Pouring rain
Aug 21 2023,
 
Hi {!firstname_fix}, 
     It has been a while since I have sent a newsletter.  This is a picture of one of the six puppies I have been caring for. I took a dog from the shelter and was told he was a depressed male who needed some quiet time. Two days later he produced these. She looks like a white Golden Retriever. Dad is not known. How can a gene pool instruct those kinds of markings. Now the puppies are bigger. They scream to "me" for dinner since mama has decided she is done. This is my Golden Retriever Track.
     Back to Radiant Recovery®. Over the summer, we did a lot of work on restriction. What an impact on every level. Then we have been grappling with why Kathleen doesn't support intermittent fasting for sugar sensitive people,LOL. All this and more and somehow processing in the newsletter got deferred. Somehow the summer months just flew by.
     The other morning, I felt a change in the air. Just a slight shift. But it was a whiff of autumn and it was very pleasant. We have a lot planned for fall - catching up, making sense of what is happening in the world, and eating enough :) I was thinking about this today. I wrote it in my journal - Enough, on time. I thought about it at 11, and at 5 and made little shifts.It made a difference during the day.
     This evening there are hUGE rain clouds hanging about over the mountains. It didn't rain. I was watching closely because I had the puppies out in the yard and was on alert for a downpour. They were going wild because they were on dirt. A couple of them were actively digging. Their paternal heritage is unknown, but something sure got stirred by dirt! That was so surprising to me. I just love genetics. What stirs us to dirt or the smell of a potato baking?
     I will look forward to hearing more about how you are and what will support your recovery.
 
Support for Your Program
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 ReD THIS, LOL. IT DOES HAVE SOMETHING NEW IN IT. REQWe have a master community email list. It is a nice place to get started if you are new to the community or are coming back and are wondering what to do.  Introduce yourself and ask for help. Or just listen. We won't mind.

The list has been quiet recently but we will get some energy over there with conversations about sweeteners and doing the food. The community is made up of a huge number of introverts which means LISTENING is held in high esteem. We will direct you to the right spot for your questions. It's fine if you know nothing, just stop in and you will be welcomed.

 

GROUPS
The groups list is up on the web site. Click on the top bar where it says GROUPS Just sign up for the group you would like to join. Read about the group before you ask to join. If you are starting or returning, join the Step One list. Don't join Step One and Step Two and Step Three all at the same time. If you have any trouble joining, send me an email at  and we will get you all set.     Join the Step One List now.
 
Let me give you a little overview of how things fit together.Think 3 phases of recovery, pre-steps, steps, and life on Step 7.  Now, all of this kinda slowed down during covid.  It may seem like a lot of "new" stuff but it really isn't. We will talk about it in the chats over the next couple of weeks so you can ask questions and get clear.
 
Step lists: doing the food and getting skills for each step. They support getting off of sugar and healing sugar addiction. There is no fee for being on the step lists.
 
And then comes support for the things you want to do after you are steady.
 
YLD is for  healing fat terror, losing weight, healing your body image and learning to exercise in a healthy way. The primary focus is about healing the addiction that lurks beneath the weight. We do zoom chats  every week as part of YLD. And there are a lot of people in YLD who are not at all concerned about weight but just love the connection.
 
You can email me if you have an questions. If you have questions about intermittent fasting, ask on a list :)
 

WORKING ONE ON ONE WITH KATHLEEN

 

People wonder if it would be beneficial to work with me directly. I can help you step out of the craziness of sugar addiction, return to steadiness and clarity after slipping away, slow down and focus on your recovery, or deepen a steady rhythm of recovery. This particular option is especially helpful if you did the steps a while ago and then kinda meandered away. Or if you are facing some intense times and would like skillful support. 
 
The most useful time to think about this is after you have started Step 3. Even if you do just one session, I can help you "see" the places that might be the hardest for you. Basically it shortens the groping around by a year or so. 
 
Go here to learn more about it.  we can do a no fee"discovery" session to see if commiting to one on one work would be a good fit for both of us. Email me if you would like more information. I am happy to talk to you about options. 

 
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
If you prefer talking on Facebook, come over to our group there. Radiant Recovery®, While our Facebook presence is primarily intended to be "social" there is step work support.

Testimonial for the Week

 Wanting to isolate and crawl into a private little cave is very SS. Isolation is a major challenge for me and so I made a promise to myself. When I start having "done to, why me, unworthy, unlovable and fat feelings" and they show up in my journal for 2 days in a row, I send out a cry for help. Every time I have done that the results have been magical. Not just in terms of support, understanding and love, but practical step by step instructions about what to do to feel better again. This Community will carry me and you when we can't walk and they will never let us down.


 

Melodie

 

 

Radiant Recovery Store
David Smiling
David, my oldest son, runs our store. He makes sure your orders go out quickly and works with you to find the best things suited to where you are in your process. Many people think of him as their personal concierge.
 
Please note, George's® Restore has been on backorder for waaaay longer than we ever expected. We fina.ly have a packing date for the end of the month. We are shifting from the plastic containers to standup bags. I will be writing a whole article about the challenges of such a task, but I promise that the day it is ready, we will be shipping it.  I will probably do a whole newsletter to announce it
 

In this newsletter we are featuring our wonderful cookbook Called Recipes to Remember. It has great ideas for a successful program. Way more than just recipes. Honestly, everytime I pick it up and read stuff init, I love it even more. If you don't have it, you will want it!

 

 

Come visit our STORE. Or call 505-345-3737.
Your Product Name
Recipes to Remember

Your Last Diet

After all this time YLD continues to be a favorite place for people in the community. If you struggle with your body image, if you have chased diets for years, here is a wonderful alternative to all the things you have tried. The Zoom chats are really fun and people learn a lot. They are a time for connection and learning. We are looking at all sorts of intriguing ideas like "Why we crave chocolate and why some people don't" [it's genetic.] If you want to heal what really drives you to gain weight, we have the answer.

 

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. And remember it is a lifetime membership so if you joined in 2008, you can still come back.
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REBUILDING RECOVERY

 


 

     In the past few weeks, I have been reading about the concept of "long covid". I have referenced the idea of our experiencing cultural PTSD. I think the neurochemical impact is much like recovery from stimulant addiction. Too much, too fast, more than can be processed. No rest, no down time, no recuperation.

     I think that looking at our knowledge of stimulation addiction and its neurochemicak impact can inform us about healing. Stimulant addiction includes things like cocaine, methamphetamine, diet pills, ephedrine drinks, psuedopepipephrine drinks, Sudafed, caffeine, Ritalin, or NutraSweet products.

     All of these substances activate or cause to be activated a brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine makes you feel bright, clear, focused and functional and creates a state of hyper alertness. When you first start using these substances, you feel like you can take on the world. After a while, your brain adjusts and you simply feel “normal” after use and very discombobulated when the effect wears off. Addiction sets in when you start needing your substance in order to stave off the withdrawal.

     But if the stimulation comes from DANGER, it really wouldn't occur to you that you would have "withdrawal." But think about this: withdrawal from stimulants makes you feel dull, foggy, sludgy, torpid, teary, scattered and incapable of functioning. If we feel this coming down from the hyper-alert state of COVID, and all the other DANGER things that have been happening in the world. It makes sense that we would be drawn to something to take care of it.

     And it is fascinating to me that all of a sudden ADHD diagnosis is spreading like wildfire. And as soon as you get your ‘drug”, even if it is a Diet Coke, you feel better. Stimulant addiction is seductive. As a sidebar, this is true of restriction and intermittent fasting as well. You feel so fine when you are using and so bad when you are not, it is almost inconceivable to imagine not having it.

     But, part of you has known that it is progressive and you are feeling worse. You no longer have times of feeling good, and a particular kind of bone weary exhaustion started setting in. You had to up the dose, or shorten the time between your “fixes”. What started as one latte in the morning became a triple in the morning and a single in the afternoon just to function. Or your "fast" drops another meal. You knew you were in trouble and decided it was time to do something.

     Doing the steps helped to get you to this place. You have been reasonably steady with your food and you were ready to get out from under this addiction. For the sake of this discussion, I am going to assume you  feel pretty crappy. This is a how to intervention to hold you up and restore your brain so that your willingness to get clean can stick over time.

     There are 3 very specific changes you are going to make over a 3-month period to get your old brain back. [and yes, you can get back to normal!]

  1. Increase your protein intake to .6 grams per pound of your body weight.  But play with it to see what has the best effect.  Or, since many of you have been cutting your protein because you are concerned about gaining weight or because it just seemed like the right thing to do, maybe just slide it back up to .5.
  2. You are working to increase the level of large neutral amino acids, particularly one called tyrosine. Tyrosine is the precursor to dopamine just like tryptophan is the precursor to serotonin. Do not just go get some tyrosine [you see I know the addict’s mind, LOL]. You want the “package” that comes with protein meals. 1
  3. In the early weeks of your recovery plan, you may want to add a protein snack mid morning and mid afternoon. .
  4. Increase the size of your potato at night. Or actually have the potato LOL. Serotonin reduces the craving for stimulants. If you start having wild or hallucinogenic dreams, simply cut back on the size of the potato.. Find the edge so you are getting restorative and restful dreaming and not getting uncomfortable dreams.2
  5. Take omega 3 fatty acids. Do not take mega doses. More is not better. These fatty acids are abundant in the membranes that are associated with synaptic function – the place where the neurotransmitters talk with one another. Increasing the omega 3s helps restore this function. 3 

     Make a concerted effort to stay away from foods that are high in omega 6 fatty acids – things like margarine and saturated fats [butter, cream, and meat fat] Eat foods high in omega 3 like cold water fishes such as salmon.

     I am including some citations here if you would like to read more about this. They are linked so you can read the actual abstract on line. If you click on the link that says related articles, you can follow the topic and gather more information. The cites are older, but you can read what people are writing now about each topic.  I posted these in June. I want you to read them so I am posting again.

     And of course, you may always email me at radiantkd@mindspring.com. But if you want to argue with me about IF - do it on a list LOL so everyone hears my answers over and over.

 

Kathleen


 

1Fernstrom, JD, Can nutrient supplements modify brain function? Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Jun;71(6 Suppl):1669S-75S. Review.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10837313&dopt=Abstract

2Yu DS, Smith FL, Smith DG, Lyness WH. Fluoxetine-induced attenuation of amphetamine self-administration in rats. Life Sci. 1986 Oct 13;39(15):1383-8.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=3489876&dopt=Abstract

3Zimmer L, Vancassel S, Cantagrel S, Breton P, Delamanche S, Guilloteau D, Durand G, Chalon S. The dopamine mesocorticolimbic pathway is affected by deficiency in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Apr;75(4):662-7.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11916751&dopt=Abstract

 

This is Grace unfolding. You are not alone.
©2023 Kathleen DesMaisons. All rights reserved. You are free to use or transmit this article to your blog 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 for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction. 

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