Newsletter

June 29, 2015

Hi {!firstname_fix}

Well it has finally cooled down in Albuquerque so I have been able to do some outside things. Today I trimmed my lilacs that had gotten leggy and lopsided. Now they are tidy. I am smiling. Yesterday I went to the St. James Tea Room to scout out tea for a friend. There were signs in the parking lot that said *Park Tidy*. They made me laugh.

It has been a very sad week for me. My little Pepper dog crossed over the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday morning. She had an incredible life and was my Warrior hero from the time she was a wee puppy. I know she is with Josie and her special pals, PJ and Pippen (David’s Rotties) and is running at the beach chasing angel seagulls.

These classes will begin Wednesday, July 1, 2015. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:

Depression (2 weeks) - By popular demand from the Depression list, I have revised and updated the Depression class. We will look at serotonin depression and beta endorphin depression and how they differ. We will talk about medications - what they are, how they differ, how they work, why they don’t work sometimes. This will be a working class with lots of questions and discussion.

Radiant Coaching/Skilled (2 weeks) - This class is a new class which will be an ongoing skilled coaching class for people who are experienced with steps 6/7 and really want to amp up their programs. We will look at the magic bowl system, adjusting food for exercise, exercise, journaling, joy dots, and whatever else the *trainees* want. It is an opportunity to have Kathleen’s personal ongoing coaching in real time. Take the tidbits you get at chats and expand them into personal applications for YOUR program in real time. You get to choose how long you want to do this, and what use to make of your coach. While this is NOT boot camp, it is a serious commitment to change. This class is not open to everyone, you will have to request participation and provide an application about why you are ready to take on this challenge.

This class will begin Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:

Magic Bowls (2 weeks) - Some of you have heard about the *Magic Bowls* and their role in successfully doing the program. This class will teach you how to assess your magic bowl configuration for what step you are on and where you are in that step. This class is for those of you who get baffled by numbers or counting, or who struggle with restriction. You will need to order and have the bowls before the class starts.

This class will begin Wednesday, July 15, 2015. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:

Dopamine (2 weeks) - a look at sugar sensitivity and dopamine. Learn about the fourth leg of the story and see if this is your missing piece.

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

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**Quote From Kathleen **

Your molecules will yearn for balance, care and healing. Instead of cravings for sugar, there will come a longing for wholeness.

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**Testimonial of the Week **

Recently I found myself falling back. However, the past 6-7 months have been really stressful at work. The company I own has been faced with really tight cash flow. We're behind with most of our vendors, etc. Anyway, I was falling back into the mode where I was fully enveloped by the misery. Not sleeping well, not doing the food particularly well, feeling scared and depressed a lot. You know what got me out of it? THE FOOD! I started tightening up my program and I feel really good now. Instead of being scared about the future, I am full of hope and optimism. Everything looks different to me now. Why didn't anyone tell me that the food could do this, LOL?

Mark

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**Radiant Ambassadors **

Hi all!

I've just received an email from my local library saying that as a result of my recommending PnP they have ordered 3 more copies and included my review on their website!!!

They went on to say that "Feedback of this kind helps us in our book selection and is always appreciated."

Yes, I would call that one a winner!!

Feel free to write to your own libraries, they might be able to help :)

Selena

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** Radiant Recovery^® Store **

This week, I want to feature the Safe Place CD because the cover has a picture of little Miss Pepper puppy in the lower left corner. This is such a healing recording. I think her little spirit in in this.

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

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**Radiant Kitchen **

DUTCH PUFFED PANCAKES

Ingredients:

2/3 cup water
1/4 cup butter or olive oil
1 cup Kathleen’s Baking Mix
4 eggs

Filling of your choice – see note below.

Process:

Preheat oven to 400º F. Lightly coat a 9”x12” baking pan with cooking spray. Combine water and butter or oil in a medium-size saucepan. Bring to a boil, then add baking mix all at once. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture form a ball, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Batter should be smooth and glossy. Place batter in pan--smooth along bottom but not up the sides of the pan. Bake 30 minutes until puffed and golden Fill interior of pancake with sweet or savory filling of your choice. Serve hot.

Yield: 4 servings

Suggested Savory Fillings:

Chili
Creamed chicken and mushrooms
Roasted garlic vegetables and cheddar cheese
Vegetable chicken stir-fry

Suggested Sweet Fillings:

Cut fresh seasonal fruits with yogurt or unsweetened whipped cream

KATHLEEN'S BAKING MIX

Ingredients:

¾ cup oat flour
¾ cup brown rice flour
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder (non-aluminum)
½ tsp. baking soda

Process:

Combine all ingredients. Use as directed in Baking Mix recipes. Leftover mix can be stored in refrigerator tightly sealed for 1 week.

Yield: 1 ½ cups mix

For great program-friendly recipes, check out our Cookbook in the store and visit our online Radiant Recipes site.

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**Radiant YLD **

As you may realize we are in the process of designing our new website. This has made me think a lot about how I want to present the YLD program. I am thinking that many of you may not have gone back to the page where you sign up for YLD. It is fun to check it out here.

Check the testimonials here. I know the we don’t talk about them a lot because mostly I want to help you stop fretting about weight, weight and think breakfast, breakfast. But there is the truth of the program.

The new site will offer a special area for YLD members including our chat room, a special forum, the chat transcripts and special weight loss recipes. This won’t be ready the day of the big unveil, but it is in the works.

If you would like to join us in YLD, come find us here

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**Radiant Living **

The special membership program is all about support for learning how to *live* as you move towards radiance. The stability of your food and the steps will form a foundation to bring you into a new way of living. We will talk about emotional sobriety, finding passion in your life, disarming things that get in the way, program maturation and, of course, spirituality. When we are caught in addiction, we stop growing, we get stuck and stay stuck. Our commitment to doing life without addiction has catapulted us into something unexpected.

Radiant Living will allow you to share a dialogue with others – people who are asking the same questions and exploring answers boldly and with the humility that comes with doing the food.

These conversations will help you transform fear and give new tools for healing. We look at topics such as grief, crisis, trauma, emotional healing, revitalizing your program and stepping into your big self.

So the dialogue will be about the big picture and the practical ideas for daily implementations of the changes you are seeking. The dialogue will meet you where you are and offer ideas that you may not have heard before. Let go of old thinking that growing up has to be hard or painful. This is about joy, discovery, fun and creativity. And, of course, LOTS of laughter.

If you would like to join us in Radiant Living, come find us here

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**Some Thoughts on Losing Weight **

Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

I thought it might be helpful to share a little about the whole weight-loss component of the program. In the last week or so, I have gotten a couple of letters from women who have said they can't do Radiant Recovery because they cannot risk gaining any weight. They heard some people refer to that and it totally spooked them.

I have been thinking about this a lot. What most people do as an antidote to gaining weight is to not eat. Skip breakfast, use caffeine to cut appetite and save the calories or points for the *good* stuff. Or else they will be good for 3 days and then on the fourth, crash and binge. And then stop again and be good for a few days. They weigh themselves every day. A good day is the day when the scale drops or stays the same, a bad day is when it goes up. Every day is a day of fear, of horror and self loathing. And underneath, there is a profound sense of being out of control and hopeless.

So if you come here, and you are asked to simply focus on breakfast, to eat healthy, nourishing and healing foods and you are not cutting back to compensate, you might gain some weight. Or if you add in a wonderful, healing breakfast and are still bingeing on sweets and breads, you might gain some weight. But think about this...it is your addict brain that screams it is the PROGRAM, that PROGRAM did it. The addict brain forgets, truly forgets about the sweets and the bread and only remembers breakfast because you had things under control before.

Fast forward to the willing souls who wanted something who said, *you know, I am going to just do this...* and here they are in the Weight Loss in Action group - the place where we get down to the business of pounds and bodies. And some people chose to wait a while. They said, *nope, not yet.*

We started off with a list:

Where am I with each step specifically?

Have I worked through the shame of being fat?
Have I worked through the societal messages about being fat?
Am I motivated to do whatever it takes?
Do I have a clear exercise plan, somewhat.

Each person functionally just reported in. If she could check yes to each of these..then we stopped and did some catch up work. All the participants are on step 7, they have taken the Obesity Myth class, they have taken the Weight Loss Emotions class. There was no thrashing, no drama, no angst, no fear, no doubt.

Think about this...no shame, nothing. Just *well all right, then. Let's do it.* And we are walking through the 8 or 9 variables that affect the ability to lose weight. Each person will create a plan suited to her age, her size, her goals. Each will use her own foods, in her own house. Each will move as fast or as slowly as she wishes.

Now, I have to tell you, this list has an energy, excitement and enthusiasm that is extraordinary. Here we are with a thousand failed diets among us...and not one person is even thinking of that. I am enjoying the weight I am losing, but even more, I am having so much fun that it is really delightful. So yes, YLD does lead to weight loss, although, I am thinking I should rename it to MEB...My Enhanced Body.

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Thanks for reading! If you know someone who could benefit from this, feel free to forward it to them.

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Until next time!

Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:

Gretel, our webmaster, puts it all together.
David runs the Radiant Recovery^® Store.
mosaic contributes to the Notes from the Forum column.

©2015 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.

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