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Do Not skip this section even if you have read it before. I am putting
surprises in.
We have a master community email list. It is 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 community is made up of a huge number of introverts which means LISTENING is heal 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 Join it now.
GROUPS
The groups list is up on the web site. 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
kathleen@radiantrecoverycom and we will get you all set.
CLASSES
I am going to be doing a split class on journaling. I will do it on Zoom so you can actually see examples of early journals and later journals. Unit one will be for people starting on journal (steps 2-5) and Unit 2 will be for people who are steady with
their program and ready to do interpretation. Each unit will start with the Zoom live discussion and then we will spend time in a group email discussion learning the skills.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
WORKING WITH KATHLEEN
People have been asking for a long time how they might be able to work with me directly. We wanted to set up something that was accessible and affordable so we designed a system of coaching that seems to be working well. If you are serious about enhancing your program and would like to have ongoing coaching, this might be a good option. Support is provided in a small group with people who are looking at similar
concerns. I am in each coaching group. This is not a class but is a process to support your progress. The process includes peer support with my guidance and direction.
Coaching includes several options now: Return to Radiance Coaching for those who have done the steps in the past and then drifted and would like to get back on track. This is a good place to plug in if you have gotten wobbly and would like to restart your program.
Skilled Coaching is for people who are steady on the steps and ready to work on Step 7 life skills.
The fee for these three coaching options is $20 @ week, billed in 2 week intervals. If you wish to join coaching send an email and say what you are interested in and
why.
I also provide individual one on one intensive coaching called Signature
Coaching. 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.
This is a 3 month process that includes doing an in-depth assessment of where you are in the process, designing an individual plan for you and then talking with me once a week via phone or Zoom to work on your progress. You will learn to do an efficient journal and to identify your strengths and challenges.
This is the way to step out of feeling overwhelmed with where to start and what to do. Because it is so individualized, we can work on what is right for you at this point in your journey. People tell me that coaching helps them feel safe and focused. We work with your
style, your rhythm. This is a unique opportunity to release your fear and let go of shame.The guidance can shorten and ease your process so that in 3 months you will do what you might take a year to do on your own. Signature coaching is also an excellent way to tackle any special needs you may have. like wanting to get sober, or dealing with insulin resistance, or integrating doing the food with special medical concerns.
And in fact, we have developed some creative personalized plans especially suited to where people are in the program and what will work best to support them.You can go here to learn more about it. Call 505-345-3737 if you would like to chat.
Sign up for Signature Coaching
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"I hope you don't follow the rules, but you find the program."
Testimonial for the Week
So, I went to Scotland for 5 days. I went on a group tour, and we traveled by bus. So I knew that I would not have control over when we stopped for lunch and dinner, and I knew I would have to plan accordingly. I would also have two long travel days, so I needed to have some food in my carry on to supplement the food I would find at the airport.
Food I packed on my trip: tuna in pouches, sardines packed in water, nuts, peanut butter, wasa crisp bread, triscuits for my evening carb. I put a few wasa and a pouch of tuna and a can of sardines in my carry on. Also, on the trip to Scotland, I brought two sandwiches, one for the bus ride to NYC and one for dinner at the airport. (It was a night flight.)
They fed us dinner on the plane, at about 10 PM, and I ate what I could out of that, even though I didn't technically need it. However, the breakfast they served us was useless to me, so I had sardines and wasa. Not a very tasty breakfast, but I just did what I needed to do.
My travel mate got up early each morning because she takes a long time to get ready, so I had two wasa with peanut butter to hold me until 7:30, when we could go down and have a full protein breakfast. Each day, I packed snacks in my back pack to tide me over until lunch and dinner (Dinner often wasn't until 7:30 or 8.) I didn't worry about snacking, I just ate what I needed to when I needed to to avoid blood sugar crashes. Snacks included scottish oat cakes with peanut butter, nuts and cheese
and fruit from the breakfast buffet that I stashed for later.
On the second day, to make things more challenging, I got a stomach virus. Now, a stomach virus on a bus tour could be a real disaster! Fortunately, my symptoms were some nausea and bad stomach pains, but nothing more violent. If it had been a walking tour, I would have been in trouble, because I couldn't stand up for that long without getting lightheaded, but fortunately we had long rests between stops. The good thing was, I didn't have blood sugar issues while I had the virus because my
digestive system was apparently working much slower than usual. This was especially good because I had one day where I could hardly eat and had to choke food down.
Anyway, I made it through the trip with my food pretty good. I ate a few "beiges" but no sugar or whites. I didn't have an evening carb, because dinners were so late.
Despite the stomach virus, I had a wonderful time. Scotland was everything I'd always thought it would be - absolutely beautiful. I've wanted to go for as long as I can remember. I kept looking around me, realizing that I was really here in Scotland, and I'd feel this joy welling up in me and almost feel like crying. We had beautiful, sunny weather, except for one day when it snowed just enough to make it beautiful. The crocuses, daffodils and snowdrops were blooming, and even a couple of early
rhododendrons. I saw hawks, a hare, pheasants, lots of wild deer and a wild goat (as well as lots and lots of sheep, and some highland cattle and adorable ponies.) I saw castles, both standing and in ruins, and we visited two ruined abbeys, which were fascinating and beautiful in the snow.
We were traveling with a band from Canada that plays celtic folk rock. The bagpipe player was on my bus. When we stopped at one of the abbeys, we went into this room called the chapter room, where the monks used to gather, and it had amazing acoustics. James played a small bagpipe for us. Then when we got off the bus at Glencoe, which is in a valley, surrounded by spikey mountains, Jmaes went and stood on this little hill and played the big bagpipes. That was one of the high points of the trip,
because it was such a beautiful, wild spot, and bagpipes go straight to my soul.
Of course, I've had the post travel slump, but I was expecting the BE crash so that helps. I've just been taking it easy - giving myself permission to just relax and watch movies or read, instead of doing all the things I initially and over optimistically wanted to do. I've realized it's best for me not to hit the ground running - plenty of time for that in a few weeks after I've settled in. There will be other chances to do the things I initially wanted to do this weekend.
Allison
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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.
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.
Kathleen has been reading a lot of research on the positive effect of Zinc on COVID outcomes. She also learned that a lot of Zinc was sold out. When our supplier of fish oil told us they had developed a zinc option, we jumped at the chance. We now have a great Zinc Product to offer you.
Come visit our STORE. Call 505-345-3737.
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Your Last Diet: A Surprise Awaiting
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We will be doing a major refocus of YLD in the coming weeks. I will write more as it unfolds. Stay tuned for the revision.
Even more exciting is what is happening with chats. The Euro chats are funny. The Monday chat is a delight. I love the questions and answers that are coming out from that chat. They are so helpful. And Wednesday evening continues to be the highlight of my week. Last week we tried really hard to *work* but we started having so much fun, it was hard to stay on task. It is pretty amazing to think how far we have
come. Chats used to be serious stuff. People were anxious and overwhelmed by being fat. We no longer feel that way. We have a solution that we know works. Our task has become simply to help people stay focused on the doing.
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. It is not too late to get into the classes if you come right now
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Following The Rules
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
Hi folks, you know I sent out a letter asking for your input. One interesting thing came up. I got some inquiries from folks who said they have been doing everything *perfectly* and were disenchanted with the program because they hadn't lost weight. So I want to talk about this.
Sometimes I get a sense of people following the rules and doing it perfectly. Everything. But it doesn't include the listening to your body, the mucking around that makes the program become your own. You see there isn't a *perfectly* in this program. There is simply a committed, not a perfect way.
Committed means you show up when you are discouraged. You show up when you are still fat and you think you have tried everything. Your show up with a beginner's mind and you say, what does my body say here? What needs to change? What have I tried? Why did it work for a while? What changed?
Committed means you ask the people you trust to help you see things you can't because you are in the middle of it. This is a big one. SS people are not team players. We think we know better. We know how to beat the diets. We ask for *advice*. But not for counsel. And then we ignore it.
Or we fail to ask the ultimate authority - our own body. We say, *Still fat!!! You slug....* and go off and do Atkins. I can't tell you how many letters I have gotten about knowing that Atkins will work and then I will be back.
So what *is* this program anyway? It is accepting on faith something that is so radical, so different from anything we have ever done. Trusting the voices of those who have done it longer. Not done it perfectly, not finished, not all fixed, but those who have hung in there, who are open and willing and are connected. Those who give back. Those who have learned that the heart of the program comes in
service. Sitting with one more frightened tired newbie in despair. Or sitting with an old timer who crashed and burned and wants to bail with every molecule of who she is. Or being patient with the one in the middle who is bored and disenchanted.
Rules don't work for that. Heart does. Honesty and tenacity does.
Now here is the bottom line. For some folks the losing weight part is easy. It comes, it works and life is changed. For others, it is a bear. You will go though everything I have written and found you are not losing weight. And then, you decide whether you pitch it because *it* doesn't work or you stay in there as we find out. We don't have all the answers by a long shot. We are living the
solutions. And the edge of our story is pushed out by those of you who are stubborn losers way more than by the success stories.
I don't know if this is making sense. Maybe I am just moved by all those letters you wrote me. But what I CAN tell you - Kathleen is in for the long haul. There are some things I do not know, actually LOTS of things I have not a clue about. I don't know why some of you get stuck. It may be that you haven't done the package, it may be that this package is not the one for your body. It may be that
your leptin is inadequate or your delta 5 desaturase in under active. But I do know, if you stick with it, you will be able to hang in there and keep pluggin away and having fun along the way.
I am going to. So I hope you don't follow the rules, but you find the program.
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