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Wednesday, 08 June 2011 10:21

Follow Yourself

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You are your own best advocate of your health. The government, your doctors, the pharmaceutical companies, your friends, and your family all may have the best intentions for you, but you are the one most motivated to help yourself. And, you are the one that knows the most about what is best for you.My neighbor had breast cancer a couple of years ago and had chemotherapy as treatment. She ended up in the hospital from a severe reaction to it. Recently, her doctors recommended chemo again for a new cancer. She didn’t want to do it, but her doctor and…
Wednesday, 01 June 2011 10:59

"Pet" Peeves

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Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. In this country, we run the gamut. At one end, there are animals that are treated like family members, their every need thoughtfully attended to. At the other end, there are blatant acts of cruelty against animals like hoarding, puppy mills, dog fighting, and worse. Just the other day, I heard about 15 small dogs that were dumped in the middle of a busy road, some hit by cars not able to stop in time. There is no…
Tuesday, 17 May 2011 09:46

Frying the Birds

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French fries and pastrami sandwiches are not good for our diet and they certainly aren’t good for a bird’s diet, yet recently I've seen friends on separate occasions feed birds this processed and unhealthy food without a thought for the bird's welfare. It may feel like you are communing with nature when a bird eats a fry off of your plate, but you are actually harming the bird. These foods are not a regular part of a bird’s diet and can cause significant health problems, including death. Harm to wildlife comes not just by eating the actual unhealthful food, but…
Wednesday, 04 May 2011 09:02

Going Au Natural

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We often take great care in what we put in our bodies (food), but don't think twice about what we put on our bodies (products). It is important to recognize that 60% of the product we put on our skin is absorbed into our body. Think about how many personal care products you use a day. Is it five? Ten? On average, we put 126 unique ingredients on our skin daily. Did you know that the government doesn't require any pre-market testing or health studies for these products? There is no requirement that companies test personal care products for safety…
Wednesday, 27 April 2011 13:15

Just Say No (to Prescription Drugs)

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Last year my mom was rushed to the emergency room within minutes after taking a drug for a sinus infection. Her doctor said it was unlikely that it was from the medication, despite the fact that the symptoms happened immediately upon taking the first pill. After doing some research, I found many others who had experienced the same side effects. Despite best intentions, doctors, the FDA, and pharmaceutical companies do not have all the answers. You need to watch out for your own best interests. My mom is not alone. Each year, an estimated two million Americans are hospitalized from…
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 11:12

My Love Affair with a Mountain

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My love affair with a mountain began just over ten years ago when I first moved to the East Bay of San Francisco. As soon as I laid eyes on the 3,849-foot beauty that is Mount Diablo, I knew it was love at first sight. Since that time, I have enjoyed numerous hikes, runs, strolls, and picnics on the mountain. I love watching the colors of the mountain change throughout the year—from lush green in the winter to golden brown in the summer. I enjoy spending time on the mountain alone as well as with friends. I feel lighter and…
Wednesday, 13 April 2011 10:24

Stress Kills. Just Breathe.

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According to the American Institute of Stress, nearly 45% of all adults suffer adverse health effects due to stress and 75 to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints. Long-term effects of stress include high blood pressure, anxiety, insomnia, muscular aches and pains, ulcers, skin rashes, and food intolerances. In addition, stress has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, digestive system diseases, cancer, and aging. Stress is not to be taken lightly. It can absolutely affect our health. There is no doubt that what is happening in our mind is affecting our body. The good…
Thursday, 24 March 2011 18:15

Living in the 80s

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I'm a health coach which means I know about nutrition. I know what's good for me to eat and what's not good for me to eat. However, this doesn't mean that I'm perfect all of the time. I'm a big advocate of the 80/20 rule. I try to eat healthy 80% of the time. When I am in the 20% and eating the unhealthier foods, I try to be mindful of what I eat so that I savor every bite.Eating healthy 100% of the time is not realistic and can be unhealthy (if it causes stress). If we strive for…
Wednesday, 16 March 2011 10:17

There is No There

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I need to take the news in small doses. Years ago, I stopped getting the newspaper. I no longer watch the news at night. There are plenty of good things happening in the world, but the news tends to focus on the bad—it's what sells. I find that my heart is too heavy when I open myself up to unlimited news. I still keep in touch—hearing the highlights from my husband, my friends, the radio, and the internet. I know enough of what I need to know. When the earthquake and resulting tsunami first hit Japan, my husband and I…
Wednesday, 09 March 2011 09:21

Losing My Mind(fulness)

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I don't forget appointments. I'm one of those people that is always on time, if not early. That is, until recently. Now I'm someone who forgets appointments. I'm mindlessly busy. Who am I and where is the Dina that has been with me for the past 40 years? A few weeks ago, I left my friend Liz patiently waiting for me at a coffee shop. She texted me 15 minutes after we were supposed to meet just letting me know she was at the coffee shop (which I thought was a very nice way of saying, "Where the heck are…
Wednesday, 02 March 2011 09:25

We Are The Environment

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We are the environment and the environment is us. Of the four quadrants, the environment is probably the one that people think least relates to their own health. The environment is seen as somehow separate from us. It is viewed as external rather than internal. However, we are intimately connected to our environment. The air we breathe in comes from the environment. The air we breathe out goes out to the environment. The air also touches our skin, moving into our bodies through our pores. The water we drink goes into our body. The water we bathe in goes in…
Wednesday, 16 February 2011 09:14

The Trendy Diet

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Are you on the trendy diet? If you were alive in the 1860s, being on the trendy diet would mean you wouldn’t be eating carbs. If you were alive in the 1980s, you would be eating carbs. And, if you were alive in the early 2000s, you wouldn’t be eating them again. Carbs are bad, carbs are good, and carbs are bad. The same fate was shared by fat. It was good, then it was bad, and now it is good again (the good fats). Soy too. Soy was a nutrition darling for a while and then it got blacklisted.…
Tuesday, 08 February 2011 09:04

Living in the Flow

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For the first four decades of my life, I feel like I have been searching—searching for my purpose, my passion, my flow. I saw a greeting card a while ago that had the quote, "Not all who wander are lost" by J.R.R. Tolkien. I bought the card and hung it on the board by my desk. It made me feel better that just because I was wandering did not mean I was lost. Despite the nice sentiment, I felt lost. I have looked into countless careers in my 40+ years, including event planner, franchise owner, therapist, entrepreneur, photographer, private detective,…
Tuesday, 01 February 2011 10:09

Crazy Runner Girl

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The Relationships quadrant is not only about our relationships with our loved ones, but also about our relationships with our community and the world. There is no doubt that our community health affects our individual health and our collective individual health affects our community health. I read a story in Runner’s World magazine a couple of years ago that inspires me to this day. It is a great example of how one individual can impact many and how many individuals can impact one.Anne Mahlum, in the February 2009 issue of Runner’s World talks about how she would run by a…
Tuesday, 25 January 2011 10:20

Green Exercise

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A couple of weeks ago, I came across the term "Green Exercise" in a magazine. How clever, I thought. I had never heard that term before. Was that really a recognized phrase? I Googled it out of curiosity and lo' and behold, a lot of articles popped up. I thought it might be a good topic for a blog in the Environment quadrant of the Four Quadrant Living website, so I filed the idea away for the coming weeks. Coincidentally, a week later, I was contacted by a publisher of a local magazine asking me to write an article about…

  

 

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