The magic number 8!!

     OK, I have always had this weird connection with the number 8. I sort of feel like it is my Sesame Street number, you know: And, brought to Trisha’s life, today’s number is 8. After all, I was born in ’71 (which adds up to 8).
     I remember when I was little, and I learned how to do figure eights on my roller skates, and actually this is crazy, but I received my first pair of roller skates (white with pink stopper, hot pink laces, and pink glittery wheels) for my eighth birthday.
     Five months before I turned 8, we moved from Washington to Texas, and that was the year my parents, who had divorced, reunited – trust me the Disney dream of every little girl of divorced parents. I remember thinking it was like the Parent Trap movie, but minus the twins. LOL. So, really I considered my 8th year of life to be one of the best.
     In the 8th grade we moved from California to Washington, and the 8th grade was my favorite year of school from K-8!
     Cody’s number has always been 8. He even got an “8” tattoo, which depending upon how you look at it, also looks like the infinity symbol, going on forever an ever.
     Jordie’s number was 4 (half of 8), and then he switched to 12 (8 + 4). And, Jordan was born on August (8th month) 19th (9-1= 8).
     I still own an magic 8-ball (of course, my students and own kids enjoy it now).
     If you want to read more about the actual symbolism behind the number 8 check out this website: http://whosgottalk.blogspot.com/2008/03/ocho-is-way-to-go.html. For now and here, I am going to move onto how 8 relates to my health!
     It just seems like the number 8 is where my life is headed. Recently, I have noticed three other things in my life that also revolve around, you guessed it, 8!
     First off, on one of my favorite websites, Hungrygirl.com, I love the HG’s Top Ate lists, which always have something to do with 8 yummy foods, or like the current one is Top Ate Calorie-Saving Cooking Swaps!
     Then onto Weight Watchers, they are all about the number 8!! Yup, the 8 good health guidelines are: 1) Eat at least 5 servings of veggies and fruit each day. 2) Choose whole-grain foods, such as brown rice and oats. 3) Include two servings of milk products – low fat or fat-free (I love Skinny Supreme at Safeway, it’s sort of right in between 1% and fat free.). 4) Have some healthy oil(olive, canola, sunflower, safflower or flaxseed) every day. I do flaxseed. 5) Ensure you are getting enough protein, at least 1-2 servings of it a day. 6) Limit sugar and alcohol (that's been super easy). 7) Drink at least 6-8 glasses of water (check!). 8) Take a multi-vitamin (got that covered, and then some, as I am even taking special vitamins for adrenal glands and the liver).
     And, they also have their 8 helpful habits, which I just received the booklet last week at WW. The helpful habits are: Prepare yourself. Ask for Help. Manage your thoughts. Manage your feelings. Take care of yourself. Manage your environment. Monitor yourself. Learn from experience.
     The great thing is that the booklet had a little survey for you to see which habits you already do, and which you can focus on and just how to do that.
     My habit profile said that I needed to work on managing my feelings, taking care of myself, and learning from experience. I was not at all surprised! All the other areas I did really well in :)
     So, I decided to research some other health-related 8 topic lists, and I found the following site that listed the 8 traits of emotional hunger: http://www.utexas.edu/student/cmhc/outreach/8traits.html
According to the site, Emotional Hunger is: sudden, for a specific food, “above the neck,” urgent, paired with an upsetting emotion, automatic or absent-minded eating, not aware of fullness, related to guilty feelings about eating.
     That's a lot of things to digest (no pun intended). Be healthy!