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May 17, 2010 Hi {!firstname_fix} Well, it is Sunday evening and we have just finished up with the 2010 Radiant Ranch in Albuquerque. We had an absolutely wonderful time. People really enjoyed it, felt they learned a lot and loved connecting with everyone. I will be posting more after I have a chance to catch my breath with everything. These classes will begin Wednesday, May 19, 2010. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Radiant Step 1 (2 weeks) 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. Radiant Step 3 (2 weeks) is one of our core classes. This is a skill-based class. If you want to learn the baby steps of a successful step 3, come join us. This class is ALWAYS fun. Step 3 is a pivotal part of a solid program. Come for a tuneup. YLD Weight Loss in Action (2 weeks) is the *let’s do it!* class for YLD members who are ready to rock on losing weight in a healthy and focused way. This class is open to YLD members who are on step 7. These classes will begin Wednesday, May 26, 2010. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Radiant Step 2: Introduction (2 weeks) 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. Brain Chemistry: Serotonin (2 weeks) is one 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. The class schedule is online. Click here to see what is planned. Please wait to sign up for classes until a week or two before, and 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. 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 **********************************************************************
** Quote From Kathleen ** The fun thing will be to see how your feelings emerge as you do the program. **********************************************************************
** Testimonial of the Week ** Kath, I really like what you came up with--it suits you :) Halloween has never been my favorite holiday. It's the one I could cheerfully skip. I don't like the gory, ghoulish aspect, nor have I ever wanted to be a witch or anything like that. I haven't dressed up in years and years, and I always chose to be a waitress or a cat or something bland. And then I'd feel very uncomfortable about how I looked in my costume. I didn't want to spend any effort on the holiday. Of course, I used to feel sick about all that C-A-N-D-Y. However (grin). I signed up to help with a Halloween party for the women at church, thinking, huh--they never had that when I was here before. But there's a new neighbor who loves Halloween, whose house is decorated for Halloween every day of the year. She painted a mural in one big room downstairs, all over the four walls--flying witches on broomsticks, bats, a mausoleum, the whole bit. Last year apparently the women had a very well-attended party there, with a witch-hat-decorating contest, and we were to have another party there this year. I signed up to help with food, of course--I brought a brown rice pasta version of their casserole, with ground beef, tomatoes, and cheese, plus some soda and juice and dry ice and a plastic cauldron. I've never been the type to have a party with a punchbowl and dry ice--it just didn't occur to me. I'd have worried about the gasses or this or that. But I was assigned, and I did it, and it was fine. There was also water. And I helped with the program. The theme was from the musical, Wicked, on not judging based on outside appearances. Always a good theme for a church group. I volunteered to be the storyteller, and we had some women singing one of the songs from the play, one dressed as Glinda the Good in a blue evening dress and a blonde wig, and one in green makeup and full witch regalia as Elphaba, the supposed wicked witch. So I had to dress up, too, oh, bother. My husband saw a coupon in the paper for half price costumes at a local drugstore. I went some other places, too, but ended up at the drugstore buying a dark purple satiny witch hat with big black feathers and flowers. It cost three dollars (grin). I also found a sparkly purple cape with spiders on it. Seven dollars. That's about what I was willing to invest. I wore them with a black dress. I have to say, it was a kick looking out at 40 churchwomen in witch hats :) I will just never forget that sight. (Okay, Glinda stood out. She is expecting, too, which was all kinds of sweet.) The rest wore witch hats that were decorated every which way (vbg). Big fluffy feathers, flowers, colorful swaths of fabric. Polka dots. Apparently last year's party was a big hit. For about half of us there, it was a chance to loosen up, for once, and have some fun with Halloween. The other half were already quite skilled at fun (grin). Peals of laughter from all tables. The president did a nice loud cackle to call us to attention. We had a mixer with silly Halloween jokes or punchlines pinned on our backs. (What does a bird give out for Halloween? Tweets!) And a couple of other gentle games. I have to admit it was pretty fun. What I think I'd like to do next year is find or make a costume that actually expresses my personality. Oooh, a butterfly, wouldn't that be fun? But I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Jeannie **********************************************************************
** Radiant Ambassadors ** Imagine the scene - there I was, driving home with the window down and feeling the warm breeze against my face, when what should I hear on the radio but “those who eat chocolate are more depressed.”.\ Oh my goodness, people were talking about chocolate and depression in the same sentence - I had to find out more! When I arrived home, I found that details of a study produced in America was already up on the BBC website. My favourite phrase from the article was "Chocolate could even be a direct cause of depression, the researchers added." You can read the whole article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8644016.stm I tweeted the article and sent a message to my local radio station (because I first heard it from them). I also posted the article link on Facebook. It even made the LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/27/science/la-sci-chocolate-2010042 I am so glad that the researchers are finally getting 'round to making and studying these connections. It won’t be long before everyone will be talking about Radiant Recovery! Selena Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. **********************************************************************
** How I Found Radiant Recovery ** I discovered Potatoes Not Prozac in a bookshop when it first came out, eleven years ago now. I already had a shelf load of self-help and diet books which only ever worked for a short period of time. I was always on the look out for any others to add to my collection and I kept hearing Kathleen's name mentioned for some reason. Little did I know that Potatoes not Prozac contained the precise answers I was looking for! I read the book from cover to cover, could not believe that Kathleen knew *my* story, got spooked and then put it on my bookshelf for 5 years! I took the scenic route, you might say LOL! Selena **********************************************************************
** Radiant Kitchen ** By Naomi Muller, Step 7, author of Nutritious and Delicious Cookbook. This recipe caught my eye and I fiddled around with it and took out the sugar and adjusted the apple cider amount and here we have a program-friendly and belly-warming meal. You can use the yummy wild rice from the store.
*When I altered this recipe to be program friendly I had no idea what "sweat off" meant. So, I looked it up and here is the definition: sweat, A technique by which ingredients, particularly vegetables, are cooked in a small amount of fat over low heat. The ingredients are covered directly with a piece of foil or parchment paper, then the pot is tightly covered. With this method, the ingredients soften without browning, and cook in their own juices. For more great program-friendly recipes, check out these great cookbooks in the store. **********************************************************************
** Your Last Diet - More Than What You Think ** When I first started the YLD program, I saw it as a way to provide support for people who wanted to lose weight. As you know weight loss is a HUGE motivating factor for a lot of people coming into the program. Many people come feel feeling like being fat is what is causing the pain. If the fat gets fixed, the pain will go away. And part of the process of YLD is to learn that this is not actually true. Initially, YLD was designed to have that dialogue. Over time, we added classes to support that exploration. And yes, we charge for those just like any other classes. And as we have had the dialogue and done the classes, a lot has gotten clearer. So weight loss for sugar sensitive people is about:
If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just have some plain ol' fun! **********************************************************************
** Radiant Recovery® Store ** David manages the Radiant Recovery® Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son. What about joining all the folks who are having yummy hot cereal for breakfast right now. Everyone is raving about these products to support those of you who have decided to do gluten-free browns. Here again are the products we are carrying.
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. **********************************************************************
** Our Online Groups ** The Step 3 list is a great place to stop by for those who are finding this a challenging step, or who are starting out or who would just like some extra support. We talk a lot about things like: What is a meal, exactly? How do I get my body to cooperate with eating "just" three meals a day? What are some tips to help me with consistent timing? And all sorts of other aspects of this step. We try to make it fun, because... well why not make it fun?? It's a great place of support... come and join us! (And it matters not if you are new to the step, totally re-doing the step or just shoring up your Step 3 after being further along in the program.) **********************************************************************
**Solution ** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
I have to share what a moving and profound experience last night's chat was for me. The whole ambivalence, commitment, fear thing is exactly what I have been working through the last few months as I struggled to figure out why I never got beyond step 2. It happened just like Kathleen said, I got friendly with my ambivalence and I found my fear. I am afraid of where radiance might take me. I cannot imagine me radiant. But once I found the fear and could name it I was able to commit to healing. Anyway, I post whether I 'feel' like it or not. I eat 3 meals a day whether I 'feel' like it or not. And it does not feel like self-discipline, it just feels like 'doing it' because I want healing rather than to hide in my fear. Journaling is even getting easier. The nature of the sugar-sensitive person is to give up when things get difficult. Like the C57 mouse, you crouch in the corner and think you can't stick to your plan. Your biochemistry supports learned helplessness. You feel inadequate, overwhelmed and unable to follow through the way you hoped. A thousand failed diets from the past reinforced these feelings. As soon as you "slip", you say, "Yah, see you did it again!" So you run away from the program, run away from yourself. This time it will be different, because knowing you are sugar sensitive lets you finally, finally understand the nature of who you are. Knowing you are sugar sensitive lets you shift the perspective from worrying about a thousand "failed" diets to being open to a solution. Think of that. You are tenacious. You keep going, you search and continue. You may be impulsive and impatient, but you can be and are committed to finding a solution. This program helps you use your tenacity in a new way. Because you now finally understand why other diets haven't worked, you can start to make choices. You can change the voices that say, "I know this won't really work" into "hmmmm, let's sort this out." "Why am I bored?" "Why don't I like the journal?" "Why do I sabotage my efforts?" These questions become a part of our healing. They are not the old tapes of inadequacy. They may be the same questions, but they are asked from a different perspective. Say to yourself, "I will do whatever it takes to heal this. I will give it time, money, energy, whatever it takes. Taking care of my food will be at the TOP of my list. Not after my job, or after my family, or maybe when I get to it. But every day." You have made these affirmations a thousand times. But generally you make them in your head. You "think" about your affirmations. But mostly you do not actually put the affirmations into practice. What would it mean, really mean to "do whatever it takes?" All of you will have slippery times, or times of just going right off track. This is totally normal. We are more interested in progress rather than perfection. I honestly believe there is NO failure in this program. There are simply opportunities to learn about yourself and to keep going. Your skill set needs to include what to do when you get in trouble. As your program progresses, you will become more and more adept at catching the warning signals that your food is off. Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:
Gretel, our webmaster, puts it all together. David runs the Radiant Recovery® Store. Selena provides the weekly Ambassadors column. ©2010 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. 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/ |
