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August 31, 2015

Hi {!firstname_fix}

As I am writing this, the moon is rising over the mountains. It is huge and very, very bright. Feels very holy.

I want to share a little about the two coaching classes we are doing now. One is skilled and one is intro. The skilled is for people who have gone through detox and are wanting to really take their program deeper. We work on refining journals, refining food and then exploring life issues. I am sharing new ideas about dopamine, fat terror and readiness for weight loss. The exciting part of the coaching class is we work with where people are. Everyone gets personalized attention from me and the joy of the dialogue from a group of people who are in the same part of their journey.

The intro class is a guided feedback process that helps you sort out your own rhythm and style in getting started with the program. It is geared to people who have some skill in journal (doing it) and want to learn to get steady and really understand the *whys* behind how the steps work. The emphasis is on having fun while learning how. These classes are ongoing, so you can sign up and plug in on each 2 week interval.

I also want to announce that we have decided to shift EuroRanch 'til the Spring. It will be the weekend of March 11/12/13 in Salisbury, England. I will be sharing a lot more next week about the plans for the curriculum and what is involved. It is one of the real highlights of our program and people in the UK and Euro LOVE attending. And we do have a number of people who come over from the USA and make a wonderful vacation of it.

We have changed the format of the newsletter this week. Can you tell what we did?


This class will begin Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Please Signup and it will take you to the registration page:

Radiant Restart

A special class designed to support you in getting back on track with the steps. This is for people who are coming back, you have some memory of the steps and want to reengage. It will be funny, caring and supportive.
Signup



This class will begin Wednesday, September 9, 2015. Please Signup and it will take you to the registration page:

Using Radiant Resources

A free orientation for those of you who are brand new and would like to find your way around all the things we offer in the community. One of our mentors will show you the ropes. Watch for the welcoming email with a link to join the Yahoo list we use as our classroom.
Signup
Language of Recovery

A number of people in the Family and Friends group have asked me about doing a Special Class on the Language of Recovery. They have shared with me how useful it has been to work through complex family situations when they have practiced *recovery scripts* like, *I am sorry, that won't work for me.* Here will be your opportunity to come and do case studies of weathering dysfunctional family patterns and finding new ways to deal with what seem to be entrenched interactions. This class will be highly interactive so make sure to get your place.
Signup


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**


There is life after addiction, and it is a very good life indeed.

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**Testimonial of the Week**


For some reason your post sent me off into thinking of all the ways this program is Backwards Land. Everything we think is the problem, we don't work on.

Binges a problem? Give it the silent treatment. Eat a different breakfast.

Sugar a problem? Give it the silent treatment. Eat a different breakfast.

Overweight? Give it the silent treatment. Eat a different breakfast. Learn maintenance first.

Depressed? Give it the silent treatment. Eat a different breakfast.

Psycho mood swings? Give it the silent treatment. Eat a different breakfast.

Lethargic or fibro? Eat a different breakfast.

How free-ing and fun really.

Connie

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**Interesting Bits of Science**


Nutritional recommendations for retaining muscle mass as we get older.

I came across a fascinating article called *Current nutritional recommendations and novel dietary strategies to manage sarcopenia* that was published in 2013 by a collaboration of research specialists in Italy and the UK. [J Frailty Aging. 2013; 2(1): 38–53. ] Sarcopenia is the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function that occurs with aging and accounts for a lot of the problems people have as they get older. It outlines that typically we lose muscle mass and gain weight between the ages of 30 and 60. We don’t really realize what is going on except we feel fatter but have no understanding about the wasting happening in muscle tissue. And of course, every time we diet we lose muscle.

This is a long article with fascinating ideas including the impact of increased protein, which proteins are the most useful, the impact of vitamin D, the impact of VEGETABLES, the role of Omega 3s and the impact of a component of apple peels called lipophilic pentacyclic triterpenoid. This agent creates increased muscle mass and strength, improved glucose tolerance, increased brown fat (a good thing), decreased white fat and decreased fatty livers.

This article also has 150 references so the material is extremely well researched and it is fun to read the *evidence*. Basically, it was a very exciting read because it confirms that what we are doing about nutrition and exercise is right on target. I learned a lot and will be sharing more over time. I will be giving the folks in the skilled coaching class an insiders look at lipophilic pentacyclic triterpenoid (smile). While you are waiting, you can eat an apple a day.

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**Notes from the Forum **



Oh Yasmine, how well do I relate to your story! I was really clever at black coffee and delaying... wouldn't have breakfast as I felt less 'together' if I did, and the whole thing made me feel efficient.

Reading PnP though, I began to see the biochemical cascade that held me in that pattern. No breakfast = BE cushion to protect me. And a bit of a BE puppy. I was extremely smart at manipulating that. Oh, and I also had step 12356 in 'already' so thought perfect wasn't so far off. LOL ... I think it was the support here that enabled me to actually get my mind on breakfast.

So breakfast and me was not a happy experiment at first. I was a bit grumpy and probably only did it to prove it wouldn't work. Well that's not quite true because I recognised every word of PnP and YLD and just hoped some magic would happen.

Well, it did despite all my doubts and me thinking I was the one person on the planet who it wouldn't help.

What are you having for breakfast today?

Mosiac


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**Radiant Recovery® Store**


I have the cookbook and it is tattered and dog eared from so much use. There are many great recipes in it that have become part of my standards (Kathleen's lasagna has never been matched, in my opinion), and it is also a very good little reference book. There are also spaces where I have written a few of my own in. The recipe for Kathleen's baking mix is in the book, and I use that too, it is quick and easy. - Verla

I love getting these emails...yah the Cookbook is awesome. Even my daughter Madison is using it now. And Kathleen’s baking mix is way better than Bisquick!! Get a cookbook if you don’t have one yet. You won’t be sorry.



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**


Best Gazpacho


  • 2 pounds of red ripe tomatoes (I got mine at the farmer’s market), cored and chunked
  • Italian frying pepper (cubanelle). I used a little purple one I got at the market. Core it and take out seeds.
  • 1 cucumber about 8 inches (I used 2 small Persian ones), peel and cut in chunks
  • 1 small mild onion, peeled and cut in chunks
  • 2 teaspoons of sherry vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
  • 2 Tsps Salt(I didn’t use any)
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, more to taste plus more for drizzling
  1. Combine tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and garlic in a blender (I used my vitamix). Blend at high speed until very smooth. Scrape down sides as necessary.
  2. With the motor running on low add the vinegar and salt. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture will turn bright orange or dark pink and become smooth and emulsified like a salad dressing. If it seems watery, add more oil slowly until the texture is creamy.
  3. If you like you can strain the mixture or put it through a food mill. I didn’t have to because of the Vitamix. Transfer into a larger pitcher (preferably glass - I used 2 quart mason jars) and chill for at least 6 hours, although it will be hard to stay away from it for that long.
  4. When you serve it, drizzle a little olive oil on top. (I used garlic infused oil)
Traditionally in Spain, Gazpacho is served in glasses. I put mine in medium magic bowls, and yes i did invite some friends to share, although it broke my heart, LOL. This is the best gazpacho I have ever had and I will go back to the market next Saturday. I want to try freezing this as well because I want to have it all winter, and for the rest of my life.

This recipe is from the NY Times and is by Julia Moskin, bless her heart. You can go to nytimes.com/food and find a video of her making it. You can see it is pretty forgiving and still WONDERFUL!
For great program-friendly recipes, check out our Cookbook in the store and visit our online Radiant Recipes site.

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**Radiant Your Last Diet**


We will be having some pretty serious updates in YLD since I am currently actively pulling together all the bits and pieces we have accumulated over the years since the book was written. We have talked about many of these things, but I want to make sure everyone is up to date and knows the sequence and knows how to implement it.

If you would like to join us in YLD, come find us here

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**Radiant Living**


I think maybe we should rename Radiant Living the Joy Dot Broadcaster. We have so much fun. And even when one of us hits a dark place, we share problem solving, and what problem solving it is!! I think one might liken Radiant Living to sitting in a comfortable upholstered chair by the fire with a cup of tea when it is cold and drizzly out. Or perhaps going out to a pub and having steak tips and chips (skin-on fries) and perfect green beans with a couple of dear friends and laughing and laughing. I suppose only the sugar sensitive would describe joy in terms of food. Although today I might describe homemade gazpacho outside under the stars with friends and the dogs wanting to lick the bowls as pretty close to Radiant Living as one can get.

If you would like to join us in Radiant Living, come find us here

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**Structure as Antidote**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.



Many people come to Radiant Recovery® saying they are already doing most of the steps and just need to add a potato. I often suggest they get a copy of the talk I did at ranch in 2007 about What Else is Embedded in the Steps. It is included in our 2008 euroranch CD, 7 Steps to Healing. That discussion goes through each step and outlines the biochemical changes encoded in each step. But there is another key issue – one I haven’t really talked about. Structure antidotes blind lurching.

When we are in active addiction, it is as if we lose our center and we stop being grounded. We lurch from one thing to another. Maybe from diet to diet, job to job, person to person, place to place or interest to interest. We have 6 knitting and crafts projects going on. We present ourselves as creative and curious, liking to try new things. We collect little things like offices supplies or pens in case we need them. We lurch and resist being pinned down.

We might say that structure ties us down, thwarts our creativity. Structure seems dull and old fashioned. It seems routine and boring and who would want to do that. Nowhere in our brain have we thought of our behavior as lurching. We never really thought that a little of this and a little of that might be saying something about our sugar addiction.

Why is it that we dream big and stay small? Why is it that those sparks of insight and knowing sputter and fade rather than bursting into our passionate flame?

My hunch is that we have avoided the gift of structure. We haven’t considered that structure, doing things in an intentional order, might actually shape us. And it might change the lurching to intention. If you do this, you will get this result.

Now think about that. For so many years, we have worked how to forget the consequence of our actions. We forget that if we eat sugar or skip meals we get cranky and unpleasant. We forget that we lose direction and we lurch. We forget a lot.

So when we have structure, we stop lurching and we do not lose direction. Even early on in the program, when we are still forgetting because of our biochemistry, the structure itself guides us. The steps, those funny steps, lead us into intention. They guide us with if you do this, you will change. If you do these steps, you will have a life you cannot imagine. Everything will shift. And it will shift in ways beyond anything you have considered.

Now, many of you may feel that this is simply talk. It is not. We now have enough people who are doing the steps for a long enough time that it is really, really clear that there is a developmental pattern that emerges very predictably over time. The promises we make happen.

The steps are bigger than the food. Don’t think of changing them. Do them, do them and get the miracle.

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Thanks for reading! If you know someone who could benefit from this, feel free to forward it to them.

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Until next time!
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Gretel, our webmaster, puts it all together.
David runs the Radiant Recovery® Store.
Mosaic contributes to the Notes from the Forum column.


©2015 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.

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