July 18, 2011

Hi {!firstname_fix}

Last night I went swimming in the evening and watched the full moon come up over the mountains. It was amazing. And then the moonlight was reflecting on the water and making those net-like patterns on the bottom of the pool. You know it made me do a lot of reflecting.

These classes will begin Wednesday, July 20, 2011. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:

Step 7 Journaling (2 weeks) is designed for senior people in the Radiant Recovery Community to explore in-depth journaling issues. If you are interested in looking at exciting ways to make your journal come alive, this is your class. This class will also be a fun place for us to be testing ideas for our new weight loss journal. Come join us!

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!

This class will begin Wednesday, July 27, 2011. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:

Radiant Step 1 (2 weeks) 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.

Watch for the Your Last Diet sequence of classes in the next newsletter.

The class schedule is online. Click here to see what is planned.

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

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** Quote From Kathleen **


When your food is steady, your life is steady. When your food is wobbly, your life is wobbly.

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** Testimonial of the Week **


Your Body Speaks is the preprinted journal that is sold in the RR store. I have used it since the beginning, it has the four columns and lots of 'extras' that make journaling really meaningful for me. I like that it is preprinted and I don't have to draw lines or anything tedious like that. (smile)

You said that you don't know how you are going to do this. I didn't know that either. My life was really chaotic when I started -- it was chaos inside my brain and that showed up everywhere in my life! The 'WiseOnes' didn't give me answers, they just reassured me that I would find my own truths as I went along and asked me about my breakfast. The truth is that as I worked on my food one meal, one piece, one choice at a time, the rest of it worked itself out. It's kind of funny how that works, but it truly is what happened. I thought about lunch and the rest of my life sorted itself out in the meantime.

At first I had a lot of stress and even more fatigue. Gradually, as I got better at doing the food, those things either went away or I made conscious choices to arrange my life in such a way as to reduce them. But I am not talking about weeks, it took me months and years. I was always told not to force things, and so I just took things as they came and made my best decisions. If I made the wrong decision I just changed course once I realized it.

I still do things that way today, come to think of it!

So what did you have for breakfast this morning? ;-) I like to have shake. I use vanilla almond milk, frozen strawberries, rolled oats, All One vitamin powder, and Restore protein powder from the RR store. I have the same thing every morning, within 15 minutes of getting up. That is what works best for me; if I delay I just feel worse and worse. After a while I have some decaf coffee with half and half as well. In fact, I think it's time for me to go get that now!

Have a great day,
Elaine in CO

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** Radiant Ambassadors **


It never ceases to amaze me how many different 'ailments' can be helped through a sugar sensitive person doing the food!

Here's a great article that Teresa found online about preventing our children's meltdowns when they need to eat something:

http://simplemom.net/applying-the-halt-method-a-checklist-for-proactive-parenting/#more-13851

It's funny how they mention hunger as the first thing to look out for. Being a mum myself has given me great insight into the food/mood connection with little people. And yes, my kids are a lot more mellow when they do the food and eat regularly.

I've added a comment to the article recommending Little Sugar Addicts - feel free to add to the chorus too!

Selena
selenas@blueyonder.co.uk

Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news.

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** How I Found Radiant Recovery **


My name is Barbra. I had lapband surgery in May 2010 and have not progressed as well as I hoped. I was doing all the specific programs the doctors and nutritionists told me about. I was mainly a Mr. Hyde personality and really wanted to break free from that. When I went to the doctor in the end of March, he told me to get your book, Potatoes not Prozac ,and read it. I read up through the second step. I thought if I read on, I might try to do them all, so I am starting with step one. I am kind of doing step two as well because the doctor wants me to keep a food diary, but I am not doing the emotions yet. I am wanting to stay on task. I am hoping this class will help me get and stay motivated.

Best of Luck to all.
Barb

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** Radiant Recovery® Store **


David manages the Radiant Recovery® Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son.

I know that some of you have been waiting for black journals. They are at the printer and should be here shortly. Don't forget that we decided to make the paper heavier so it will stand up to your using colored markers and all. Kathleen has been reporting the kinds of things you all do in your journals.

Those of you who have been waiting will be pleased to know the mailers are waiting with labels and set to go out the day we get them. I always love when we get the journals in. Seems like they are the heart of your programs!

Click here to place your order now. We have plenty of blue ones now. I didn't put up a graphic of the black journal because that would just look silly.



Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

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** Radiant Kitchen **


NAOMI’S CHEESECAKE


This recipe makes 2 8-inch cheesecakes.

Crust:
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/3 cup almonds
  • 1/3 cup cashews
  • 1/3 cup walnuts
  • 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
  • 2 Tbsp. unsweetened dried coconut
  • 2 Tbsp. vanilla flavoring (from RR store)
  • 2 Tbsp. cinnamon
  • 6 Tbsp. butter, divided
Preheat oven to 350°F. Roast all ingredients, except butter, in a pan for about 15-20 minutes until golden and toasted. Process the mixture in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Separate into two 8-inch pans. Add 3 Tbsp. of melted butter to each pan and mix well. Press into pan to form crust.

Increase oven heat to 375°F.

Filling:
  • 3 8-oz. packages of cream cheese
  • 1 baby jar of banana (or ˝ cup of mashed fresh banana)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring (from RR store)
Soften cream cheese. In an electric mixer, whip cream cheese with beaters until smooth and add eggs, banana and vanilla. Beat well until smooth and creamy. Pour cheese mixture on top of crust, dividing the cheese equally between both pans. Bake for 20 minutes.

Topping:
  • 1 pint sour cream
  • 2 tsp. vanilla flavoring (from RR store)
Stir sour cream and vanilla together. Spread over baked cheese filling, dividing the sour cream equally between both pans. Bake for another 10 minutes.

Cool. Put in refrigerator for at least 8 hours or even better overnight.

For more great program-friendly recipes, check out our cookbook in the store and visit our online Radiant Recipes site.


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** Radiant YLD **


I like that we are talking about weight loss in a whole new way. I am working on the schedule for you so you can plan which classes to take as we develop your process. It sure is nice to have this kind of freedom and hope. And yes, I am gathering the success stories for you!

If you would like to join, come find us here

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** Radiant Conversations **


It has been fun to define what you most want to talk about. This concept of being our big selves sure gets the votes, yes? How we find that as we wake up. After the addiction quiets, and the healing comes, then what do we want in our lives? Such an incredible journey!

We have a new portal for the Conversations program. Come check it out here.

If you would like to join us, you can do that below.

Join YLD Weight Loss Now: click here - $99

Join Conversations 2011 Now: click here - $99

Join Both YLD and Conversations Now: click here - $149

Current YLD members wish to Upgrade to Both, click here - $49

Current YLD members who wish to Transfer to Conversations 2011 Only can do so for a $14.99 admin fee: click here

If you are not a member, come and join us if you want to be a part of the latest and greatest or just have some plain ol' fun!

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** 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.

Or come to the group page to find the one that will best support your program: http://www.radiantrecovery.com/list_serves.htm


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**Emotional Sobriety **
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.



I have been reading some research material from the American Psychological Society and thought it would be fun to talk some about some of what I am reading. Much of this material is more academic than excites me. But there was a scale of "psychological well being" that I found intriguing. It measures self-acceptance, positive relations, purpose in life, environmental mastery, personal growth and autonomy.

These sound a lot like what happens as people do the food. So now I am thinking what fun it would be if we began to have a dialogue on our forum and lists about what it is that happens with the food. I am going to start by sharing what I notice.
  • Blame and entitlement shift to taking responsibility and humility.
  • Despair shifts to hopefulness.
  • Anger shifts to humor.
  • Inadequacy shifts to empowerment.
  • Isolation shifts to connection.
  • Arguing changes to sharing.
  • Denial moves to disclosure.
When I started, I thought it was about healing depression and addiction. I thought we were creating a health system. I had no idea what else would come. I thought the changes I experienced, all of the above and more, were personal things coming from my own journey. But as time passed, it seems that these changes come with the territory. They are developmentally predictable and way more universal than I ever imagined

Doing the food changes something profound. It is as if it resets us to a state of openness - open heart ready for healing. And then all the other stuff we all do has a place to sit. I often use the image of a cracked bowl. We can fill it a thousand times, spend a lifetime trying and we still are empty. If we fix the crack, we get filling up and spilling over.

This community, this website is made possible by the tireless work of close to 50 volunteers. They are spilling over and share the recovery, the radiance that doing the food has brought them. Go read their stories if you want to know what is in store. And come share your stories as well.


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.



©2011 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/