Is there something in your life that you've been trying to do but just haven't been able to get it done? Like losing those few extra pounds but just can't? Exercising more but it's not happening? Starting your own business but not getting it off the ground? Doing that new hobby but not making the time? Maybe it's time for an accountability buddy!

Accountability partners can be near or far. They can be friends or acquaintances. They can be for work, exercise, diet, fun—anything you are trying to make happen in your life but are having trouble doing on your own. For work, I've got two accountability partners. Varsha is my Monday at 1:30pm accountability partner and Kenn is my Friday at 11:30am one. Varsha lives in London and I live in California, but distance is not a barrier for us. We talk via Skype. If there is a time when we can't make it, we email our goals for the week. We are both trying to grow our own businesses (and I'm trying to get my book published) so we are helping each other stay on track with weekly tasks to move forward. Being in business for myself is great, but motivation for progress has to come from within since I am the boss. I set my own deadlines, so if I miss them, I only have to answer to myself. Varsha is a friend from graduate school and is in the health field as well, Illuminated Health, so it's helpful to have her to bounce ideas off of since she understands my business.

Kenn, on the other hand, is someone I just recently met and is not in my same field. He creates websites, Coaching Sites That Work. I met Kenn through a LinkedIn group. After a few exchanges, Kenn said he liked my vibe and wanted to know if I was interested in talking regularly to help each other stay accountable. There are benefits to having an accountability buddy where there isn't the familiarity of friendship. With Kenn, I feel a little more push to meet my deadlines. Kenn is not in my same line of work, bringing a different perspective to the conversation. I am enjoying having my two work accountability buddies that each bring something unique to our collaboration.

Kenn has been good about helping me see the value in the quick win. For example, last Friday I set my goal as, "I'm going to send my book proposal to five publishers next week." Kenn nudged me to break it down even more by identifying that day one of the publishers I would be sending it to. He then asked if I could commit to sending out one proposal on Monday. This way I would get the quick win of having taken a first step at the beginning of the week to get the momentum going rather than starting the week with the big lofty goal of five for the week. I had already identified one by the time I was off the call with him and today I know I have to send one out. These little wins help us get past the stuck spots.

For exercise, I have a few ways I stay accountable. On Thursdays, I meet with a group of women to run. We call it "RePeets" because we meet at Peet's coffee shop so that after we are done running repeats, we can enjoy a drink together. This run happens regularly every Thursday at 9am, rain or shine. There are enough people on the list so that on any given day, anywhere from two to ten women will be there. We're accountable to each other. You can set up a Facebook group to keep in touch or an email distribution list. I've created a group on Facebook for weekly Saturday trail runs I coordinate. This list has grown organically to 98 members just through word of mouth. If I stop posting runs, I'll get asked by others on the list about where the weekend run is. I have no doubt that if I didn't set up this group, I would have run half as much on the trails as I did this summer. The accountability encouraged me to make it happen. It was something I wanted to do, but I needed that push.

For diet, I've had clients who find it helpful to email me their food journal daily. Having the accountability of knowing that someone will be seeing what they ate helps them to make better choices. I have another client who uses My Fitness Pal, an online diet and fitness community, to track her food and exercise. She has friends who also use this online tool and she can see what her friends have posted and vice versa.

I mention all of these examples to emphasize the point that there are many ways to set up accountability for all areas of your life. It's about stating it publicly and putting yourself on the hook. In my recent blog post, See It. Say It. Do It., I mentioned that when I was training for my first marathon seven years ago, I read The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer and it said to tell one new person every day that "I am a marathoner." It's about accountability and putting your goal out there. Every day I did tell someone new that I was training for a marathon and it made it more and more of a reality. It became a goal I was truly committed to.

Here are a few steps you can take to help get you started:

1. Identify the area(s) in your life that you want to move forward but have been unable to do so on your own.

2. Find an accountability partner. This can be a friend, an acquaintance, a group, or an online connection.

3. Set up regular check-in dates via phone, Skype, or email. This is a very important step to making this work.

4. Set weekly, manageable goals to help each other stay on track. (Remember to set up those quick wins too to get the momentum going).

I want to hear from you. What area(s) in your life do you need an accountability buddy and how are you going to make it happen?
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Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Death is an inevitable conclusion to life. We all die. Losing a loved one is heartbreaking. You can make this time easier on your family and friends by giving them one final gift—your wishes for when you die.

I know it's not an easy subject to discuss. You may even feel uncomfortable reading this blog. I thought twice about writing the blog because I know that many people do not feel comfortable discussing death. I feel strongly that it is a topic that needs to be more openly discussed. By having these discussions, we can make it a little easier for our loved ones during a difficult time.

In 2000, my father-in-law died suddenly from drowning. In 2003, my mother-in-law died in a week from pancreatic cancer. The deaths were sudden. With the death of my mother-in-law, my husband along with his brother and sister had to make funeral and memorial decisions. What kind of casket did she want? What did she want her epitaph on the headstone to be? Did she have a preference for how she wanted her memorial service? My mother-in-law already had her plot picked out, but there were still decisions to be made.

I decided that I wanted to ask my family ahead of time about their preferences if they died before me so that I didn't have to worry about making decisions during an emotional time. I am attaching a questionnaire that I created and had my family fill out. Even if you have a will (which is great!), these topics are not typically covered in it. The questionnaire is broken up into three parts: Documents, Burial or Cremation, and Memorial.

In the Document section, it covers questions about whether you have a will and Health Directive. It asks about life insurance policies and bank accounts. Have you made arrangements for your pet? In the Burial section, it asks if you want to be an organ donor and whether you want to be cremated or buried. If buried, do you want an open or closed casket? Do you have a certain outfit you want to be buried in? If cremated, where do you want your ashes scattered? The Memorial section asks about the type of celebration you want to have. Do you have certain songs you want played, is there a charity you want donations to go to, are there certain people you want notified? If there are areas where you don't have a strong preference, you can just put "no preference."

This is just a brief overview of some of the questions included. I am not an expert on these matters. I am just someone who has experienced loss and wants to make it a little easier for myself and my loved ones when death happens. I wanted to write this blog in case it could help you and your families too. Please feel free to edit the document to suit your needs. There are also resources online and software programs to help you with this process. Mortuaries typically have a booklet you can fill out as well with this type of information.

When I gave the questionnaire to my mother and sister, they both readily filled it out. My sister wants Led Zeppelin's Thank You song played during her memorial. She wants roses, orchids, and stargazer lilies. It comforts me to know that she will have the music and flowers she wants, not the ones that I want or the ones I think she wants. I know who my mom wants to conduct the funeral service and I know that she wants it to say "she lived with pizzazz" on her headstone. My dad was a little more reticent to fill out the form. He never actually did, so I asked him the questions and then documented his answers and sent it out to my family. It's about having the conversation in whatever way works for you and your family.

Some people feel that the survivors should make the decisions based on what they want because they are the ones alive and suffering the loss. For example, my husband wants to have a green burial, but the closest option is an hour away from where we live. Although this is his preference, he feels even stronger that he would want me to be happy. If I preferred to have his ashes scattered someplace I visit frequently or saved for us to be scattered together, he wants that for me.

It can get complicated to leave it up to the survivors without discussing it ahead of time in the event that they have differing opinions. Why risk creating more heartache during an already sensitive time when emotions are high and we need to support each other, not work against each other? Help your loved ones stay united by taking the guesswork out of it. By having the conversation, you can understand what aspects are most important to one another and have a joint plan that honors everyone's wishes. 

Filling out the questionnaire or having a discussion about this topic is truly a special gift you can give to your loved ones. If you want to take it a step further, you can make arrangements ahead of time. My sister has prepaid for her cremation with Neptune Society. My mom has pre-paid for her plot, headstone, burial, and more with the mortuary of the memorial park she wants to be buried at. It is estimated that costs double every decade for burial services, so if you prepay, you can save money by locking in at the current rate. I am truly grateful that my mom has made all of these arrangements. It's not about the money, it's about making it easier for my sister and me when the time comes if she dies before we do. I can find comfort in knowing that where and how she is buried is just as she would have wanted it.

Some people feel comfortable talking about it and others don't. I called my mom this morning to ask her about her arrangements as I was writing this blog. She didn't miss a beat diving right into what arrangements had been made, where the documents were, what newspaper she wanted her obituary in, etc. My dad, on the other hand, doesn't seem to feel as comfortable with the topic and does not have any arrangements made. He said that making these arrangements is something he wants to do, but he finds it to be an unpleasant topic. He doesn't want to think about dying. My mom's boyfriend feels the same way. He hasn't done a will because he says, "I can't think about not being here."

I don't want to think about not being here either, but I love my family and I want to make it as easy as possible for them when I die. And, selfishly, I want them to make it as easy as possible for me when they die. Maybe it's because I love them so much and I know how devastated I will be when they die. I'm trying to help myself.

Death is a part of life whether we like it or not. Even if discussing it is something you don't entirely feel comfortable with, do it for your loved ones. It doesn't have to be something that you dwell on. You can do it now and then revisit it every five to ten years. By addressing the topic, it doesn't mean that you are saying you will be dying any time soon, it just means you recognize that you will die eventually. Personally, I think having my family tell me their final wishes is the greatest gift they could ever give me.

What are your final wishes and have you shared them with your loved ones?

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Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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So, what does this look like? Basically it means eating real food—opting for fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. A low allergenic diet means removing top allergenic foods like gluten, dairy, soy, and nuts. For a low inflammatory diet, it means avoiding processed foods, trans fats, and high lectin foods. Lectins are carbohydrate binding proteins found in plants. High lectin foods include legumes, grains, and nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and peppers). I also recommend removing caffeine, sodas, and sugar from the diet.

Managing blood sugar regulation means eating every few hours and including a protein with all meals and snacks. Eating high antioxidant foods means eating the rainbow of fruits and vegetables. For those with autoimmune conditions, it is important to buy organic, especially for the high pesticide produce.

There are blood tests that can be done to determine which foods you are sensitive to. Another way is to do a detox diet removing all possible allergenic and inflammatory foods and then reintroduce them one by one to see which ones cause problems. For those with active flare-ups or advanced autoimmune diseases, I recommend doing a detox diet as the first order of business to detoxify the body and calm down the inflammation.

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I am offering a 25% discount to anyone who wants nutritional consulting and health coaching for an autoimmune disease. Just mention this blog.

Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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I was reviewing a client's health form the other day and for the question that asked how many alcoholic beverages she drank per week, she answered "2 to 3 daily". It got me to thinking about how many people I know who drink on a daily basis and wondering where the line between healthy and unhealthy drinking lies. When it becomes a part of the daily routine, it may be time to consider why. Is it social? Is it taking the edge off? Is it relieving stress?

One friend who recently had surgery said he did not want to take his pain pill so that he could drink his nightly cocktail. Another friend commented drinking with her husband is part of the social fabric of how they interact and something they enjoy doing together. She was considering giving up drinking for a short period of time but felt that doing so would change the dynamic of their routine. We all have a different interaction and relationship with alcohol, but when it seems like you can't live without it, it's probably the time to live without it—at least for a little while. I may not have the bond with alcohol, but I did have to break up with Diet Coke when it was becoming a (necessary) part of my daily routine. See my blog, If Diet Coke Were Broccolli. 

A client that I have worked with has a lot of stress in her life and doesn't sleep well. She drinks two to three glasses of wine daily. She came to me to help her manage stress. She wrote, "I would rather not go on doctor prescribed pills and be dulled but rather see if I can learn to manage life better." Great! But then I wondered if her nightly alcohol consumption wasn't just another form of medicating—helping to dull the pain. She said that her nightly wine helped her survive the chaos of her kids.

In working with this client, she has committed to cutting back her alcohol to three times a week. And when she does drink, she is trying to limit the number of glasses she has. I suggested that before she pour herself a drink, she check in with herself and ask why she is reaching for the drink. Is it social? Is it to take the edge off? Identifying the reason can help shed some light. If it is to be social, perhaps she can limit the drink to one. Or create a fun, nonalcoholic drink. Or ask herself why she feels she can only be social with drink in hand. If it is to take the edge off, where is the edge coming from and how can she prevent the edge from arising so that the need for the drink goes away?

I write this blog with observation, not judgment. If you can relate to any of these examples, I just offer that you drink mindfully. Look into why you are drinking and how much you are consuming. If it has become a tool for self-medication, it might be time for a break from your relationship with alcohol.

If you (or someone you know) need help reducing the triggers (e.g. stress, anger, exhaustion, social discomfort) in your life that prompt you to reach for a drink, give me a call. We can work on removing the triggers as well as finding healthier forms of "self-medication" to set you on a path to health.
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Dina Colman Mitchell, MBA, MA, NBC-HWC a widely published health coach, is the founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina credits four quadrant living for helping her go through her own cancer diagnosis and treatment last year with grace, strength, and health. Now cancer-free, Dina continues to devote her time to helping others around the world live healthier, happier lives. Her Amazon Top 100 book, Four Quadrant Living: A Guide to Nourishing Your Mind, Body, Relationships, and Environment, shows readers how to take responsibility for their health and make healthy living a way of life. Contact Dina at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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“4 WEEKS TO YOUR BEST SELF”

“28 DAYS TO HEALTH”

“DETOX WITH YOUR DOCTOR”

You've probably seen ad headlines similar to the above. It seems that everyone is cleansing these days. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical at first because it seemed like my friends were either doing it for the wrong reasons ("I need to fit into a bathing suit for my trip to Hawaii") or they weren't really doing it right ("I'm doing the cleanse except that I'm drinking coffee, having a few glasses of wine, and sometimes eating bread"). Also, I have numerous friends who still have hundreds of dollars of unused cleanse supplement products just sitting in their cupboards. All of this led me to wonder whether cleansing was just the latest fad, a quick fix diet, or something really worth doing for our health.

(Although there are many different types of detox and cleanse programs, I am referring to an elimination diet type of cleanse rather than a fasting or liquid diet cleanse. I use the words detox and cleanse interchangeably.)

Why Detox?

In my studies to get a Masters in Holistic Health, I took many nutrition classes and learned about the theory and practice of cleansing. I just wasn’t sure about how it was being executed for mass consumption. Working as a healthy living coach and writer, I decided it was time to try the cleanse myself to have a more informed opinion. Would I feel differently by having a personal experience with it?

I decided to try the cleanse for a few other reasons as well. At the time, my seasonal allergies were killing me. I couldn’t even go outside without suffering miserably. My friend, Liz, did a cleanse this past winter and she had no allergy symptoms this spring. She is typically sneezing with runny nose this time of year. It makes sense that detoxing can reduce our allergic response because if our body is overloaded with toxins, it reacts when presented with more. If I could reduce the toxic load in my body, maybe I wouldn’t have such a strong reaction to the spring allergens. Another reason I wanted to do the cleanse is because my diet was gradually getting a little more lax and a lot less mindful—a piece of bread here, a cookie there, and a Diet Coke here and there. I thought the cleanse might give me the structure I needed to get back on track.

I enlisted my husband, Dave, and friend, Christy, to join me in the detox adventure. Dave joined because he’s a sport of a husband, but also because he wanted to see if the cleanse could help with his fatigue, digestion, and nagging sports injury. Christy was interested because she had been talking about cleaning up her diet for over a month, but it just hadn’t happened. She eats pretty clean in general, but wanted to give her body a break from coffee and alcohol. She also liked the idea of detoxing from the happenings of everyday life.

There are a variety of reasons to do a detox program, including:

You may notice that I did not list "lose weight" as one of the reasons. It can be a nice by-product, but it should not be the driving force for doing a cleanse. The underlying purpose of doing a cleanse is to reduce the toxicity level in your body for an improvement in overall, long-term health. Even if we eat well, we still have toxins in our bodies from the beauty products we put on our skin, the cleaning products we use to tidy our house, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the medications we take, and so on.

Our detoxification organs, such as kidneys, liver, lungs, and skin, have a lot of work to do every day. Detoxification through special cleansing diets is the best way to assist our body’s natural self-cleaning system which can get overloaded and begin to store the toxins in our body. It is especially important for immune-compromised diseases like cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and chronic fatigue. However, even for those who do not have a pressing health issue, a cleanse can revitalize the body, ridding it of harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites—helping to prevent health complications down the road. Symptoms of toxicity include acne, brain fog, circles under the eyes, constipation, digestive problems, fatigue, headache, and the list goes on. Health issues related to toxicity include arthritis, chronic fatigue, leaky gut, and obesity.

How it Works 

I decided to do the Detox 360 program because I know and respect Linda Clark, the woman who designed the program with Apex Energetics. Linda has her Master’s degree in Holistic Health Education from John F. Kennedy University and a Nutrition Consultant certification from Bauman College. She has an established holistic nutrition and wellness practice in the Sacramento area. She has an incredible ability to uncover health mysteries, having helped hundreds of clients move from illness to wellness. Because of my respect for Linda’s understanding of nutrition as it relates to health, I trust that the eating guidelines of Detox 360 are well thought out and the supplements provided are supportive and necessary for the process.

The idea of the cleanse is to reduce your toxic overload by removing allergenic and inflammatory foods from your diet and by using supplements to help the detox process in the body. You stop adding toxins while accelerating the draining of them. The supplements include Apex Energetics ClearVite-SF, Metacrin-DX, Nourish Greens, and OmegaCo3. Each cleanse program has varying eating guidelines. For Detox 360, you remove all allergenic and inflammatory foods which includes nuts, seeds, legumes, eggs, dairy, sugar, soy, red meat, grains, and nightshade vegetables (e.g. tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant). You also need to stay away from alcohol, caffeine, and processed foods.

There are other cleanse programs that allow nuts, seeds, legumes, eggs, and grains other than gluten. However, most of these foods are on the top allergen list, so unless you know that you are not allergic to them, you want to remove them from your diet and reintroduce them later.

So what can you eat? You can have fish, chicken, turkey, as well as fruits and vegetables. You want the meats to be free of hormones and antibiotics, and you want your produce free of pesticides. There is a powder for meal replacement shakes. For someone like me who doesn't like to cook, the meal rotation got a little dull. Christy, who loves to cook, said she enjoyed the challenge of creating dishes within the eating guidelines.

The Detox 360 is a whole health cleanse, so it encourages detoxing your body and life in addition to your diet. It suggests nourishing yourself during the cleanse by getting more sleep and having a few massages. It talks about helping the toxins leave your body with steam room visits and Epsom salt baths. And, it provides ideas for reducing toxins not just from your food, but in other ways—like using nontoxic beauty products, cleaning with green products, drinking purified water, and not microwaving in plastic containers. Detox 360 also emphasizes drainage, not just detox. It’s great to detox your body (releasing toxins from their binding site), but you need these toxins to then be eliminated from the body. There are homeopathic formulas provided in the program to help with drainage.

What to Expect

Detox 360 is a four-week program—as are many of the cleanses offered. Week one is a prep week where you cut out gluten and cow's dairy while minimizing the other foods that get removed in the subsequent weeks. For me, this was surprisingly easy (perhaps because I knew what was to come). You can experience detox symptoms in the first week (and possibly throughout the cleanse) such as headaches, fatigue, cravings, and irritability. Christy had headaches (possibly from going off of caffeinated coffee), my husband was irritable, and I felt fatigue. Christy and I both had really vivid dreams, perhaps from sleeping so soundly.

In weeks two through four, you eliminate the foods mentioned above—nuts, seeds, legumes, eggs, dairy, sugar, soy, red meat, grains, and nightshade vegetables. I noticed that I didn't go to the pantry for food as much as I typically do. There was very little in there for me to eat. Speaking of food in the pantry, it is best to clear out any food temptations like cookies and crackers prior to the cleanse so that you set yourself up for success. During this part of the cleanse, I ate one to two meals a day plus the supplement shake. Prior to the detox program, I had yet to find a powder that tasted good in shakes, but I love the Apex Energetics ClearVite powder. I now look forward to my shakes (and I plan to continue them in my daily non-cleanse life).

Week two wasn't too bad because I was excited to be doing something new and different. The time I spent reading the materials and figuring out what I was doing distracted me from the reality of the limited foods at my disposal. Week three was the hardest for me. I was tired, irritable, and bored with my food choices. There were plenty of days that I wanted to cheat. Oh how I missed my daily companion, hummus, and my one true love, rice crisps. I had come this far, so I stayed strong. Week four was easy because by then the eating had become routine (supposedly it takes 21 days to form a new habit) and I knew I was almost done.

When doing the cleanse, it is best to clear your social calendar as it does get hard to go to parties. Wine? No, thanks. Cheese, can’t do it. Most everything else you’re offering? Nope, not on the approved list (especially with the Detox 360 program since all grains, nuts, beans, and eggs are not allowed). Nonetheless, it is doable. You just have to plan accordingly (eat before you go) and resist temptation (you can do it!). Dave and Christy both traveled for a week during the cleanse and they said it was not a problem. They stocked up at Whole Foods, put the supplement powder in Jamba Juice shakes, and found approved meals at most restaurants. Dave even had the extra challenge of going to visit his sister in Phoenix. He had Oreos, Pop Tarts, and Doritos within arms reach, but he stayed true to the detox. Way to go, Dave!

After the four weeks, it is recommended to reintroduce foods one at a time to see if there are any food sensitivities which could manifest as gas, bloating, stomach upset, headaches, brain fog, heartburn, and inflammation. The order of reintroduction on the Detox 360 program is red meat, eggs, nuts/seeds, beans/legumes, dairy, and grains. I am in the reintroduction phase now. Woohoo! Can’t wait to rekindle my relationship with hummus and rice crisps. I have to say, however, that I'm not as eager for the reintroduction as I thought I would be. We are in such a routine now with what we are eating and I feel completely satisfied. I would never have imagined in week three that I would feel this way. It's definitely easier to eat clean once you get in the habit of it. Once you feel like you did something great for your body, you want to be mindful of how you “pollute” it. Dave says as much as he wants some pizza, he doesn't want to give up how good he is feeling. He feels that good!

There are a few things I will continue from the cleanse. I like having my daily shake. It is a great way to get berries, greens, and coconut water into my diet (I don't love the taste of coconut water on its own, but it has great health benefits). Plus I put in the tasty ClearVite powder that has good vitamins and minerals for me. I’m going to continue taking Epsom salt baths and visiting the steam room to help sweat out the toxins. I’m going to minimize gluten, cow’s dairy, and sugar in my diet. I’m going to continue to be mindful of what I eat. Dave and I went from being skeptical about doing a detox program to planning to do it on a regular (yearly?) basis.

Fad or For Real?

So, is the cleanse fad or for real? I think it’s both. I think if you are doing it for the right reasons (because you want to detoxify your body) and if you are truly committed to doing it (it definitely takes commitment), then it is for real and worth doing. All three of us experienced positive results from it. Dave has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for over a year now. He says that post-cleanse, he feels better than he has in a year. He’s back to running without pain. This makes sense because he has reduced the inflammation in his body. Dave has very low body fat and didn’t need to lose any weight, but he lost 8 lbs. Christy said she is sleeping significantly better, felt an improvement in mood, lost a few pounds, and appreciated the motivation and structure to eat a little cleaner.

I lost a couple of pounds and my skin seems clearer. I am needing less sleep and feel energized throughout the day (and with life in general). I don’t have any more allergies, but that could be due to the change in season as well. I also got clarity on my life direction during the detox—not sure if that’s just coincidence of timing, but I’ll take it! For the past many months, I got sidetracked from what I really want to be doing—completing my book and getting it published. During the cleanse, I reclaimed this as a priority. In the four weeks of detoxing, I’ve made more progress on making this happen than in the past several months.

I think that even if cleansing is a bit of a fad, if it is getting people educated about eating healthy and improving their diet even just a little, it’s a good thing. The people who are still having coffee and wheat while they are “cleansing” aren’t really experiencing the true intent or benefit from the program, but they are being educated and making healthier choices—and that’s a plus.

We can all gain from reducing our toxicity levels in our body every so often. It’s also a good way to get some structure and discipline in our eating. We become much more mindful of what we eat. The other day I went to a buffet luncheon. I liked not having to think about taking a piece of bread or having dessert. I didn’t really want them anyway, but since I knew I was detoxing, it didn’t even enter my conscious mind as an option. I didn’t miss eating these items one bit. Now, don’t get me wrong. In a few weeks, I am headed to dinner at the famous Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles and I plan to have bread and dessert and everything else in between. It’s just about being mindful of our choices and making them count. (Everything in moderation.)

Interested in Detoxing?

If you are intrigued about doing the Detox 360 program, you can contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 925-819-0644 to learn more. The next group session begins July 2, with several more planned throughout the year. The program can be done remotely or in-person. We have weekly meetings to answer questions and to talk about the week ahead. You get a binder full of information with recipes, research about the importance of detoxing, eating guidelines, and more. You can also do it on your own with private weekly follow up sessions. Click here for more information about Detox 360.

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Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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