Hi {!firstname_fix}

Well, we are back home and settled from Euroranch. It was a fabulous trip and I will look forward to our return next year. I imagine the stones at Stonehenge will look the same. Here is a picture of the cathedral at Salisbury. When we went to a service on Sunday, they were installing 3 little 6 year olds for the choir. Talk about angel voices!


I love this time of year. It has been Balloon Festival all week. I got up on Friday morning just as it was getting light. Soon after, the balloons were streaming all throughout the valley. Blue, blue sky with the balloons. My, was it gorgeous.

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.

These classes will begin the week of October 22, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Feelings is a new special class for members of the community who have less experience in making sense of feelings in a healthy way. You will get language and an opportunity to do some role play. It will be safe and fun. Those of you in the UK are especially welcome to this class. This is a class to learn how to recognize feelings and find vocabulary to describe them.

Doing The Program on a Budget is a special free class for those of you with limited funding who are trying to make do. Come hear some fun ideas to maintain your humor and find tasty and inexpensive solutions.

Resource Center Tour is another one of our free walking tours through the website. This one takes you through the resource center. Explore all the nooks and crannies and discover things you did not know were there.

Store Tour is a free guided tour of the store. David will be leading this class so if you want to get to know the guy that makes it all work, come sign up. This is his first teaching experience, so you can show your support for the work he does to keep you happy.

The class schedule is on line. Click here to see what is planned. Please do not sign up for classes that are not yet scheduled.

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

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October 15, 2007
** Quote From Kathleen **


You will be thrilled and excited when you master the moods that have haunted you for so long.

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** Testimonial for the Week**

Connie, Step 7


I think the biggest change with respect to doing the food and fitness, is that just about everything I thought I knew about "being fit" was wrong, and I had no knowledge at all of how different and wonderful fitness could be after getting balanced.

And it comes back to "beginner's mind". Like the Chinese say, 'empty your cup first, and then you can have more tea.'

What reminded me of this is the cycle you reported:

Someone does something hurtful
You got hurt
You felt like a bad person
You assessed that you needed fixing
You vowed to "dig in" to the program to do the fixing

That's how I used to do things too. Now I think that whole cycle is "reacting" to things from a state of unbalance.

Nowadays it is...

Someone does something hurtful
I feel it
Being resilient from food and movement, I assess if I "deserved it"
If so, I make amends
If not, I let it drop to the floor
I continue to do the food and movement
More like being responsive than reactive I guess.

So the "beginner's mind" would say, don't even bother to dig in, in reaction. Just do it regular.

And that is just one change.



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**Radiant Kitchen**

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


Last year I shared this recipe, which comes from Gail. It won rave reviews so I thought we'd share it again!

Pad Thai

  • 1/3 c oil
  • 1 1/2 lb sliced chicken
  • 1 T garlic
  • 1/2 lb shrimp
  • Block of extra firm tofu, cubed
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1/2 c cilantro
  • 1/2 c roasted nuts (I skip them)
  • 5 T fish sauce (I never have it so I use tamari)
  • 5 T lime juice
  • Linguine style brown rice noodles, cooked
  • 1/2 lb snow peas
  • 1/2 c sliced scallions
Stir fry chicken in oil 1-2 minutes. Add garlic, shrimp and tofu. Push aside food, pour eggs in middle and scramble. Add noodles, gradually fold in. Now add snow peas and scallions. Mix tamari and lime juice and pour over. Mix and serve. Garnish with cilantro and chili peppers.

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

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


People keep asking me if they can or should join YLD if they don’t really care about weight loss. I say, if you want to be on the cutting edge of the community, yes. Chats are the heartbeat of the community. We talk about how you are, about vision and dreams, about getting stuck and moving forward. Last week, after Euroranch, our eurochat tripled in size. And Wednesday evening was an extraordinary discussion of what is really happening with the program. You certainly are welcome to join us.

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.
 


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**Radiant Recovery Store **

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



OK, Kathleen came through customs with a hundred oatcake holders. She told them they were cookie holders and they let her through without duty. Order yours now. The supply is limited to the number she carried. And don’t forget our CHEESE oatcakes. They are sooooo yummy as a snack. Give them to the kids for after school. Put them in the holder, and drop them in backpacks.

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

 
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**Our Online Groups**


Radiant Movement is the place to come if you are wanting to get off the couch and into some sort of practice. Even if you can only walk to the end of the driveway, you are welcome. We have a new team to support you and we are planning LOTS of fun.

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


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**A Small Roadmap for Your Process **
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.


I thought it would be helpful to have a sense of the developmental process in reaching your goals of healing and weight loss. Let’s take a look at how it goes.

Chaos
Regularity and Structure
Stability
Detox
Practice
Success

Chaos

Chaos is the starting place for most of you. You may be way out there, or you may be high functioning chaos artists. But the tone is always the same. You feel hopeless, out of control, desperate, inadequate, and impatient. You can’t remember instructions, you want to get started and people don’t understand what is going on for you.

You feel the “problem” is the sugar. Or the problem is your weight. And the feelings are so bad, you have to do something RIGHT NOW!!!! You are a true drama pup and feel like you can’t start, can’t stop, and you are crazy.

You eat irregular meals, lots of sugars and carbohydrates, you may binge, drink little water and either exercise rarely or exercise compulsively.

You have tried a thousand diets. You have lost weight and gained it back – a lot. You are tired and terrified. You hold your breath at even the idea something might work. You want to do it all, and you keep putting it off.

You are in the right place. The program can help you.

Regularity and Structure

You start the program. You work on breakfast. Breakfast becomes habitual. You like the feelings it brings. You write your journal. Sometimes you forget, but mostly you remember. You don’t yet use the journal as a detective, but you are gathering the information and resisting the idea less. You manage to eat three meals a day. You have protein at each meal. You have a potato every night. You take the three vitamins every day. You are still having sweets, but eat them with your meals. You eat whatever fruits you list but notice them and write them down. You have started increasing your water and find you rather like it. You are thinking about the idea of exercising.

Stability

You have started to feel the routine of regular meals. You have breakfast every day and find that if you miss it, you notice right away. You like how you are feeling. You are sleeping better. You are resisting the idea of the program less. Things start working. You notice how much caffeine and/or aspartame you use. You begin to reduce them slowly without being impulsive or reactive along the way. You are still writing diligently in your journal. You are now getting interested in what your journal says. What can it teach you? What is the connection between food and feelings, anyway? You start eating brown things rather than white refined flour products. Whole grains, brown rice and oatmeal creep in and you find you actually like them.

You still have fruit, but find it is becoming more and more of a normal part of your diet rather than a desperate alternative to the sweets you think you should be eating. While you haven’t really focused on the sugars, you find that the bag of M&M’s you used to have instead of lunch doesn’t have the same charm when eaten after dinner. You are less frantic about search for your stash in the evening. Mr. Spud is a friend by now.

And you are starting to think that the idea of going off sugar may not be so scary after all.

Detox

You pick a date and know that you are ready to just go for it. The day arrives and you don’t have sugar, you don’t have alcohol. You feel excited. You feel that maybe this time you can do it. You still have breakfast; you guard yourself a little more tightly. You are using your food journal as a valuable aid in your process. It alerts you to danger or slipping. But your focus is on the SUGAR. Finally, the bogey man is going to go. Day four comes; you are cranky but intrigued. It’s a day and you are ready. And then, and then day five. You wake up and realize you just passed through the sugar barrier. You are on your way.

You hold this place now for a while. Part of you is itching to go with losing weight. You actually may have started losing. Or you may have gained some. This makes you a little nervous, but you trust the process. Something is happening here. You aren’t quite sure what or how it is working so powerfully, but you are hooked.

Your food is steady. Your energy is up. Your sleep is working. You are pleased and excited. And if you are not, you know what to do. Back to the journal. Back to the forum. Let’s figure it out. It’s not overwhelming; it’s just functional. You are in charge and you know what to do.

You have been sugar free for a few weeks. Yes, yes, that is weeks, not days. And now you are ready to start your diet plan. But you are willing to listen. Wait for six months on steady we say. You no longer fret. You know it makes sense. Get skill, get stable.

You are no longer frantic and are starting to enjoy this. You have some goals. You have a sense that you can start the things to get you ready for weight loss.

Practice

You are reducing the amount of fruit you have. Browns are steady. You start increasing the greens. Veggies become your friend – and if not your friend, at least you have learned how to cook them. You eat them regularly. You have increased your water to the ounces that equal 1/2 your body weight. The potato is a regular part of your routine. Steady, you are steady. And you have started exploring your other options from that steady place.

You go into the support modules regularly and work on the “extras” like defining your style, reflecting on feelings, getting your support network refined, exercising, and looking at what will help you hold the diet.

A funny thing is happening. You kinda like this process. You are less impatient. You like how things are unfolding. You are ready now for the weight loss.

Success

After all this time, you are ready. Not frantic, but ready. At the base, you understand what you are doing. This is not hit or miss or desperate. It is informed and intentional. You understand the biochemistry of it all. You don’t throw away the spud because it is too glycemic. You aren’t counting calories. You have a good relationship to your scale. You are doing some exercise every day. You are on your way!





©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