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You are subscribed to Simple Solutions the monthly newsletter from Radiant Recovery®. To unsubscribe, find instructions at the end of this email. A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted on the web at http://www. radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter.

Before I talk about this week's classes, let me remind you that I am going to do a seminar in New York City on Sunday, September 25. We will cover 3 things: the overview of sugar sensitivity for those of you who are new, what we are learning about weight loss, and a special topic based on the interests of the participants. We still have some space, so if you would like to come, click here.

This last week threw us all for a loop. Our current classes are a little backlogged. I am going to hold off on starting any new classes this week except the Back to Basics 1 class for those of you who are wobbling.

In two weeks we will be starting the IBD class for those of you who have Irritable Bowel Disorder. If you wish to join this class, please go ahead and order a copy of Breaking the Vicious Cycle from the Store. We will be referencing it in the class. The class will run two weeks.

A number of you have asked me how the classes work. Check the class list page for more information on this. The classes are done online with one lesson each day. You do not have to be at your computer at any set time.

Please feel free to pass this week's newsletter on to your friends and family. Don't forget to let me know what you like and would like to see me cover.

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

Warmly,
Kathleen

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September 12, 2005

** Quote From Kathleen **

For a while, you may struggle with the concept of 'doing the food.' Something so simple and not sexy can be so powerful.

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** Testimonial for the Week**

Hello, I just wanted to write to express my appreciation for your work. I live in south Mississippi and was in the path of the eye of the hurricane as well as tornadoes. Needless to say, this has been a wek that has stretched the limits in every possible way.

You program has helped get me through. I continued to take vitamins each day, eat good food as best I could, and kept going. I could look at things clearly, help my neighbors and help my family. I had no desire to turn to sugars - I was so solid that I understood that consuming sugars would add an additional burden.

Again, my thanks. My health is the foundation that I will build upon and that starts with the food. This is all so overwhelming.

Mary

The news does not portray the full story of hurricanes. After hurricane Ivan the whole Pensacola community came together and as a whole we started to rebuild. The property that was destroyed is rebuilt to the higher hurricane standards. The people in neighborhoods came out and started talking to each other. We shared food, water and ice. We helped each other clean up. We shared chain saws, blowers and ladders. We have pet rescue come in immediately after the storm. All the loose animals are picked up, treated and kept at a central location. There were a lot of pet reunions after the storm. A lot of the hotels here in Florida will allow pets and owners to evacuate together. We have pet shelters that will take pets so that the owners can evacuate. All the camaraderie that happens does not make good copy for the news media. So they will show you everything that did not work, that is dramatic and heart-wrenching. They don’t balance it with heartwarming stories of the community. New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama will all rebuild and grow. The levees will be improved. The homes will be rebuilt better, the elevation will be improved. Some people will not return, others will. Some will find that they thrive much better in their new location. It is amazing how what is a tragedy at the moment turns into the catalyst that changes someone’s life for the better. I am not saying that there isn’t sorry, sadness, grieving and incredible pain. It is a very difficult time for everyone but out of tragedy a beautiful rose will blossom.

Eva

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**Recipe of the Week**

This is a great dip for vegetables or to spread on Ryvitas.

CHUMUS

2 cans of chickpeas, drained or 4 cups of cooked chickpeas
8 oz. tahini (sesame butter - mixed according to package directions)
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 T. olive oil
2 tsp. paprika (garnish)
2 tsp. chopped parsley (garnish)

Blend all ingredients, except oil and garnishes. Place in serving dish and drizzle oil on top. Sprinke with paprika and parsley. Serve with vegetables, whole grain crackers and whole grain pita.

Variation: a) you can add 1/4 cup of cooked chickpeas to the blended mixture before drizzling the oil and topping with the garnishes b) you can add a few tablespoons of roasted peppers and omit the garnish of parsley and paprika

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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**

OK, we have been making a number of changes over at YLD to serve you better. A number of you came to the weight loss list just starting the program. I figure you will be way better served by having an introductory class suited to you. We now have a multiphase program for you.

Here is how it works.

Everyone participates in the main YLD discussion list as they like. And everyone may participate in the Monday and Wednesday chats as they can. Monday chat is held by Patti and Vicki and is for Questions and Answers. Wednesday is held by Kathleen and is a different topic each week. Transcripts of the chats are posted on the main YLD list.

YLD Weightloss Classes - These are 10-week classes for YLD members on the principles of planning your weight loss program. There is no charge, they are available to you with your YLD membership. If you are not currently a member you can click here to sign up. We are just starting a new round of all the classes right now. If you sign up right now, you will be able to join us in this round.

The YLDfoundation Class is for those who are on Steps 0-3 of the basic Radiant Recovery program. If you wish to join this class, click here.

The YLDweightloss Class is for those on Step 7. If you are on steps 4-7, you may join and listen. If you get spooked, go back and join the YLDfoundation class. If you wish to join this class, click here.

The YLDweightloss In Action class is for graduates of the YLDweightloss class. It is a practicuum on putting the priinciples into practice. If you have completed the YLDweightloss Class and wish to continue on, click here.

If you have registered for YLD membership with a different email address from the one you are using for the class, please note on your class application what that other address is. Otherwise we will not be able to verify that you are a YLD member and your request to join the class will be delayed or denied.

For those of you who are not yet YLD members, click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun. A number of you have asked me about the option of installment payments for YLD. We have set up an option of making 3 payments of $40 each. That option will come up when you go to subscribe.

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**David's Corner **

If you are going to be joining the IBD class, you can order Breaking the Vicious Cycle here.

I am excited about our subscriptions program. If you are not sure how it works, call me and I would be happy to explain.

We have been doing a lot of discussion about George's Shake. Kathleen was walking by the other day with a jar of shake in hand. I know she had been using Jr. for a while, so I asked her why she was going back to regular. She said, *oh, it is just so EASY* and she was laughing. One stop shopping. Just scoop and go. Don't forget you get 25% off if you order 6 at a time.

Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. As you know from my note last week, I have set up a little planning group to talk about what we want for the store. Please click here to join me at radiantstoredevelopment.

One other quick reminder. We do not have a telemarketing company handle the phone service. If you call at 5 AM our time, you get the voice mail. You are welcome to leave your order or ask any questions. I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks
David

And of course, we have something for everybody in our store

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**Our Online Groups**

RadiantPets is tons of fun for all of us critters that live with sugar-sensitive humans! We have lots of fun talking about how beta endorphin affects our humans and how we can help give them more BEs with our antics. It is mainly us pawed critters, but we do have the occasional feathered, finned, hoofed, or scaled critter that chime in. We also get to learn new antics to try from our friends on the list. Since we love to make new friends feel free to join in on our fun!

Harley and Ranger (who is no stranger to danger)

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** Featured Topic**
Take Some Time With Your Program
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

The past few weeks have just knocked most of us on the side of the head with our programs. Even the most skilled found things like timing to be hard. Sometimes watching too much TV, sometimes the intensity of the feelings, and sometimes simple logistics added a new piece into the equation.

The week's article is one of my favorites. I am updating it some for today. I think it is comforting. Think about where you are in your process. Have you been rigorous, detailed and persistent? Have you dallied, played or poked with the steps? Are you being attentive to how you feel? Are you taking extra care? Have you kept up with your journal? As you go through this process, notice how you criticize or judge yourself. Do you ascribe "good" to rigor and "bad" to dabbling? Listen to your inner judge carefully and discover if she or he is an ally or a saboteur.

Work with the inner voices. They are crucial to your long-term success. This process may not work the way you might expect. Sometimes diligence is less useful than dalliance. For many, many years you have demanded that you be self-disciplined. You have pushed yourself and felt guilty when you couldn't do what you demanded of yourself. Perhaps there is a different way of doing this work. Perhaps we can change your relationship to your body and your way of making change.

When I first started doing my own plan, I thought that "getting" the program meant doing it fully, being diligent, following the instructions and not "poking around." I still held the belief that being disciplined and focused were the only ways to go. Now, I am not so sure that these are the criteria for succeeding with the program.

Now, I am convinced that something else is operating, something a little more subtle and unexpected. I believe that showing up and being in relationship to your body will help you more than being tough on yourself. Let me outline how I got to thinking this way.

I used to lead a ten-week guided imagery series called Finding Healing From Within. Each week, we would do a guided meditation. After the meditation, the participants would draw what they experienced and the group would share their feelings. Sometimes a group member would sleep through every single meditation and "make up" a drawing because they had no memory of anything in the meditation. This made me really uncomfortable. Was I failing these people? Were they failing the group? Were they in denial? How could they sleep through my wonderful imagery?

At the end of ten weeks, we reviewed the progress of everyone in the group. How had they changed? How did they feel? Surprisingly, time and time again, the "sleepers" would have as remarkable a change as the "doers." Not once, not twice, but every single time. Ten weeks of sleeping through and they would report a profound sense of inner healing. They didn't "work it." They slept through the meditations on a conscious level. But they were there. They showed up and they drew the pictures and they talked about their process.

This experience taught me something. The act of showing up creates change. It creates powerful change even if on the outside it may not seem so. Making a commitment to healing starts a process - a chain of events that is much deeper than we may think. When you say, "I will get better," when you begin to hold the idea of "Whatever it takes" something starts to shift.

Given this, I looked again at the effect dalliance and diligence might have on the 7 steps of healing sugar sensitivity. I started looking at my own process of doing the steps. What was happening when I was playing around? Could those times be like the sleeping times in my guided imagery class? Could change be happening in spite of what seemed to be inattention? I looked in my journal. I discovered something astounding. When I was there attending to the steps, listening to my body, writing in my journal, even if I wasn't doing it perfectly, change was happening. I was making progress even when I was being kinda sloppy.

Think of the sleepers. The sleepers were there in the room with the group. Every week. They woke up, colored with the group, and talked about sleeping. So when I showed up and kept the journal and wrote about sleeping through my food plan, I was still engaged with my body and working the steps. I was talking with myself about what was happening. I was not criticizing myself for food sleeping, I was simply watching. And I kept coming back to the journal. I kept coming back to my body and my healing.

The nature of the sugar sensitive person is to give up when things get difficult. Like the C57 mice, 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 "sleep", 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 your 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?"

©Kathleen DesMaisons 2005.

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

Gretel, the liaison for the recovery list and the webmaster puts it all together
Naomi gathers the recipes
JoAnna, the liaison for affiliates gathers the testimonials
Marie, the liaison for diabetes gathers the info on the online lists
David, who runs the Radiant Recovery® Store talks about what new products we have.