Hi {!firstname_fix}

Six of us just got back from the Northern California Bookseller's Association in Oakland, CA. We were working with the members of the 1110 people who own independent bookstores and the vendors who supply them. The vendors there ran the gamut from the giant Random House (my publisher) to tiny little one or two book presses. What an awesome group. People who love books are good people. This weekend got me thinking about what makes Radiant RecoveryŽ unique. I am sharing those reflections with you in this issue.

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.

A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted on the web at http://www. radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, use the link at the bottom of the page. Do not email me, do not get mad at me, just click on the link and you will be forever removed.

And be sure to visit our Radiant RecoveryŽ website and Community Forum regularly.

Warmly,
Kathleen

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October 4, 2004
** Quote From Kathleen **

I am taking you through a process that will heal your addiction, not break it.

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** Testimonial for the Week**

Sunday I had the house to myself because the daughters went to the beach. When Cathy (the older one) came by to pick up Margie, she found us in the middle of a hilarious discussion. Margie was doing her comic routine and mimicing again.

This time she was mimicing what happens when her friends come over after school and look in the fridge for something to eat. Inside are either whole-foods ingredients like kale and unflavored yogurt, or strange-looking leftovers (my spinach-and-pumpkin quiche). She says they say, "oh I'm not that hungry" and then close the door. So then they roam to the pantry and what is there are things like canned salmon, turmeric, and two-year-old coconut milk from some experiment I planned. So the friend gets this sad look on her face and leaves the kitchen.

So then Cathy comes in and said she dropped by the other day to raid the fridge and hm, that pumpkin pie looks good - but why does it have green in it!!! eyew!!

They laughed their heads off. But then we talked about how different it is to do homemade whole foods as opposed to having convenience food around all the time.

And then we did some problem-solving so Margie could feel like a better hostess. We came up with nuts, fruit, HFS chips and salsa, good PB&J, good sandwiches. Margie asked how she could recognize "healthy" alternatives of things to have so we talked just a little about labels. This is a big deal because she hates with a passion when I read labels too much while shopping.

Too funny.

Connie

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

Last week's chat on YLD was on the art of the 7th Step and how it emerges over time. We talked about the different areas of healing that come after *food* - exercise, hormones, stress and emotions. It was really fun and the hour whipped by in an instant. I shared the fact that I am going up to Montana to consult with Dr. Bill Ferrell on the hormonal piece. Those of us who are weight loss resisters need the hormone piece. I don't know enough. He does. I go learn.

http://www.radiantrecovery.com/YLD_signup.htm

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**Radiant Ambassadors**

As you know, I posted Janie's story about the article in The Rocky Mountain News. I had read the article but not seen the paper. The article was on the front page of the inside section in full color!! This was a BIG deal!!

This last weekend I was talking with another author. He is a very skilled marketing person. He was totally thrilled with the idea of Janie's plan. he said, we are totally on the outer cutting edge - having our community be this invested is a huge gift. I smiled and told him I agreed. he said, why not have folks all over the country do this. I am thinking this might be possible. What think you? Is that an idea that is worth considering? Let me know your thoughts.

This is what Janie did:

The Rocky Mountain news has a spotlight section, kind of like a magazine, and Tuesday is devoted to Health and Fitness articles. The editor of this section, Lisa Ryckman, does very good articles and I usually read them. She does a lot of stories on diet. So I thought this would be a good place for an article on Little Sugar Addicts. When Kathleen set up the press page for Little Sugar Addicts, I e-mailed a copy of the press release to Lisa Ryckman and then I called her voice mail and told her that I had e-mailed her a press release and would she please read because it was about a book that I thought she would be interested in. I also said that I was a subsciber to the RMN and that I read her section a lot and enjoyed it. Well, I didn't hear anything from her and I e-mailed her again and left another voice mail and still I heard nothing. So then, I decided to send her a copy of the book. I mailed it to her along with a letter explaining how much this program helped me and my kids and I thought that it would really be great for people in the Denver area to know about it. I guess it worked because then she did the article! She interviewed me for the article and she was so nice and very, very interested in the program.

Click here to read the article

Janie

If you love the program, consider joining the ambassador group. We are having a blast!

Come find us among the Online Groups

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**David's Corner **


An EXCITING announcement....our audio tapes from Radiant Ranch are in. This is an historical event! Each set includes these 8 tapes:

Introduction to the Biochemistry of Sugar Sensitivity - Kathleen
Planning, Recipes and Cooking - Sheila, Elaine, Terri and Naomi
Addiction Amoeba - Mary-Margaret, Gretel and Martha
Finding a Safe Place - Kathleen
What Else is Embedded in the Steps - Kathleen
Doing the Program Under Any Circumstances - Allison, Val, Vicki G, Claire
Successfully Parenting a Sugar Sensitive Child - Kathleen
The Warrior Spirit: How Your Attitude Shapes Your Program - Kathleen

Hope you love them!



Please send questions and suggestions for items you might like to see in our store. YOU are building our store. Tell me what you want and we will sort it out.

Thanks
David

And of course, we have something for everybody in our store


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**Featured Topic**
The Values of Radiant RecoveryŽ
by Kathleen DesMaisons

 I suspect that many of of you may not think about what is behind our community. Who are we? What are we about? This is way more than responding to a collection of books. Radiant RecoveryŽ is a community, grown by a group of volunteer liaisons under my leadership. We meet every week. We talk, we sort things out, we work to continue to foster and grow the vision of a highly functional, creative healing place. Some of us have been working together for more than five years. It only gets better and better.

Here are the values we operate with:

1) Commitment to the vision. We believe that the Radiant RecoveryŽ program offers a life changing solution for the problem of sugar sensitivity and are willing to change our food, change our lives and share the vision with others.

2) Simplicity. We will provide solutions to sugar sensitivity that are easy to understand and implement.

3) Respect. We will recognize the individuality and unique differences of each person doing the program by reinforcing the unique, individually tailored aspect of the food plans.

4) Listening. We will acknowledge that the most powerful definition of our success comes from those using the services and products we offer.

5) Integrity. We deliver the promises we make. We say what we mean and we mean what we say.

6) Compassion. We encourage self-awareness and empowerment in our community members by providing information in a non-judgmental way and remembering our own journeys.

7) Empowerment. Rather than offering directions, we will provide tools that enable members to find the way out of chaos, feeling stuck and overwhelmed into a sense of clarity, focus and direction. We will work to teach rather than tell.

8) Modeling. Our leadership will commit to living our values, working the program and being fully accountable for the quality of their own recovery. We will walk our talk.

9) Responsibility. We will take responsibility for how we do business. We commit to being culturally and linguistically sensitive to the range of interests, concerns and backgrounds of our members.

This last weekend I went to a trade show put on by the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. Five of our liaison team attended. They came to help, paid their own expenses, wore their sunflower Radiant RecoveryŽ shirts and went around and talked to vendors, bookstore owners and buyers. I kept running into people who said *Oh, yes, one of your people was here*. No one could believe that this *staff* was there voluntarily because they care about the books and the message. The model we are creating is sort of outside the box.

At any rate, I am inviting you to participate and share in the development of this vision. If you have ideas and comments or thoughts or critique, email me. I will take your feedback, put it up on the web and we can all talk about it. get how this works, we can start making choices for healing.

ŠKathleen DesMaisons 2004.