Venus rising on a deep blue night with the words Radiant Recovery superimposed on it
Sept 5, 2021,
 
Hi {!firstname_fix}, 
Veggies. Remember that they help everything. But you have to eat them to get the effect. Just talking about it does not do the job. Wouldn't it be fun to have a veggie bar at every lunch.
 
I wachhed the great British bakeoff last night. Their last challenge was to bake an "American" pie. It was painful. Not one of the pies was what an "American" would make. I was yelling from my seat. "Do not even THINK of putting peanut butter in a pumpkin pie!". Which reminds me - if you don't have a copy of our cookbook order one now so you can practice alternatives before the holidays.
 
Do not forget that eternal stressors add to our personal stress load. The Texas ruling about abortion was a shock. For those of us who were young before Roe vs. Wade, it is an inconceivable regression related to repression. Being controlled and abused is a story that will touch many of us deeply. Be mindful that when old stories are pinged, the vibration spreads and you may find yourself getting angry over something tiny because of the ping not the tiny. If you are spending money, or watching more Netflix or reading Chixlit, stop and remember that old and deep wounds are being activated.
 
Pay attention to time. Make breakfast hardier. Be more vigilent. Take a class from udemy.com and finish it. Learn something new. Make good food, freeze it. Buy a tiny rice cooker and have warm rice every day.
 
I will be continuing bits and bobs in the newsletter. You can see what you think.    
     
Support for Your Program
Journals
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS
                                                                                   

 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 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 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
Fat Terror:  I am waiting a bit on this class. Tine is not right yet.
 
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
If you prefer talking on Facebook, come over to our group there. Radiant Recovery®,.
 
WORKING WITH KATHLEEN 
People have been asking for a long time how they might be able to work with me directly.  I 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. 
A number of people have asked me how it works. I went over and completely revised the "consultations" section of the website so I think it is way clearer now.
     Signature coaching offers several options.  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. 
Most people do 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.  
    Other people chose to do a month long intensive to get a sense of whether the process is suited to their style. And some people continue to work beyond the initial 3 months in special arrangements we work out for their budget and progress. All signature coaching starts with an initial assessment meeting at no charge to you. This time allows us to collaborate on the best way to work with your food and style.
    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 more information. I am ALWAYS happy to talk to. you about options.
 
Sign up for Signature Coaching 
 
"When you pay attention to your body, you are sending it a message that it is valuable. If your body feels valuable, it will talk to you more."
 

 

Testimonial for the Week

 

I felt sooooo horrible in the beginning. I was depressed, anxious, and phobic, as well as miserable about my uncontrollable bingeing.

In a way, I was lucky to be in such a bad way. My life had pretty much imploded. I had dropped out of school, dropped my volunteer job at church. I wasn't working, I wasn't cooking or taking care of the house. I decided to put my whole focus on getting better.

I am just a leetle bit obsessive by nature :) Well, when I'm healthy I am impassioned and detail-oriented. When I'm off-balance, I can't let go of things.

So I consciously decided to channel that into the steps. I joined each step list in turn. Couldn't post--I was so socially phobic that pushing the send button was a nightmare. I listened and ate breakfast. I read the Forum, which scared the bejeepers out of me. Definitely didn't post there. But I could take the classes and post my assignments in a nice small group. I bought the CDs and listened to them over and over in my car and kept moving through the steps.

I was already a member of YLD. I read the list there and started to post a bit. The chats were way too scary at first. Eventually, I could go and participate a little and then turn off the computer and feel like I'd made a fool of myself.

Then I signed up for Ranch. I was still pretty messed up. Most newbies on any step have a great time at Ranch. I did what I could, showed up, acted friendly and then went to my room to cry and pace at night. When I came back the next year, it was like being a different person. Ranch made my program deeper even though I was still nuts while I was there. I was learning to connect. I posted on the Ranch list (after Ranch) more than anywhere else. Then I came to this list and started to post. I held on for dear life till healing caught up to me. I started to serve in small ways, answering posts from newbies. Kathleen talks about putting every skill we gain as an addict into the service of our recovery. That is what I was doing. I obsessed on the steps until that obsessiveness started to heaI and my death grip on the program could loosen enough to let the joy in. My BE and serotonin healed, and eventually I didn't feel so raw and weird.

So I think it is good to ask ourselves what we have to place in the service of our recovery. Perseverance? Knowledge? Experience? Social skills? Compassion? It all helps.

 

Jeannie

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. 

Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

    Welcome to all the new people! If you are just getting started, my suggestion is to order some Restore, a Journal and a copy of the cookbook. The cookbook has the. most incredible information in it - not stuff that is in the books. I actually even use it myself LOL.

    Thank you for your continued support of Radiant Recovery® and the store. If you have any questions, you are welcome to call me at the office.

Come visit our STORE. Call 505-345-3737.

Your Product Name






Get Recipes to Remember
Your Last Diet: A Surprise Awaiting
Your Last Diet Book Cover

   

We were having a conversation in the YLD Weight Loss in Action group. This was the place where people who are steady with the steps come to master the action steps for losing weight. A new person asked, *Well where is the action? Why aren't you guys talking more?* I was so laughing because the fact is by the time we get to that point, it is so much about simply doing it rather than talking about it. It was actually quite a revelation.

So we started talking, LOL. There are 8 pieces to the weight loss actions. We each do whatever one of the eight suits us. Take them as the easiest first, or the one we feel is more important first or the one that is the most enjoyable first. As we talked, I got this sense of how different this is from all that hype we have all so long endured. I just love doing weight loss this way.

    I did post a instruction sheet for how to get to chat. It is in the files at the YLD email list online.  We are working on making it simpler and easier to get in. Please call me at 505-345-3737 if you have any trouble with it.

    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. 

Clownie
 

Why You Are Having a Hard time

Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

I first wrote this article after the huge tsunami 16 years ago. I think it is relevant now as well. Sometimes I think we get so caught up in our personal lives, we may not connect to a bigger, global energetic.  Think COVID, politics rather than tsunami. A rumble.

************************************************************************************************

The past couple of weeks have been difficult. I went out to Florida for a family crisis. . I came back and found that a whole number of folks on my leadership team were having a really hard time. At first blush it seemed as if it were simply coincidental... timing maybe, post Christmas stress, or winter fatigue or something like that.

But as I sat and thought about it, I realized that this is way deeper than personal stumbling. I began to hear the same story, spoken in different ways and the more I listened the more I began to sense that something bigger is happening.

The tsunami was caused by an earthquake. But really it was a huge shift in the surface of the earth - a planetary shift. This was a monumental event. The energy flooded, literally, and wiped away everything that had been. You held on for dear life or you were swept away.

Now, it is funny, but this is the same theme I have been hearing over and over. Nothing that was makes sense. It all feels pointless. Everything I counted on no longer fits. I don't know who I am, I don't know where I belong, I cannot find my center. Too much, too fast and I feel like I am being sucked into a dark hole.

Now a medical model will diagnose these feelings as clinical depression. And that same model will prescribe medication. It will identify the situations that precipitated these feelings of darkness. Of course there will be "situations" - a lost job, a move, a promotion, stress at work, no sleep from a new baby, the death of a mother, a son at war, an abusive husband, a lost relationship or all of the above. But we have all had these things all our lives. Why are we stumbling so now?

I think the energy shift of the world discombobulated us on a cellular level. Things as they were actually do not exist any longer. Literally, our 'magnetic north' changed and we can't get our bearings. And if we stumble and then our food gets off, we cannot sort it out. It feels so personal. We do not experience it as a major spiritual crisis, it just feels horrible and we feel lost.

In last week's chat, I talked about this. I talked about this as a time of awakening. When things no longer fit, we have an opportunity to clear out that stuff, to throw away the stuff that does not fit and to make room for something new. We don't know what that will be yet, it has not emerged. So we have to endure this time of "in between" where the old is gone and the new has not emerged. However can we make sense of this? At the first level, comfort comes with doing the food, doing the program. Not just taking out sugar, that is a tiny part of it. But following instructions, being connected, being patient. Rebuilding a solid foundation that cannot be swept away are all part of creating a way to hold what is emerging.

This is the time to go back to basics. Literally. Rather than getting caught in how horrible it is, ask for help. Get connected. Trust that this is not just a personal stumble, but that you are part of a great shift. You got thrown off kilter and you can get steady. Get back on track with your food and program. Don't beat yourself up.

Last week, I said "If you are going to be with a person in a dark hole, take a ladder and a lantern." (smile)..the steps are the ladder and our humor and perspective is the lantern. You are not alone. Grace is unfolding.

 *****************************************************************************************

It was funny to see that I had first  written those lines in 2005 - 16 years ago. No wonder we are tired.  I will have a think on steps for healing.

 

"If you are going to be with a person in a dark hole, take a ladder and a lantern." the steps are the ladder and our humor and perspective is the lantern.

You are not alone. Grace is unfolding.

©2021 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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