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October 10, 2016


Hi {!firstname_fix}

I haven't been home for the Balloon Fiesta for a number of years. I truly love it. One morning I drove over in the direction of the field, stopped for my decaf and parked and just watched the balloons drifting overhead. It was quite amazing.

I have been working on the coloring book for EuroRanch. First I get the concepts all outlined and then I think about what images to use. I went over to Barnes and Noble and looked at the coloring book department. I hadn't realized that coloring books are all the rage. I might have to upgrade my art a bit. I got a Harry Potter book for style, then traded it in for something else...oh, a For Dummies book on Facebook. I am helping David set up a Facebook page for his Volleyball club team. So it helps me learn stuff I don't know.

I am working on setting up a new system for our classes. It will take them out of Yahoo which we are hoping will make it much easier for all of you. Should have the prototype done this afternoon, we will test it and then let you know when we are ready for our first try out.

Have one slot left for EuroRanch in case anyone has a last minute desire. I am stoked for it this year!


This class will begin Wednesday, October 12, 2016. Please Signup and it will take you to the registration page:

Is YLD for Me

This FREE *tour* will give you a sense of what joining YLD will and will not give you. Other than being able to talk about weight without being asked to talk about breakfast instead, LOL, you will learn about the process, the information you can learn, the chats and the list. It is a wonderful peek into the inner workings of our rather unique weightloss offering.
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These classes will begin Wednesday, October 19, 2016. Please Signup and it will take you to the registration page:

Using Radiant Resources

This FREE class will teach you all the ins and outs of the resources in the community. You will learn to navigate the community forum, learn how to use the resource center, check out Radiant Ranch, and learn your way around the website. You will be on your way with an invaluable resource in your pocket!
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Brain Chemistry Serotonin

Learn all about the “just say no” chemical. Learn how your depression may be affected by your diet. Learn how to manipulate serotonin levels safely and with tenderness. A real hands-on lesson in feeling better.
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Check the class list page for more information on how the classes work. See the the Class Schedule here.

Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery website and Community Forum regularly.

Warmly,
Kathleen


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**Quote From Kathleen**



One of the real markers of your recovery is to begin to think about your food needs before you get into trouble.

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**Testimonial of the Week**



One year several of us gathered up a bunch of Halloween ideas. They haven't been put into any order, but I thought I would go ahead and share what was done with all of you. I'll post them in separate posts...there's a bunch of information. Please make additions if you have any!

This first post is ideas of what to give out at the door for visiting trick-or-treaters...food items and non-food items.

Colette

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Food Treats
  1. Individual wrapped packets of microwave Popcorn. Sam's Club or Costco has the big box. Local grocery stores may have boxes of this...it is a little more expensive but more convenient.
  2. Individual wrapped packets of Halloween pretzels from Sam’s Club, brand name Utz. The pretzels come in black-and-orange packages, and are shaped like bats and pumpkins. One large "bucket" contains 60 packages of pretzels.
  3. Individual bags of Barbara's potato chips. These are the kind made from potatoes with the skin on them. They can be a little pricey but if you don't get a lot of kids at your house they would work
  4. Peanuts, prepackaged (this you need to be cautious with as many children have allergies to peanuts...we gave it to the children we knew / bought from Costco)
  5. Apples (to the children that we know)
Non-Food Treats (Have your kids wrap them individually in spooky wrapping paper)
  1. Party supply stores (Party City):
    • Little packages of tattoos
    • Puzzles
    • Spider rings
    • Skeletons
  2. Target or Oriental Trading Company (Oriental Trading Company is much cheaper and has a huge variety):
    • Themed straws (pumpkins, bats, and ghosts)
    • Pencils
    • Mini-playdoh containers
  3. Glow-in-the-dark jewelry (Buy online - do a search for glow-in-the-dark bracelets, for example and lots of websites will show up)
  4. Halloween pencils and Halloween "bendy" straws (online search)
  5. Crayons/pads/booklets/stampers


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**Radiant Recovery® Store**



I thought you would enjoy a little of the back story of Restore.

As some of you may remember, a few years ago, our vendor reneged at the last minute and informed us that they were unwilling to process our regular order. They have recently been purchased by a much larger operation and decided that they did not want to serve small business. Most of their runs do 20,000 to 1,000,000 units at a time. A little 1,000 unit run just was not interesting to them.

And unfortunately, they gave us a very short lead time to deal with this. Had we known 4 months earlier, we would have been able to secure an alternative production company before our run-out date. So we had a *gap* in product.

The good news was that we found a blender who can turn things around in a very short time. I worked 10 hours a day to find suppliers, get things ordered, determine amounts, change the label, get it printed and get all the materials to the blender.

The process was grueling and involved hundreds of emails, many, many phone calls and details beyond my imagination. And all of it had to be exactly correct. Change the type of jar ever so slightly, and you have to redesign the label and make a new die to hold it in place for printing. But I went through every single issue piece by piece or perhaps nano by nano.

The good news is that we have generated the ability to order much sooner and with far more control over delivery date, which means WE WILL NOT RUN OUT. The last year has been a nightmare for me in having to go through these back-order blips. I can say that being *down and dirty* with the materials at this level has given me a whole different appreciation for how unique our product is.

The blender says, *And what about the sweetener?* And I say, *We don't put any in,* and they are confused. They say, *You only have 2 ingredients?* And I say, *Yes...the power comes with the synergy of them...the formula creates a unique taste.* And now I can attest to the source of all the ingredients...and I learned that the whey protein isolate actually comes from New Mexico cows. That was a sweet twist for all the hassle of the last few weeks. The milk concentrate comes from Idaho. Everything gets shipped to California to be packaged.

We have not compromised on the quality. Read other labels and see the ratio of the grams of protein to the total grams of product. Most companies are upping the *other* ingredients (rather than whey protein isolate) because they are cheaper. Most companies are putting all sorts of other things in. We are not. We were the first to make a *sugars free* product. We do not add sweetener. I developed a formula that makes an incredible taste. So you are getting a fabulous product from a woman-owned company using US ingredients from the finest suppliers.

When David and I tasted the blend, we both agreed it tastes better than the old.

I am deeply thankful for your patience with all this. Your loyalty and kindness is the reason I took on the task of making sure that OUR shake continues. And once we get this project settled, I will turn to adding a new product called George's® Vitamins.

Put your orders in now.

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**



I love broccoli! And since we are talking about it in the veggie class, I thought you would like this yummy recipe that is sure to win over your family to eating greens. I adapted this from a real simple magazine recipe.

BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC LEMON CRUMBS
  • 2 slices Ezekiel bread (or any whole grain bread of your choosing) or you can substitute with 3 slices of Ryvita. If you are gluten free, you can use gluten free crumbs.
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 large bunch broccoli, cut into florets
Grate the zest from the lemon and then cut the lemon in half, squeezing the juice from half the lemon and putting it aside. Put the bread in a food processor or blender to make bread crumbs. Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the bread crumbs and sauté over medium heat until toasted. Add the crushed garlic and the lemon juice into the pan. Add the salt and cook, stirring constantly, until dry. Place the florets on a microwave-safe plate and sprinkle with a few tablespoons of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave 3 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove and sprinkle with the Garlic Lemon Crumbs.
For great program-friendly recipes, check out our Cookbook in the store and visit our online Radiant Recipes site.

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**Radiant Your Last Diet**



When I first wrote Your Last Diet, I did not know the depth of its power. Over time, as we have been doing the process together, the meaning of the process is clearer. And as the gaps emerged, the classes filled them in like an ever growing mosaic. Now we have a process enriched by your lived experience. And most significantly, we have chats which are like a constantly shifting neural feedback system. You try it, we talk, we share, and the nuance and tips emerge in the dialogue. It is a pretty amazing thing. And way more than about weight loss. I think it is more about body image, sense of self, and finding esteem.



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


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**Radiant Living**



Radiant Living started in a discussion at Ranch where some of the more experienced people asked, *Kathleen, where can we go to talk about life things...we have a good sense of the food and doing the steps. How can we work on what these changes mean in our lives?* So this arena is designed for that. If you are new in the program, come on over to listen to the *promises* of recovery. If you are skilled with the food and ready for a turbo-charged edition, this is the place for you. And often we talk about the article from the prior Sunday's newsletter.



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


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**Misery Calls More Than We Realize**

Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.



There was a motivational speaker at the conference who talked about holding onto a painful story and running it over and over. it really touched people. It made me think it would be helpful to offer you the Addiction to Misery article again.

I have often reflected on why some people stay stuck in being miserable. No matter what life presented them, they would pick out certain variables to show that once again life was against them. This pattern went beyond your basic garden negativity. It was more like “I will continue my attachment to misery no matter what. It doesn’t matter what good comes to me, I know it is not real.”

This pattern defied logic to me. Why would perfectly thoughtful, intelligent people want to live this way? My first clue in sorting this out came when I noticed my own physical response. I withdrew energy, disengaged and did not want to hang with misery or the miserable. When I realized that nothing I did or said changed anything, I just backed off.

One day, in the shower, I had an incredible thought. My body was responding to les miserables just the way it does around active alcoholics and addicts. If someone commits to change, asks for help, listens and moves, I am there in a flash. But stay stuck, go round and round, whine, stay miserable no matter what, I just don’t want to spend time on the boat with it. The more I have healed my own codependency the less I can do rescuing.

As I was rinsing the shampoo, I thought, “what if we can be addicted to misery?” As soon as that thought passed through, I knew it was true. It would explain the tenacious holding on, the energy, the devotion to it.

So then I trundled off to do some research on this. My books, google and PubMed all gave clues. Yep, misery evokes beta-endorphin. Misery evokes the same brain chemical activated by alcohol, heroin, morphine and sugar. When we are miserable, our brains release BE so we feel better. It soothes us until it wears off and then we have to go back for more.

We become attached to it. We get romantic and intense about all the bad things that have happened to us. We do “woe is me!”. And…significantly, we become tolerant to it, just like with any drug. Then we need bigger misery. More, more. We amp up the feeling of less than, not good enough, poor, not smart enough, not rich enough, not educated enough. And if life does not cooperate by offering enough brutal events, we create them in our minds. We need to feel worse to feel ok.

We create catastrophe in our minds, we exaggerate, we munch to create drama and perpetuate the BE feelings. The increasing tolerance creates immunity to the little negatives, so we need more misery. We then take neutral events and shape them into desperate drama. For example. Perhaps you live on little money. You feel bad because you are poor. And you have low BE because you are sugar sensitive. So you overdraft your account, you pay late, you skip your taxes. And your tolerance grows so things get worse and worse.

And when you try to change this pattern, you actually go into withdrawal. So you need to find other misery to grow. You stay in a horrible job, an abusive marriage, a bad apartment. You go round and round and misery becomes your way to being in the world.

When you first hear this, it may be confusing. You don’t feel you are seeking it; you aren’t looking for a "high”. But think of it another way. BE is a painkiller. When life is hard, your natural tendency is to look for ways to soothe the pain. You unconsciously turn to things that do that, and then you get hooked. You didn’t know. Just like you didn’t know sugar was a drug until you were way in.

Les miserables is a hard one to face. You might feel shame at first and think, “oh dear gawd, not more!”

But the joy of healing is that now you understand. Now you have a name for what you thought was just circumstance. Now you can make sense and take action. You start to laugh at yourself. You get amazed at the skill your little inside addict has…it can find ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to make you feel ok. It has a good heart, it is trying its best to have you not feel pain. It is just a little misguided and now, in your recovery, you will do something a little different.

You will kiss it on its little black nose, and say “ah, nice try, baby, but we aren’t doing that anymore…..” You will see that you do not want a life of les miserables. You are ready for something different. You can go to school, you can find ways to work with little money, you can leave abusive relationships, you can find a life of joy. This is what recovery is about. When you do the food, you do way more than give up sugar. You are HEALING addiction on a cellular level. Healing is real and it is yours for the doing.



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Until next time!
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©2016 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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