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Lately, I've been very up in my head. This isn't really that different than how I normally operate, but I was pushing it to the extreme last week. I've been in the process of changing the tagline for my company, Four Quadrant Living. For most of last week, this was all I could think about—morning, noon, and night. I had about 20 different versions. Was it "Healthy living simply done" or was it "Choose healthy living" or ... Well, my dog, Kora doesn't really care whether or not I have decided on my tagline and am living in my head.…
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Body Blog
Sometimes I feel like the Environment quadrant is the ugly stepchild of the four quadrants. When I'm talking about the four quadrants, people seem the least interested in the Environment in the context of health. It's not as much in our awareness when we think of healthy living. Each week, I blog about one of the four quadrants so that each one is covered in a month. This week, it's time to feature the Environment. Rather than focus on something specific related to the environment like I usually do, this blog is about giving a general shout-out to it and…
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Environment Blog
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The phone rings. In the blink of an eye, life, as you know it, is gone. I've gotten that call a few times in my life. In 1998, I was walking the streets of San Francisco after a business meeting when my sister called to tell me she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. In 2000, my sister-in-law left a frantic and disturbing message about my father-in-law being dead at the bottom of the pool. Three years later we got a call from my mother-in-law going to the hospital with stomach pains. She was dead a week later from…
How 'bout them Niners? These four words would not typically come out of my mouth in conversation. However, last week, Lance Howland, editor of the Walnut Creek Patch, asked me if I felt inspired to write about the "collective psychic lift that a region gets from a sports franchise suddenly having success after years of failure - the 49ers." Lance said he noticed that usually it's the same crowd whose conversation centers around sports, but then something like this happens that gets the attention of non-sports fans, and thousands of new people are talking football. My initial response was that…
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Relationships Blog
In the musical, "Oliver!", hungry orphan, Oliver Twist, who is eating yet another bowl of gruel sings about "Food, Glorious Food." What I just learned recently about the U.S. standards for food makes me feel that the options for glorious food available in this country are getting more and more limited. Next time I'm in the supermarket, I may just break into song about "Food, Unglorious Food." Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. These eight foods account for 90% of food allergies. When I was growing up, I never heard about food allergies. Now, it seems…
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Body Blog
How far will we go for beauty? Apparently, pretty far. I just recently heard about a product called Latisse. It helps your eyelashes grow longer. It originated from a group of popular medications called topical prostaglandins, drugs used for glaucoma patients. A side effect of this product is hypertrichosis, a condition characterized by darkening, thickening, and lengthening of the eyelashes. The product people use to lengthen their eyelashes is actually a side effect of a drug used to treat a serious medical condition. So people who do not have glaucoma are taking a prescription medication for the benefit of its…
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Body Blog
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Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Hanukkah. Christmas. New Year’s Eve. The holiday madness begins in November and lasts through the New Year. I'm not a holiday grinch, but I cringe at the waste that comes from the holiday season every year. From Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste in the U.S. increases by more than 25%. The waste comes in the form of food, shopping bags, holiday cards, packaging, wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, and more. This adds up to an additional one million tons a week to our landfills during this time (United States Environmental Protection Agency). Think about the…
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Environment Blog
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Do you know what your spouse believes to be the meaning of life? Do you know how old your parents think they would be if they didn't know how old they were? Do you know your sibling's life motto?These are a few of the questions that I posed to my family last Thanksgiving. I created a document with 13 questions on it and asked my family to fill it out a few days before Thanksgiving. I am attaching the document that I created, Do You Know?, for your reference. You can also see the questions posted below. If you were…
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Relationships Blog
I'd like to introduce you to my faithful pal, "i". He's very good at keeping me connected. I rely on him tremendously and find it hard to believe there was ever life without him. I spend more time with him than anyone else. When I ask my husband, "Where is ‘i’”?, he knows I am not losing my grammatical skills or waxing philosophical. It means I'm looking for my 4.25" x 2.25" constant companion. "i" is how I endearingly refer to my iPhone. He's here with me now. As much as I ♥ "i", I'm feeling a bit on information…
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Relationships Blog
Wednesday, 02 November 2011 10:33
Seven Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating
Written by Dina Colman Mitchell
It is November which means the holidays are rapidly approaching. Later this month we will be tempted by pumpkin pie and stuffing. Soon after that it will be December and the temptations of sweets and desserts will abound. There is no doubt that the stress of the holidays and the availability of unhealthy food can be a challenge to our healthy eating plan.Here are a few ideas to stay healthy during the holidays.1. Eat mindfully. For example, when you are at the Thanksgiving table, mindfully eat your favorite foods. Savor the stuffing and pumpkin pie. Part of health is pleasure.…
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Body Blog
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“What a difference a day makes.” This was my sister’s mantra as she battled Stage 3 breast cancer for over a year. I think of this mantra often because it applies to all of us—no matter what challenge we are facing in our lives. When my sister, Debbie, was going through her treatment, which included chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, surgery, and radiation, she had good days, and she had bad days. What got her through the bad days was knowing that there would be good days. She knew that even though she might feel really bad today, it didn’t mean…
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Mind Blog
It's 9pm on a Tuesday night and I'm at a veterinary hospital to meet a dog that I might adopt. This particular vet is open until midnight and they work a lot with rescue organizations. The rescue group that I contacted told me that I could meet the dog before she got spayed if I wanted to meet that evening. Nine o'clock at night seemed a little late to me, but the dog had just been listed on Petfinder.com and I found myself saying "yes". As I sat in the waiting room for the dog to come out, I saw…
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Relationships Blog
We don’t have control of many of the toxins outside of our home, but we do have control of the environment inside our home. Here are some ideas for making your home as environmentally healthy as possible. Leave shoes at the door. Having a shoeless sanctuary cuts down on dirt and pollutants tracked into your house. Think about all of the places your shoes travel in a day. When you wear them inside your house, you bring all of that into your home—including lawn pesticides, coal tar from asphalt surfaces, lead, and even E. coli. These substances have been linked…
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Environment Blog
Don’t judge a weed by its cover. If a dandelion weren’t classified as a weed, it would probably be a cherished flower. When you think about it, dandelions are pretty darn cool. They even have health benefits. So why do they get such a bad rap? If you look up the definition of a weed, it says, “a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth.” I find it interesting that the definition has so much subjectivity to it. One person’s weed could be another person’s treasure, depending on how they valued it.…
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Environment Blog
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I have a terrible memory. However, I remember an event from over 15 years ago that didn't even happen to me. I was the spectator. I was in the airport at baggage claim waiting for my luggage. There was a woman with three kids traveling alone, waiting for her luggage. She had her arms full with carry-on bags and her kids were running around. As she stood there, the bottom of the paper bag that she was holding ripped and all of the contents in her bag dropped to the floor. Did she yell at her kids?No. Did she fly…
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Mind Blog
Winner of 10 Book Awards!
Revised and Updated, 2020
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She truly cares
I initially started working with Dina to help me with my diet for an autoimmune disease I have been battling for years. She has also helped me with stress, relationships, and work. She is very encouraging. I am now happier and healthier because of Dina. She truly cares about you and it definitely shows in the difference it has made in my life. -
Guidance & knowledge
Reaching out to Dina was one of the best decisions I've made this past year. Every aspect of my life; spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, was out of balance. She was and continues to be exactly what my life was missing; someone to hold me accountable, a cheerleader, a confidant, a trustworthy advisor, a coach! -
Saved my life
Dina has provided me with the tools and knowledge that I needed to make changing to a healthier lifestyle a manageable goal. She never judged me when I stumbled but has only given me the encouragement and steps I needed to get back up and try again. I will be forever grateful to Dina because she has literally saved my life from the downward spiral I was in. -
Helped me balance my life
After the my mom's death, I withdrew from life. Dina helped me move past the self-destructive tendencies I had used to cope with my grief. She is a compassionate listener, offers gentle suggestions, and provides nonthreatening accountability. Through our sessions she helped me balance my life. I don't know where I'd be without her. -
Lost 10 pounds
Working with Dina has helped me to manage and control my prediabetes. I have lost 10 pounds with her guidance by being more aware of the food I am eating. I like working with Dina because I feel that she really tries to find ways for me to be healthy in my life—the things I like to do and eat—rather than providing a cookie cutter solution. -
Feel stronger and happier
Dina and her Four Quadrant Living consistently give me simple, easy to implement suggestions to make my entire life healthier. With Dina's gentle guidance, I have vastly improved the way I eat, the way I deal with stress and, basically, the way I balance my life. It is impossible to not feel better, stronger and happier when working with Dina. -
Offers variety of services
Dina's approach is never threatening or condescending and she offers a variety of services that fit many, many different needs - whether just a little nudge when it comes to diet or organization or an all-out weekly session helping with all four quadrants. Highly recommend! -
Highly recommend her
It wasn't just about food but my overall well-being. I got the tools to work toward the things that I wanted to achieve. I love that I can email Dina with any question that I might have along the way! I highly recommend her. -
Amazed at improvement
By the end of the 3rd week (of the Detox Program), I started to notice changes. I felt less tired and was actually sleeping less. I was amazed at the improvement in my well being. Dina was great in providing information and motivation throughout the program. She presented a nice balance of telling me what I needed to know without overwhelming me. -
Invested in her clients
Dina offered ideas on dealing with my job stress. I felt the ideas really catered to me and my job specifically, rather than being some general ideas I could get from internet research. I use one of the fantastic ideas religiously to help destress after every shift. I was so pleased with my experience, I recommended Dina's Four Quadrant Living to my sister.
In the News
An Interview with IPPY Winner Dina Colman, November 2014 (Writers on the Journey Blog)
"Four Quadrant Living" Book Featured as a New Read in Key Biscayne Magazine, November 2013 (page 36)
Author Holds Book Discussion and Signing on Healthy Living (Pleasant Hill Patch)
7 Low-Cost Examples of Author Book Marketing Best Practices Featuring Dina Colman, (Published & Profitable)
Q&A with Writer Dina Colman (W3 Sidecar)
How Fear & Tragedy Led One Woman to Her Authentic Path: Part One with Dina Colman (Yellow Brick Road)
How to Know If It's Time for a Career Change: Part Two with Dina Colman (Yellow Brick Road)