I had an overweight boss in the '80s who was always on the Pritikin diet. He was a compulsive eater and could never keep it off, but lots of other people have had great success with the Pritikin program. It consists of:

• An eating plan based on natural whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seafood, and limited lean meat
• Daily exercise
• Lifestyle education that focuses on practical training such as reading food labels, cooking healthfully and deliciously, and learning how to manage stress and adopt an emotionally nourishing outlook

People who want to get immersed in the program can go to the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa, which has a luxurious new home at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, a huge Italianate resort on 650 acres. (It was formerly at the Turnberry Isle Yacht Club in Aventura, Florida.) Pritikin will start accepting reservations on Dec. 6, with rates starting at $4,500 a week (the minimum stay) and $7,500 for two weeks. Spa suites are more.

At Pritikin, guests receive extensive medical evaluations from board-certified physicians, Read more...

My trip to Miraval in Tucson, AZ, one of the best destination spas in the country, has me thinking about all the things that are so great about destination spas, also known as health spas. One of the best things is how easy it is to make friends.

I met Claire on a hike on the first day of my trip, and we became "spa buddies." We went to some of the same classes, compared notes on massage therapists (I can highly recommend John Graziano), and dined on Chad Luethje's terrific spa cuisine together most nights. A really great destination spa gives you a protected space to think about what is going on in your life, and Claire and I talked openly, even though we had just met.

On the last morning we set off in different directions -- she went on a fitness hike and I tried "Zen Boot Camp," (too tough for Oprah but I made it through.) I was set to leave on the 10 AM van to the airport and was sorry I wouldn't get to say goodbye. But Claire came running from her spinning class to see me off. This is a photo someone took of us right before I headed off.

Every day I get an email from a man I met at Rancho La Puerta, with some inspirational sayings like "forgiveness will take a lot of the bumps out of the road of life." And a few weeks ago I got to celebrate when Ellen Sussman, a writing teacher I met at The Ranch, spread the news about selling her new novel through Facebook. I think this social aspect of destination spas is one of the best things about them, and the internet gives us a new way to keep the relationships going.

I'm on the road right now and pressed for time. But I'm still making time for massage -- chair massage. I was in a shopping mall the other day and noticed a place where I could get five minutes of chair massage accupressure for $7. My right hip was causing me pain, so I decided to see what one of the Chinese therapists could do. I was amazed how much relief I got in five minutes of chair massage. It was actually more effective than traditional deep tissue massage, perhaps because the therapist could move the skeletal structure while working with the muscles and energy lines, or meridiens. With tip it was $10 -- the best buy I've had all year.

I work in spas so I'm always interested in the "behind the scenes" aspects -- the kinds of things that a lot of people don't think about. And one of the things that impressed me about Miraval, a destination spa in Tucson, is how they allow individualexperts to create their own special treatments, like Dr. Tim Frank's Spirit Flight.

This is highly unusual. Most spas want to have several people who can do whatever is on the menu of services. Spas don't like to say, "no, you can't have the Spirit Flight on Tuesday because it's Dr. Frank's day off." But management decided that Read more...