Hi {!firstname_fix}

I am writing this from Salisbury, England after the finish of EuroRanch. It has been an extraordinary time. We had 34 people from all over the UK, from Ireland, Sweden and Turkey. We have been in a 14th century hotel with a climbing vine outside that is more than 500 years old. The food has been fabulous, the service wonderful and the people awesome. The actual seminar was a delight. It was lovely to meet everyone and I think they all went away feeling filled up and connected.

These classes will begin the week of October 8, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Brain Chemistry: Serotonin is the other of our most popular classes. It helps you make sense of why the potato works, why you have a problem in the winter and how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can play into this. If you munch in your mind, if you are depressed or edgy or feel sad, this is the class for you.

What Else is Embedded in the Steps is a MUST for every person starting and working on the steps. Come take this class to learn how the PROCESS affects you. It is fun, it is eye opening and you will have a blast. If you want to get a particularly powerful impact, order the Ranch 2007 CD as well. It tracks along with the content of this class.

Step 1: The Art of Breakfast is our foundation class to get you started. Learn all four parts of step 1 in a structured way. Learn how to progress through them with enjoyment. Let us support getting your program off to a fabulous start.

These classes will begin the week of October 15, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Step 2: Journal, Introduction will teach you the basics of journaling. The class will give you step by step instructions in how to record your food and feelings in a way that gets you excited.

Using the Resources of the Community is for those of you who are brand new and would like to find your way around town. Come sit on the top of our double decker bus for a guided tour. And even if you are not brand new, this is a really fun class to reconnect with all the treats of the community.

The class schedule is on line. Click here to see what is planned. I have scheduled through February so you can plan ahead too. Please do not sign up for classes that are not yet scheduled, and wait until about two weeks before a class is scheduled to sign up for it.

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 and you do not have to be at your computer at any set time. It does not matter whether you are in the US, Europe, the Far East or Australia, you simply respond on your own time. And although I advertise that the classes are one or two weeks, sometimes we are a little flexible and they may run longer.

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.

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

**********************************************************************

October 8, 2007
** Quote From Kathleen **


Being steady means being firm, unfaltering, unflappable and unwavering. Being steady means driving in cruise control.

*********************************************************************

** Testimonial for the Week**

Amy, Step 7


Just an update about what's happening with our family. We have three children, ages 10, 9 and 7. There's been a transformation in the last few months in the way our friends have been supporting our program.

The children have been on step 7 for one year now. This summer my daughter was invited to a birthday party. When I called the parent to explain that she doesn't eat sugar, the parent was already aware of that fact (from mutual friends) and had planned to skip the birthday cake and serve fresh melon instead. I was overjoyed that so much consideration had been extended to my daughter.

Then, my children were invited to be part of an apple-crisp-making activity yesterday. My friend who coordinated it asked me if I had an apple crisp recipe, so I gave it to her thinking that my children would make a small batch and the rest of the group would have a sugary one. As it turns out, my program-friendly recipe was the one that everyone made and they loved it.

I think what's made the difference is that as doing the food has healed my body, my committment to the program has deepened, my confidence increased and the childrens' behavior speaks for itself.

It has taken time to come to this point with our friends and we navigated many parties by eating in advance and bringing our own food. We still do that sometimes, but the support of my friends has been growing.

It continues to be a life-changing journey!

********************************************************************

**Radiant Kitchen**

By Naomi Muller, Step 7, author of Nutritious and Delicious Cookbook.


This is from the Radiant Recipes Cookbook.

BRAISED RED CABBAGE WITH APPLES AND PEARS

  • 1 medium head red cabbage, shredded
  • 1/2 c. diced onion
  • 2 firm pears, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2 inch dice
  • 2 sweet apples (Delicious, Fuji, Gala), peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2 inch dice
  • 2 T. olive oil
  • 2 T. raspberry vinegar*
  • 1/2 c. unsweetened apple juice
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 tsp. marjoram
  • 1/2 tsp. thyme
  • 1/2 tsp. caraway seed (optional)
In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and saute briefly, until onion becomes translucent. Add apple and pear dice and saute until fruit loses its raw appearance, 3 - 5 minutes. Add cabbage (in batches, if necessary), pepper, marjoram, thyme and optional caraway. Toss to coat cabbage with other ingredients. Quick saute until cabbage loses its raw state but is not soft. Add vinegar and juice and cover. Let steep over medium heat until all the flavors are blended, 5 - 10 minutes. Uncover; taste and adjust seasonings, if you wish less liquid in dish, reduce juices over high heat until mixture reaches desired consistency. Makes 6 - 8 servings.

Note: If raspberry vinegar is unavailable, substitute with another "fruity" vinegar, such as apple cider, golden, balsamic, sherry, or red wine vinegar. Do not use distilled white vinegar, as the taste will be too acidic.

Naomi's note: never use white vinegar in cooking - but it is great for cleaning your kitchen :-)

********************************************************************

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

YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself.


We have been talking about a book called The Obesity Myth and shared our own feelings about the cultures that reinforce defining ourselves in terms of what we weigh. It is always exciting to make these connections and see that we have choices. I love the dialogue. Chats are the high point of my week.

The conversations on the YLD list have been a source of comfort and inspiration. To listen to new folks come in with that desperation we all know so well and then hear the change is awesome. Angst gives way to problem solving. Hopelessness gives way to action. And I sure see that this kind of support makes it possible to *do* what we know works so well.

If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun.
 


********************************************************* ***********

**Radiant Recovery Store **

David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen’s oldest son.



Now that we are settled with Shake, let’s do some thinking about our oils selection.

We have ProEpa as the general all round Omega 3 tonic for all.

We have special DHA for pregnant and nursing moms who are making baby brains

and we have EFA Junior for kids.

These are all great. And if you have any questions, check out the FAQs from the Nordic Naturals website. We love this company and love their products.

Kathleen also suggests that if you are taking fish oil you also consider taking pycnogenol. It strengthens capplialry walls to protect you from the bruisng that sometimes happens when taking fish oils.


Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

 
********************************************************* ***********

**Our Online Groups**


The Radiant Journal list is a source of helpful information and support with journaling. On this list we talk about how to get started with the journal, how to start listening to our body and why giving it a voice is so important. We also discuss how to use the journal for detective work in our program and, of course, how to make journaling fun! Right now the list is rockin' with people supporting each other and making big discoveries with their journal. So whether you are just starting out or are looking for a recharge in your journaling, come on over and join in the fun!

Or come to the group page to see all our groups. http://www.radiantrecovery.com/list_serves.htm


********************************************************************

**Science in Service**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.


I was recently cleaning out my computer photo folders and came across a picture I took when I was writing the article on soy. It made me smile. I think it tells a story. The story of Kathleen wanting to bring you healing. Today I want to write about that some.

You know, sometimes a new person will come in, ask about soy protein powder for their kids and I will say, *don't use soy with kids, it is estrogenic.* Sometimes, I think it sounds sort of curt and they might think I am being dismissive. I know that I am known for being to the point, LOL.

But we don't really talk about what is behind it. When I was looking at this picture, I was thinking about the whole box of citations I read for the soy story. There they are, with highlighters and notes and trying to make sense of something so complex and contradictory. This is what I want most to give you - a trustworthy, informed and thoughtful response to these issues. I want to offer a way to ask questions reflectively and then to sort through understanding how to make choices. I guess we might call it empowerment.

Let me show you what I mean. Many of us deal or struggle with being fat. The first level of looking at this was why. Why is it that some of us have to work so hard? Why is it that what *they* tell us does not fit, does not work? So I put up the original YLD program which was kind of an outline of the questions and the things I knew at that time. It was more behavioral, and an adaptation of the sugar sensitive story based on what seemed to make sense.

Then my publisher said, *Ok, let's do a book.* I adapted that original material and wrote Your Last Diet. It was very substantive. A year of my desk looking like that picture. But it was not sexy, nor did it lend itself to sound bites. My editor left and the new person assigned to the book was slender, into exercise and not particularly invested in fat people. But we were still doing the program.

I started a little pilot project. We played with some of the ideas. We dug deeper to find solutions and practical stuff. But it was really grim and really rather boring. So we didn't talk about it much. I kept thinking, there has to be more. It wasn't having *information* - that didn't grab us.

So I figured I would design a class and look to the experiential to see what might emerge. We started off and I asked people to share how they felt about being fat. The stories blew me away. I have run groups for twenty five years, I don't usually get dumbfounded. But those stories were full of so much anguish, so much pain, and such consistency that I literally could not talk for days. I felt I was swirling in the pain of a people, people who do not speak this pain, people who are hidden and silent and desperate and trying each new diet.

We kept going. I asked for a list of every diet. The list grew and grew and grew until we were laughing so hard it hurt. People began to see that this is not a personal story, a story hidden in shame, but that somehow there was more to it. Something bigger than we understood. Then I said, what if this list was about skill rather than failure. The class said *WHAT!, Whatever do you mean?*

We began to talk about what is there underneath the pain. That it wasn't failure, it was biochemistry. We just didn't know. And now we do. And just like sugar sensitivity, the stories started to transform. Instead of spinning, spinning, we could ask, what is here to learn, how can I make sense of this? How can I understand the biochemistry of being fat and then use that to craft a way of healing?

So, the research became in service to the lived experience and the lived experience became the way to make the research come alive. Instead of a bunch of mice in a lab, it became our friend, the C57s who are teaching us why we have fat stomachs and why exercise might not work for us as we expect. It is this marriage of science and life that makes this community so alive and vital.

You guys make it burst from the pages into real life. You make the highlighters shine, even sing. Your stories, your truth, your lives make the citations come alive. And my oh my, is it exciting. It feels like Holy Moley, Batman, we KNOW this story, we LIVE it. Watch us rock!





©Kathleen DesMaisons 2007.

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 gathers the recipes.
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.

©2007 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 Patti Holden, Step 7