When you get this, I will be way up north in Minnesota at the White Earth Reservation (where our wild rice comes from). We are now starting the alcoholism treatment project that I have been talking about for several years. Exciting! I will check in on the forum from my hotel room to let you know how it goes. In this issue I am going to talk some about how we do business in the community so you can have a better sense of how we function. I think you will find it really exciting. And our classes starting this week include. Step 1: The Art of Breakfast is for you if you are wanting guidance in the first step. Ths is clear, fun and focused. Come join us. Brain Chemistry: Serotonin - Week 1 is about the core brain chemistry issues. If you are depressed or impulsive or just want to learn the basics of sugar sensitivity, come share here. Using Radiant Resources is the guided tour of the community. This is the best way for beginners to learn your way around. We always have lots of fun and I am at the mike. Ok, and I am offering this class now for FREE so there is no excuse for you beginners not to take it. And oldtimers can come and find out what you have never seen before (smile). We are going to offer this class every other week now, so make sure you tell the new people. A number of you have asked me how the classes work. Check the class list page for more information on this. The classes are done online with one lesson each day. You do not have to be at your computer at any set time. Please note that we have added the classes to the new schedule so you can see what is coming up. I will also be adding the Sex and Sugar class into the schedule. It will be renamed, The Art of Intimacy in Recovery, so watch for it. And go read the questions and answers before you write to me. The classes are done online with one lesson each day. You do not have to be at your computer at any set time. If you have trouble getting through the process, write the tech forum. 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 me cover. Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery® website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen **********************************************************************
January 23, 2006 ** Quote From Kathleen **
Not remembering is significant information - sort of like standing up a date. If your journal has empty pages, they have a lot to say. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
My DD is now almost 4. She's been in two preschools now, since about your son's age. I told the teachers that she doesn't eat sugar or refined carbs, so she brings her own snacks and they give her water instead of juice. She knows that 'sugar isn't good for you,' 'sugar does funny things to your brain,' and that 'sugar makes you sick.' I leave her in charge of what snack she wants to bring. She's made wonderful choices. To this day, beans (kidney, black, lima in that order are her favorites!) are still her first choice most days. She chooses cheese and crackers, etc. (One day she took half a cheese sandwich -- no peanuts allowed -- and came home and told me that the teacher said she needs to bring pretzels or cookies. I was very confused by this, so went to her teacher. Turns out that the other kids had a fit. Why did *she* get lunch and they only got a couple of cookies! LOL So now she has to take something that *looks* like a snack food and not a meal!!) There are some kids in her class with allergies. They sit at a special table. She sits with them. If she has *ever* felt left out, she has never mentioned it. We talk about feelings a lot, and she's quite the talker anyway, so I'm sure that's not the case! I think putting her in control of her snacks (first with guided suggestions, now she does it on her own) has made all the difference in the world for us. Sometimes she takes fresh fruit or vegetables... you never know with her! In the beginning she would suggest something inappropriate occasionally, and I would just laugh it off... "You can't take *that*, silly!" etc. BTW, it's virtually impossible to have complete control. (smile) One very hot summer day last year there was a substitute teacher at camp. When I went to pick her up she said (and there is no way to 'show' you the excitement in her voice (smile)) "I had an ice pop today!" (Those nasty little tubes filled with HFCS and dye.) I said (without any judgment -- hard one!): "Really? Was it good?" I'm sure you know her answer! I then asked if she knew what was in an ice pop. She said yes. When I asked her, she said: "Ice." So innocent. "What else?" I prompted. "Just ice." When I told her there was not only sugar in it, but a LOT of sugar. She said "Oh." When I then asked her if she was going to eat ice pops the next time they were offered, she responded: "No. Lexi doesn't eat sugar." and off she went on with her day. I almost cried. (smile) And she never has even asked for another. BTW, we have a similar issue at the gym. If I bring her, you never know what the other kids will be eating. The only thing I can guarantee is that it'll be stuff we *don't* eat! As long as she has stuff she likes, we have never had a problem. I've also learned that stressing about it won't help me a darned bit. Some people just won't get it, and I can only do my best to educate her and have faith that she will make the best decisions possible. Peace and Joy, Barbara ********************************************************************
**Recipe of the Week**
Yum, when I saw this recipe in the Radiant Recipes Cookbook, I thought they would be super duper yummy topped with "maple butter", which is butter mixed up with some maple extract . Of course, you can top them with whatever you like! Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Pancakes
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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
Immediately after the chat I wrote some of my concerns to the pregnancy list and by doing that, as well, I got over my "I'm stuck" feeling and I have been able to progress through some issues already. (Some not even related to anything I said!) I am learning that connecting is important - and it's not so much what you say as whether you are present! I know Kathleen has talked about this and now I am understanding the concept much better. I am going to work more on just showing up, even if I feel like I can do nothing more! Amy in OH And please note that we are now doing a Thursday chat timed for our European friends. They start Thursday, Feb 2nd, at 6 pm London time, 7 pm Paris, Germany and most of Europe, 1 pm Eastern, 12 noon Central, 11 am Mountain and 10 am Pacific. If you are a YLD member, you can access the transcripts by going to: http://www.radiantrecovery.com/YLD/YLDchattranscripts.html Come and join us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun. It is not too late to get into the classes if you come right now. ********************************************************* ***********
**David's Corner **
If you haven't been to the store for a while, how about just coming over and browsing. You will be thrilled to see all the changes! Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups**
Hello. My name is Janie. I'm the volunteer liaison for RadiantParents. I have four children, three of them are teenagers, yikes! I have suffered from depression since my early twenties but it wasn't until I had children that my depression really got worse. I went to all different doctors and tried all sorts of medications and remedies but nothing ever worked for me. It wasn't until I found Potatoes not Prozac that I finally found the answer to what was wrong with me. I started doing the steps and have never looked back. Then when I read The Sugar Addicts Total Recovery Program and discovered that there was an on-line community, I was in heaven! After I had been on step 7 for awhile I decided to turn my attention to helping my children. I definitely noticed that my twins were sugar sensitive. They were just like me, overly emotional, sensitive, dramatic and absolutely adored sugar. It took me a little bit longer to figure it out with my oldest daughter, Alexa, and my youngest daughter, Grace. I think Grace has had the most dramatic turnaround. She used to get so enraged she would bare her teeth and growl at me. Now, she is just an angel. I really love helping other parents with their sugar sensitive kids. I can really empathize with parents who are new to the program and they come seeking help. I want to be able to help them create the life with their kids that I now have with mine, thanks to Kathleen. On the list we discuss ways to get our children to buy into the program which I must admit has been a hurdle for me but it's fun to get advice and hear about all the things the other parents are doing. We also share recipes and success stories. It's a great list and I feel honored to be a part of such a caring and wonderful group of parents. Come join us! ********************************************************************
**Getting To Know Your Community** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. Ok, this week I want to give you a little tour of what the community has become this year. These are the values that have guided the development of our community for the past eight years. The primary values of radiantrecovery.com are:
We operate under this idea of shared leadership organized into a number of layers and teams. The entire leadership of the community is volunteer. People in recovery make a commitment to give back. We currently have 50 volunteers in our leadership. We are organized in these ways: A senior leadership team called the RADcounsel. This group is people who have been doing the program successfully for 5 or more years. They provide input and consultation on vision, direction and strategic planning. Each counsel member is also responsible for a specific area of expertise such as family, program, body and movement, logistics, play, special needs, food and cooking, weight loss, community and geographic locations. The Rad meets once a week for an hour and talks regularly throughout the week via a list and IM support. List liaisons are persons on step 7 who assume responsibility for each of the more than 100 lists we run. The liaisons keep the lists focused and on track, they work with list members, they model support and effective ways of doing the program. They handle logistics such as yahoo glitches, SPAM and getting people into and off the lists. They run interference if a list member is off the wall or needing extra help. The liaisons meet once a week for 30 minutes to check in on how things are gong, and talk regularly via a special list. Geo Coaches serve as list liaisons for the geographical area lists set up for social interaction. Geo coaches meet with their teamleader as needed. The Geo coaches support list members, help them get together to play and guide them into the other lists as needed. List team members are community members who have agreed to support the list liaison. Lists with more than 100 members have team members proportionate to the size of the list. Team members speak regularly with the team leader about the needs of the list. We currently have eighteen teams who coordinate the major lists. I work with each of the team leaders on how to empower their team members in the values I have outlined above. And the logistics team makes sure that everything runs. All of our web site and tech support is provided by volunteers whose lives have been changed by the program. All the lists have a Rules of the Road document which governs how the list will function. These rules are sent out to the list once a month. When the leadership members need help in interpretation of the rules of the road, they discuss that with one another on the liaison leadership list. And the liaisons work with all the team members. There is lot of give and take in doing this. And a lot of laughter. A few weeks ago we held our first town meeting for leadership - we had a chat and the folks from Europe got up or stayed up to the middle of the night to come. It was just awesome. The key issue is that each ot the folks who have agreed to offer service is also committing to the quality of his or her own recovery. We insist that people who serve as leaders walk the talk. And this is hard. We are regular people like you who live all over the world from Perth, Australia, to London and Canada and all over the US. Something has happened in the community this year - a maturity and wisdom that I find breathtaking. Many years ago I wrote a paper on management styles for my Master's degree. I visioned a way of managing that had empowered people who loved what they were doing working to pass it on. That was in um, 1976. My vision is 25-30 years ahead of putting it in place. But Radiant Recovery® pulses with that vision. And the most important part of this is YOU. The structure is here to serve you and support you in doing the food, doing the program. So you let us know how it is going and what you would like. Warmly, Kathleen ©Kathleen DesMaisons 2006. Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together: Gretel, the liaison for the recovery list and the webmaster puts it all together Naomi, liaison for big ones gathers the recipes Marie, the liaison for diabetes gathers the info on the online lists David, who runs the Radiant Recovery® Store talks about what new products we have. 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.htm. ©2006 by 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 and use this attribution: "By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. of Radiant Recovery®. Please visit Kathleen's website at http://www.radiantrecovery.com for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction." Please notify me at kathleen@radiantrecovery.com to let me know where the material will appear. Banner Photograph by Geraint Smith |
