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July 13, 2015


Hi {!firstname_fix}

A week of quiet by the sea has been wonderful. The tide comes in and goes out. I went to a lecture on the tides and the person speaking showed a slide of the rhythm of the tide...it looked like the pattern of a heartbeat, or breathing in and breathing out. The bay here is a unique mix of warm and cold water churning - it brings lots of nutrients up from the sea floor and is why there are a bazillion lobsters.

We had lobsters on Thursday night...hard shells, impossible to get open, but one's work is rewarded with an incredible taste of lobsters taken from the sea that afternoon - like eating a real tomato in August just out of the garden.

I have been living vacation days, waking when I wake, watching some movies in the evening - Ratatouille one night, and a very grim French film called The Get. If any of you has ever seen it, write me. :) I have done none of the writing or painting that I planned. I read the NY Times every day sitting out on the deck listening to the buoys in the channel clang, feeling the breeze blow cool off the water while the sun warms me. It has not rained at all...David reports that it has rained non stop in Albuquerque. I am happy for being here to heal.


These classes 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. If you are drawn to excitement and *danger*, if you love stimulants like coffee and strong tea and risk taking, dopamine may be your thing and this class will suit you.
Depression (2 weeks) - Yes, the first book was called Potatoes Not Prozac for a reason. Learn about the biochemistry of depression, what meds do, how to use or not use meds as you progress through the steps. Learn why SSRI's don't always solve the problem. Become an informed consumer so you can speak to your doc in a clear and educated fashion about your needs.


This class will begin Wednesday, July 22, 2015. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:



Using Radiant Resources (1 week) - is a free orientation for those of you who are brand new and would like to find your way around all the things we offer in the community. One of our mentors will show you the ropes. Watch for the welcoming email with a link to join the Yahoo list we use as our classroom.


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 **


When you understand your sugar sensitivity, what has been an overwhelming mystery in your life becomes a fascinating journey in self-discovery.

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**Testimonial of the Week **


I think I am finally getting the hang of step 3.

I might even dare to say that I am growing to love step 3!

I've never experienced such steadiness in my life before.

I've never been so happily consistent with food before.

I'm beginning to experience hunger for the first time in my life and to really recognise when my body needs to eat and to feed it.

I'm finding that 5 hrs between meals works fine for me.

Step 4 (apart from the potato), 5 and 6 have just happened for me by accident while doing step 3 because my body is telling me what works for it and I am listening.

Next week will be the first big test as I will be away on holiday for the week. I think if I plan well and bring food with me I should be fine.

Thanks to everyone for all the support and learning I am getting here.

Helen


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**Notes from the Forum **


  • summer breeze on my bare legs
  • flowers in other people's gardens
  • scent of honeysuckle near our front door
  • working through a problem
  • singing in the car
Lately, I've been working on several things. I've already talked about my plans to eat a meal before I leave work if I'm not going straight home. That has been working really well.

Another goal is to do some work on decluttering and cleaning my house. My original plan was to do at least 15 minutes a day. This week was crazy, and I didn't get 15 minutes most days. But instead of just giving up or postponing the way I would have before, I decided that even if I wasn't able to do 15 minutes, I would do something. The next project on my list was to clean the master bathroom. I had already done the toilet over the weekend. Tuesday night I didn't have 15 minutes, but before I went to bed I cleaned the tub. Wednesday morning I had a couple of spare minutes, so I cleaned the mirrors. Wednesday night I cleaned the counter and sink, and put stuff away so it's much neater. Voila, clean bathroom that doesn't make me unhappy when I look at it. I've also been dealing with little things, like moving things that are in the wrong place to the right place. This weekend I am going to dust everything on top of my bureau. (We live on a dirt road and have 5 dogs who spend the day in a dirt floored kennel, so we get a lot of dust.) Now that I'm breaking baby steps into even smaller baby steps, I think I might actually be able to make things neater.

The other thing I am working on is living from a place of joy. Last night I had a joy adventure. When I got home, there was a pleasant, coolish breeze, and I decided to go for a walk. We have a trail that runs along an irrigation ditch, and that's where I usually walk when I'm at home. As I was walking, I heard loud rustling at the bottom of an embankment. I knew it was something bigger than a lizard, which is what I usually hear, so I stopped to see if I could see whatever was rustling. I could see something moving, but not really tell what it was. Then suddenly a black head with a white stripe down the middle popped out of the leaves. Uh oh, skunk! I decided to give him some space.

As I walked to the other side of the trail, I saw a Cooper's Hawk flying with prey in his talons. There's a pair of Cooper's Hawks who nest somewhere along the trail every year. I had looked for this year's nest a few days ago, but they weren't using any of the existing nests I knew of. The male landed on a tree on the other side of the ditch and started calling, "kik, kik, kik." I knew he was calling the female to come get the food, so I watched to see what direction she would fly in from. As she landed, I crossed the ditch (conveniently, this happened near a bridge) and walked down the road she had come from. In the first yard on the road, there was a huge tree, and I could see a huge nest in it. Aha! I will be back with binoculars this weekend.

In the area where I monitor nests, I have one mystery area where I keep seeing a male, but can't find a female in a nest. If only he would arrive with food when I was there, I could solve this mystery. Maybe sometime I'll just go there and sit for a while and see if I get lucky.

Allison



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** Radiant Recovery® Store **


I am really, really enjoying my "Your Body Speaks" journal. My tendency was always to put pressure on myself to write waaaaay too much, but having the structured pages has really helped. I'm actually noticing more now that there is "less" information-- it helps the important stuff to jump right out. I'm looking forward to working up to a journal review.

Kate


I thought it would be fun to hear Kate on journals. I have the black ones in stock and many blue ones.

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 **


Yam Cakes #1

Cook up your sweet potatoes (yams are so much easier to say, but we don’t get true yams), and mush them up. Add some oil (I use coconut oil), and about the same amount of rolled oats as you have of yams. I’ll use a cup of yams as an example. So you take your cup of yams, cup of oats, blurp of oil, and about 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, shredded coconut, and mix them all together. You want it to hold together, and be nice and sticky, so add water if you need to.

I then use a scoop, and make little mounds, but flatten them with a fork. Bake at 400* for about 15 to 20 minutes. I freeze these, and take them out as needed…they are yummy cold and yummy hot, and they don’t crumble, and don’t get mushy, and travel well!

Using peanut butter instead of the oil is yummy. And I bet you could experiment and use different spices…for variety.

Enjoy!
Colette

Yam Cakes #2

I bake a bunch of large yams all at once, slip them out of the skins, and freeze in 3 Cup containers. (I use sweet potatoes a lot, LOL — not just for yam cakes!)

When I’m ready to make yam cakes I thaw a 3-cup container of sweet potato, add a bit of water and warm slightly in the microwave, then mash them. I use a hand held potato masher, but you could use a food processor or whatever suits you.

I add 3 cups of quick-cooking rolled oats, 1 cup of Restore protein powder and 1 cup of PB. I also add some more water, about 1/3-1/2 of a cup (I used a total of 1/2 cup of water), to get a sticky, goopy, but partly pourable consistency. Press into a lightly greased 9 X 13 pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Cool and cut into 32 squares. Store in fridge or freezer. My math showed that 5 squares had about a one cup serving of brown and about 19 grams of protein.

Elaine in CO
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 **


Our approach to weight loss is based on Kathleen DesMaisons’ groundbreaking book, Your Last Diet! This is weight loss for real people. Your last Diet! Is the only weight loss program especially for sugar sensitive people. It addresses YOUR unique body and brain.

The first part of Your Last Diet works on healing the addiction to sugar by balancing your blood sugar, raising your serotonin and beta endorphin (brain chemicals associated with addiction)

This extraordinary text describes a process that means you will NEVER diet again. The program heals the reasons why you are overweight. It walks you through four-phase process to lose weight permanently and totally stop the pattern of yo-yo dieting. The 4 phases are:
  1. Weight Loss Readiness
  2. Healing
  3. Action and weight loss
  4. Staying Steady
Ignore that old idea of weight as a function of calories, exercise and will power. That won’t work for you. You have already tried it and you know you need something more. You are a diet expert. It is time to convert those skills into a plan that heals.

This lifetime membership gives you everything you need to succeed at weight loss. There is NO failure in this program. There is no pressure, no stress, no yelling in your face. We think of this as a program for The Biggest Winner! Your program will include:
  • People who understand and mentor you
  • A dedicated list on Yahoo with Direct access to Kathleen
  • Access to a dedicated chat held at 2 different times each week
  • Access to classes specific to weight loss
There is no step requirement to participate, only honesty, willingness and openness. This is an annual membership program with a fee of $99.

If you would like to join, 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.

There is no step requirement to participate, only honesty, willingness and openness. This is an annual membership program with a fee of $99.



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


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**THE CALM **
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.



We have been talking a lot on the step six list on the time after detox. Often it feels “flat” because the spiky life that comes with addiction is quiet. Drama and chaos have faded. Regular life seems a little less exciting than expected.

Sometimes people are startled by this. They define it as “boring”.

Recently, someone named it THE CALM.

That is a wonderful image.

Seeking The CALM.

I think a lot of radiance is about fostering the CALM and then being filled with a sense of hope and optimism.

It definitely grows on you.



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Until next time!
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©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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