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December 3, 2012 Hi {!firstname_fix} 
Well, today was a lovely day getting ready for Christmas. Had breakfast at the Indian Cultural Center (where we do Ranch) with friends and had a wonderful time chatting and laughing. Then went for a tree at the place that cuts trees in Northern NM. They are a little scruffy, not symmetrical, and feel like Christmas. Got the ornaments out, and the lights and the decorations…the hand-carved Santa I got at the Kentucky folk art museum, the Santa my kids gave me 40 years ago, a little station wagon pulling a small trailer out of the 50's, a bunny with a wreath, and a hat for Ronan that he was willing to wear for 5 min before casting it to the dust.I love putting the ornaments on the tree because I remember the story of each one and I think of the people and places that have shaped a good life. Now the tree is twinkling in the dark, the creche is on the table, and the tiny ceramic tree covered in golden retrievers is lit. You can imagine it makes me happy.
These classes will begin Wednesday, December 5, 2012. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:
This class will begin Tuesday, December 18, 2012. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:
These classes will begin Wednesday, January 2, 2012. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:
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 **********************************************************************
**Quote From Kathleen ** The more you journal, the more intrigued you will become to hear the story your body wants to share. Listen deeply for the miracle. **********************************************************************
**Testimonial of the Week ** I was tired all the time and joints aching and hopeless. I was, and am, fat (280lbs) . After 3months and on Step 3, I have energy, hope, optimism and feelings of happiness I haven't experienced in a looong time. It is deceptively simple 'on paper' but in action it is an extraordinary process and it is made all the more amazing by the great wealth of kindness and wisdom that people here have shared with me. I am no longer bingeing. My eating has stabilised and I am feeling more stable than I have in ages. It *is* possible to do this, you will have so much help and support. It *isn't* a phoney fix. Best wishes in your healing process, Emma **********************************************************************
**Radiant Ambassadors **  It seems as if more and more of you are discovering the Radiant Recovery Facebook page. As of today, there are now 865 members. This is fantastic! Don't forget that it's not just you who will see the group, but also your family and friends too. A couple of us on the Ambassadors list have even included a link to Radiant Recovery on our home page. You never quite know when a seed will be sown! Selena selenas@blueyonder.co.uk Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. **********************************************************************
**How I Found Radiant Recovery ** Hi Everyone! My name is Jenny and I live in Aldershot in the UK. I’ve been here in the Radiant Recovery community for five years now, having joined in October 2007. I’m currently on step six, but putting my focus in step three right now, and having fun with playing with my food. :-) I first discovered Kathleen’s work when I read a little paragraph about sugar sensitivity in a magazine, back in 2001. It sounded like me, so I immediately ordered the book it referred to, which was ‘Potatoes Not Prozac.’ I was deeply depressed, had just moved to a new area and was struggling to hold on to my job. I read the book and recognised myself on every page. But I wanted a quick fix, and this program seemed like it was going to be way too much work. I wanted my depression gone overnight, and to be able to lose weight immediately. So the book went back on the shelf, and I spent another six years or so looking for that quick fix. I tried diet after diet, antidepressant after antidepressant. I read ‘health’ magazines and self-help books voraciously, always looking for the answer, the one magic thing that would make everything better. And all the while, I got fatter and fatter, and more and more depressed. Eventually I hit rock bottom. I could no longer cope with my job, so I resigned. I was so depressed that I could barely get out of bed, but medication wasn’t working at all, so I quit that too. And then I remembered the book with the potatoes on the front. I picked it up, re-read it, and realised that all this time, I’d had the answer under my nose. This time, I did the thing that made the hugest difference – I went to the Radiant Recovery website, and discovered this enormous community of people like me. I was astounded at just how much support and information was available to me, almost all of it completely free. I joined some of the yahoo groups, took some classes, and with the support of the community here, I steadily worked my way through the steps, one at a time. I’ve been sugar free for almost a year now, and life is looking better and better every day. :-) It’s good to be here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you all a little better. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Recovery® Store ** David manages the Radiant Recovery® Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son. Many people have asked me about Omega 3 fatty acids and the value of taking fish oil. I asked Kathleen to write something for all of you. Click here to read her suggestions. And, of course, we carry great fish oil options.
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. **********************************************************************
**Radiant Kitchen ** One of the joys of having a Turkish husband is learning 101 ways to cook eggplant – it is practically the national vegetable of Turkey. I never had it growing up. Eggplant is wonderful in texture and can quite often make a very convincing substitute for meat. I’ll give you my favorite, and most simple – fried eggplant. The turkish way is to simply fry the eggplant in olive oil. But eggplant soaks up a lot of oil and it gets too oily for me. So I like to roast mine first and then fry it – soaks up less oil that way. Eggplant Slice the eggplant about 1" thick slices, either width wise, or length wise, whichever you prefer. Roast in the oven on 350 degrees fahrenheit until slightly golden in color and slightly tender. Then fry in olive oil. Top it with a yogurt/garlic dressing. Yogurt/Garlic Dressing Simply whip up plain yogurt until smooth, add crushed garlic and salt to taste. This recipe was contributed by Susan S from the Radiant Recovery Community Forum. For more great program-friendly recipes, check out our cookbook in the store and visit our online Radiant Recipes site. **********************************************************************
**Radiant YLD ** I am hearing a lot of OMG, the program is making me gain weight. This is from people on step two. They think that adding breakfast is making it happen. In some ways it is. Many of you have starved and skipped breakfast as a way to cut a deal for the after dinner ice cream or the all day bingeing on sweets. So when you add breakfast and are still doing the other stuff, it will have an effect. But it is the adding in that creates the stability to be able to hold the weight loss that will come. And come it will!! That is the exciting part. Listen to how Delse describes it. I can only give you my experience, but when I was at the place you are at right now, I had a heart to heart talk with myself. The truth was that I did this program to stop binge eating. It scared me, and I couldn't control it..... But the energy is wonderful. People are laughing and having fun. And that is very calming for the newbies who are swirling. I love what is happening on YLD. If you would like to join, come find us here **********************************************************************
**Radiant Conversations ** We have a new portal for the Conversations program. Come check it out here. Conversations Chat is really the place where we explore the ideas that are outside a specific list. We look at concepts. What does it mean to be sugar sensitive? How does our recovery change over time? What is happening in the community? It is a fun place and a fun chat. 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! **********************************************************************
**Our Online Groups ** On the Radiant Fitness list we talk about how doing the food can support our fitness program and vice versa. Some favorite topics are what to eat when doing intensive exercise when all that's out there commercially are sugar-filled products. We also talk about what to eat before and after morning workouts, and what to do for those folks whose training program requires a twice-a-day workout. We just had a great thread on the necessity of sports drinks and how doing the food is better. We have runners, walkers, bikers, dancers, aerobicizers, yogis, and many more types of exercise enthusiasts on the list. One of the neat things on the list is people who are recovering from exercise addiction who are learning how to work exercise back in their life in a healthy way. If any of this fits you, well, come on over and join in. **********************************************************************
**Entitlement and Blame ** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
Many people ask me how they *know* that they are on step 7. Is it a date, hit detox, and then wham, there you are? Is it having a perfect program, every step clean and organized and sorted? How can someone on Step 7 muck around or be sloppy with the food journal? Do they have to revert? If they wobble, do they *lose* their status? Now, what I am going to say here may surprise you. But step 7 is really about a state of being rather than a destination. Step 7 is affectionately called the *getting a life* step, but really, that hardly defines it. It is about how you meet the world and it is radically different from how the world was before you started the program. Let me walk you through the transformation. I know from lots and lots of experience that the hallmarks of untreated sugar sensitivity are what I call entitlement and blame. We feel done unto. My husband, my boss, my mother, my children, my life, my stress, my health *made me.* You feel victimized by circumstance. It made you be this way. If he hadn't....I wouldn't be this way. You do not take responsibility for what happens around you because you do not feel empowered. You feel helpless in the face of things happening. And you blame the outside world for things not working. At the same time, because you feel victimized you feel you are entitled to things. Well, I deserve to be...because..they owe me. Often this is the company owes me because I am poor and work hard and they make lots of money. I hear this as I deserve to not have to pay for the program because I am poor and am entitled to it for free. These feelings, are biochemically induced. Now, that sounds pretty outrageous doesn't it? However, these are the very feelings that change with the program. Working with your journals helps you to see connections, and something called consequence. If I eat this, this happens. No one does it to me. There is a connection between what I do and what happens. You start making little connections..and over time they grow. As you get more steady, you can make more powerful connections. Yes, my husband is abusive, but I stay here. Things like that. You start seeing yourselves as players rather than victims. And even more striking, when people critique you, you have this remarkable detachment. You take what is real, own it and are even grateful for the feedback rather than being devastated by it. For example, early in the program, if I offer a suggestion, not even a critique, but a simple reflection that perhaps eating a potato the size of a football might not be the best option, the person who started the program 3 days ago is either crushed or outraged that I do not understand their special situation and they go off in a huff or unsubscribe from the program for a year. If I say that to a person in balance, they say *Oh my, whatever was I thinking about. Thank you.* I listen for this change. Sometimes it comes early. But most often it is the change that tells me most about Step 7 consciousness. One of my leadership people makes a mistake. We have a code for mistakes called the FANTASTIC! Code. They say, *Oh fantastic, let me go clean that one up.* We laugh and it is no bigger than an error to be corrected. Or someone wobbles, and I say, *Hey, how about a sabbatical while you steady up there?* And they say...*yah, yah, let me go catch my breath and tighten up my plan. My timing is off, I am eating out too much.* And they do. Now let me tell you, working and playing with people in this energy is beyond comparison. You all feel it drifting through. Those of you on the more senior lists drink from the well. Those of you just starting know this is what you want. This is part of radiance, this humor, this joy, this resilience. It is way more than no longer yelling at your kids. It is getting a life. No more blame, lots of taking responsibility. No more entitlement, just humble willingness to work, show up and participate. Pretty nice from where I sit. Thanks for reading! If you know someone who could benefit from this, feel free to forward it to them. Not a subscriber yet? Like what you have read? Sign up to get future issues delivered straight to you: http://www.radiantrecovery.com Until next time!
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. ©2012 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 |
