I feel that if you understand the biochemistry, you can make far more informed choices about what to do to help heal your body. I want to share some more about our friend serotonin. I want to help you better understand what a huge effect it has on us and why. I want you to understand more about the role of exercise in serotonin functioning. We’ll look some more at the science, and we’ll also take a look at some new ideas which are just beginning for me. Serotonin had been implicated in a wide range of physical and emotional problems. Documented studies have shown serotonin to be involved in such things as mood disorders (particularly depression), anxiety disorders, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), PMS, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disorder, sensitivity to pain, migraines and substance abuse. A long list. Sounds familiar, yes? We eat compulsively, we are depressed, we have PMS, we have insomnia, we get anxious, and we act addictively. We know the story. But many of you may not know that these are all linked to serotonin. The serotonin story is everywhere - both literally and figuratively. Not only are the symptomatic manifestations of serotonin imbalance everywhere, serotonin receptor sites are all over our body. They are not just in our brains. They are in our blood, our heart, our lungs, our muscles, our liver, and our kidneys. They are in the placenta and in MAST cells. So you will “feel” low serotonin in very diverse ways. Let’s play with this some. Remember when you have felt depressed. When you feel as if you cannot pick up your arm and move - no energy. When it feels dark throughout your body. Well, serotonin is in the platelets of your blood. Wherever there is blood, there is serotonin. And if it is low you will be affected in many subtle ways. Let’s go through some of these systems and imagine how low levels of serotonin might affect us. Levels in your platelets: Have you ever noticed when you feel depressed that you experience it in your entire body? You feel as if you cannot move your arm, or you simply cannot pick up your leg to go up the stairs? Or you literally feel *dark* all over your body? If serotonin creates a sense of *brightness* in your mood, when you have lower serotonin you will feel darkness. You will feel the darkness where the serotonin is. If it’s in platelets, you will feel dark wherever you have blood. People who have never experienced this simply do not understand when you say *I feel like I cannot move. * The world feels dark. It feels all-pervasive. But think about this - if it’s happening in your blood cells, it IS all pervasive. Your blood cells are dark. Serotonin in your heart: When I started reading about that, I was floored. Think about having a “heavy” heart or feeling as if your heart is dark. Think about grief. When you experience trauma or intense stress, your serotonin levels get depleted. Maybe there is a link here. I certainly can connect to feeling very different heart feelings when my serotonin levels are up. My heart feels light and full. I have always attributed this to something psychological. But I have a hunch that the ole serotonin levels play a part. Serotonin in your lungs: I am struck by the fact that people who have been doing the food plan for a while often say to me, “Kathleen, I feel as if I can catch my breath now.” They do the program; they are rigorous about the protein and the potato in the evening. And the breath changes. We know that meditation increases serotonin levels. Maybe it’s the breathing increasing serotonin levels. Serotonin in your kidneys: We know that serotonin levels are connected to edema. Isn’t that interesting. And serotonin drops before menstruation. And when do we retain water? Why is it when we do the food that we are less bloated? Connections You know that these are outrageous speculations. But perhaps they really are connections. We don’t “know” this yet from science. But my intuition is that we know it from our sugar sensitive intuition, strong that it is. Connections. This is what this process is about. The connections help me to understand why the change that people experience is so profound. So, hold this idea that serotonin is important. Let’s go back to our basic premise that changing diet can change serotonin levels. Plasma tryptophan (the tryptophan in the blood) is directly related to the amount of protein we eat. The body cannot make its own tryptophan. It comes from protein. Now you know that we have to do some special eating to get the tryptophan from our blood into our brain. The evening potato creates a rise in insulin which takes the other amino acids off to the muscles leaving dear little tryptophan without competition. We have thought of little tryptophan sacrificing himself to the serotonin factory. I usually hold the image of him diving into a vat of some blue liquid and transforming into some sort of gold “stuff” (the serotonin) that gets sent out to the cells. My active imagination seems closer to the process than I thought. There is an enzyme, named tryptophan hydroylase that does the magic of making little tryptophan into serotonin. The enzyme does important work – another key player. Tryptophan hydroylase Now, here is the ringer. This enzyme has an absolute requirement for molecular oxygen. The level of oxygen in the tissues directly influences the rate of serotonin formation. The synthesis rate may be limited by the availability of cofactors such as oxygen…and the tryptophan in the blood. 1. That's’s the science talking. But it means more oxygen = more serotonin. And how do we get more oxygen? Exercise and breathing. This startling bit of information gives us another clue why exercise helps us feel better. Not only does exercise increase beta-endorphin, it also increases serotonin production. More exercise = more oxygen. More oxygen = more serotonin. Everywhere. Breathe. Exercise.
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. Tina tells us what's happening on Facebook. ©2010 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/ |
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