Hi {!firstname_fix}

Spring is coming. The daffodils I planted after 9/11 are poking their little green snouts up through the mulch. The peacocks that live across the street are in full bloom and the guinea hens are a courtin'. The dogs are lying in the sun, just watching everything rustle with life. Bogie is running around the yard at full steam carrying the bottle of bird seed.

This issue is a special one. Allison shares about her trip to Scotland. I think you will be as moved by her story as I was. Martha talks about where her recovery has taken her.

I am wanting to honor the commitment of the old timers, the elders, in our community. Their radiance is a model for all of us, especially me. The stories and sharing push us all to grow and hold us when we stumble or wobble or get scared.

To honor them, I have set up a new online group. You can check out what it is about by clicking here. This is what that simple act of *doing the food* will get you...(smile).

The exciting energy is not just with the Native American Work, it is right here. Don't be fooled that what is new is all we do. Honoring what has endured is this week's task. I feel so blessed to have this *nation* of healing.

Please feel free to pass this week's newsletter on to your friends and family. Let me know what you like and would like to see. A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted to the web at http://www.radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, use the link at the bottom of the page.

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

Warmly,
Kathleen

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March 15, 2004
** Quote From Kathleen **


I never imagined that doing the food would change so much. But it does. And it carries us deeper and closer to the creator.

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** Question for the Week**

I am looking for stories from folks who have erratic and difficult schedules (such as flight attendants) and have found creative ways to do their program. Write your comments on the community forumplease.

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** Testimonial for the Week**

So, I went to Scotland for 5 days. I went on a group tour, and we traveled by bus. So I knew that I would not have control over when we stopped for lunch and dinner, and I knew I would have to plan accordingly. I would also have two long travel days, so I needed to have some food in my carry on to supplement the food I would find at the airport.

Food I packed on my trip: tuna in pouches, sardines packed in water, nuts, peanut butter, wasa crisp bread, triscuits for my evening carb. I put a few wasa and a pouch of tuna and a can of sardines in my carry on. Also, on the trip to Scotland, I brought two sandwiches, one for the bus ride to NYC and one for dinner at the airport. (It was a night flight.)

They fed us dinner on the plane, at about 10 PM, and I ate what I could out of that, even though I didn't technically need it. However, the breakfast they served us was useless to me, so I had sardines and wasa. Not a very tasty breakfast, but I just did what I needed to do.

My travel mate got up early each morning because she takes a long time to get ready, so I had two wasa with peanut butter to hold me until 7:30, when we could go down and have a full protein breakfast. Each day, I packed snacks in my back pack to tide me over until lunch and dinner (Dinner often wasn't until 7:30 or 8.) I didn't worry about snacking, I just ate what I needed to when I needed to to avoid blood sugar crashes. Snacks included scottish oat cakes with peanut butter, nuts and cheese and fruit from the breakfast buffet that I stashed for later.

On the second day, to make things more challenging, I got a stomach virus. Now, a stomach virus on a bus tour could be a real disaster! Fortunately, my symptoms were some nausea and bad stomach pains, but nothing more violent. If it had been a walking tour, I would have been in trouble, because I couldn't stand up for that long without getting lightheaded, but fortunately we had long rests between stops. The good thing was, I didn't have blood sugar issues while I had the virus because my digestive system was apparently working much slower than usual. This was especially good because I had one day where I could hardly eat and had to choke food down.

Anyway, I made it through the trip with my food pretty good. I ate a few "beiges" but no sugar or whites. I didn't have an evening carb, because dinners were so late.

Despite the stomach virus, I had a wonderful time. Scotland was everything I'd always thought it would be - absolutely beautiful. I've wanted to go for as long as I can remember. I kept looking around me, realizing that I was really here in Scotland, and I'd feel this joy welling up in me and almost feel like crying. We had beautiful, sunny weather, except for one day when it snowed just enough to make it beautiful. The crocuses, daffodils and snowdrops were blooming, and even a couple of early rhododendrons. I saw hawks, a hare, pheasants, lots of wild deer and a wild goat (as well as lots and lots of sheep, and some highland cattle and adorable ponies.) I saw castles, both standing and in ruins, and we visited two ruined abbeys, which were fascinating and beautiful in the snow.

We were traveling with a band from Canada that plays celtic folk rock. The bagpipe player was on my bus. When we stopped at one of the abbeys, we went into this room called the chapter room, where the monks used to gather, and it had amazing acoustics. James played a small bagpipe for us. Then when we got off the bus at Glencoe, which is in a valley, surrounded by spikey mountains, Jmaes went and stood on this little hill and played the big bagpipes. That was one of the high points of the trip, because it was such a beautiful, wild spot, and bagpipes go straight to my soul.

Of course, I've had the post travel slump, but I was expecting the BE crash so that helps. I've just been taking it easy - giving myself permission to just relax and watch movies or read, instead of doing all the things I initially and over optimistically wanted to do. I've realized it's best for me not to hit the ground running - plenty of time for that in a few weeks after I've settled in. There will be other chances to do the things I initially wanted to do this weekend.

Allison

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

If you are thinking about your weight, come join us. We will turn off the desperation and get you settled in REAL, long term weight loss.

Come join us and hear about this success!

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


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** Radiant Recovery Seminars **

I am getting really excited about our annual four-day ranch held in Albuquerque May 19-22. Radiant Ranch is the highlight of the year. Most of the liaisons come and we all have a blast. Swimming, hot tubbing, great program-friendly food and lots of new information. I have posted a schedule of the seminar if you want to see what we will be doing.



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** David's Corner **


You all are going to smile. I had ordered 50 pounds of rice and guess what. You got so excited, I am almost ready to order more. Kathleen cooks hers in a little rice cooker she got at WalMart. She uses chicken broth. I am so excited to be supporting the White Earth entrepreneurs and to be bringing you REAL rice that is gathered by hand and winnowed by hand. If you want wild rice we have it.

Also, check that maple flavoring. Kathleen made french toast with some awesome bread and then made this sauce stuff using the maple flavoring and melted butter. Man, was it GOOD!!

Please send questions and suggestions for items you might like to see in our store. Kathleen is thinking about getting brown rice pasta. I think she started thinking about those of you who live out in the rural midwest :-) But the store is at your service. Let me know.

Thanks
David

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


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** Featured Topic**
Recovery Rocks
by Martha Carnahan

A year and a half ago, I got laid off and it was practically the happiest day of my career.

I know that sounds crazy, and pre-Radiant Recovery (just marked my 5-year anniversary, wahoo!), I am certain I would have pretty much freaked out about losing my job and I would have zoomed quickly and competently to another job. But this new me, the non-mush-brained one, felt gleeful and free. This was the perfect opportunity for me to leap into my dream of starting my own business! (The old me would have thought I was crazy, LOL.)

So I had no clients, no money coming in, and a severance check to cover me for one month. Paying that next mortgage payment was very scary, since it basically wiped out my checking account. Gulp.

But I had faith. Just like the leap of faith I took when I very tentatively began this food program in 1999, I took a similar leap as I looked at my empty checkbook and embarked on making a living for myself. (Gulp, again.) I trusted the universe, I trusted myself. And I picked up the phone and called every contact in my PDA. I got one little project to do. Then another. Then another. By dribs and drabs, the work eeked in.

I was making a teeny amount of money, and yet I had this almost freaky sense of ease and calmness. My molecules told me it would be okay, so I believed them. If I had been eating bowls of ice cream, I would have never stepped forward into my dream, because I would have been so numbed-out, I could not have possibly trusted myself.

In the spirit of shoring things up, I got ever more meticulous about my food. I knew that my reduced income and strange new work patterns would add stress, so I latched on to my food program to keep me steady.

And yet, I could also see my old workaholic tendencies start to creep in. The addiction amoeba strikes again! At first, I was working hard because I wanted to build up my business, I wanted to make enough money to pay my bills. Then, as I got more clients, I found myself working even harder, trying to keep up with my customers and juggle all of the operational demands of running a business.

The thing about the addiction amoeba is that it sneaks up on you. For me, I begin to notice that I'm not as focused. I work more hours and get less done. Then I notice (and my radiant friends remind me) that I am becoming a tad robotic. "Robotic" gets a lot done, but does not at all mesh with my recovery. This is radiant recovery, after all, not robotic recovery! There is no joy in being robotic.

So recently, when I started noticing the robot creeping in, I decided I needed to look at my food, which includes not just my "food" but all the other stuff: timing, movement, BEs, self-care, reflection-oriented things. "Being" as well as "doing." And I have realized that the phrase we all say so often, "Do the Food" is just the tip of the iceberg. I need more, I need to "Be the food" in order to make it work. I can DO the food, and when I have a stressful time, I will ramp up my food-diligence, setting an alarm to stop for lunch, insisting on the densest veggies instead of salad, getting extra protein, minding my timing. I use the food as stress warfare technique! Which is fine on many levels and I don't plan to change it. But because even THAT becomes a bit robotic, I have begun to fine-tune even further. Even after 5 years, I find new ways to deepen my program.

I have now become very intentional about including the "being" stuff in my program. Daily exercise, meditation, downtime. Talking with my friends/family. Balance of life things. For me, that has to go along with "doing" the food. And here is the kicker! I may be able to do the food robotically (i.e., plan my meals to the letter, make them exactly as planned, eat exactly on time, etc.), but I am certain that I cannot possibly "be" robotically. Isn't that interesting? I can't possibly meditate or move or have a BE-lifting experience with friends in a static way. WOW.

It all boils down to my relationship with my body, and even more than that, with my essence. When I am ignoring that, when I am marching through life, well, my essence cannot possibly bubble forth. So when I "be the food," I am more fully me. And this is my latest discovery on this very rich path we call radiance.

Martha

And, Martha is also a certified life coach now, specializing in working with sugar-sensitive people who have mastered the steps and are ready for life change. She is too modest to tell you, but I will. She is GREAT! If you'd like, you can contact her at mcarnahan@mindspring.com.

Copyright © Kathleen DesMaisons, 2004. All Rights Reserved.