What Do You Think About When You Try to De-stress?

Yesterday's post I alluded to having some health issues that popped up over the summer, and for me, it's all tied to stress.

From August to September, my blood pressure went from normal to pre-hypertension and I've been having trouble swallowing food. Sometimes it gets lodged in my esophagus and I either lose air and cough for an obscene amount of time or have to drink a tremendous amount of liquid to get it down or cough it up. This doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it's a bit painful and scary.

Turns out, after a throat x-ray and endoscopy, I have the beginnings of an inflamed stomach (not sure how this correlates to my food passage, but that's what I have). One of the major causes of inflamed stomach is stress. I have to admit, for the past month, I've been feeling my blood pressure take a hold of me and turn me into "Angered-Stress Girl". It's a very odd and uncomfortable feeling, but it wasn't until I got the results of the inflamed stomach did I really take action.

I meditate, not daily, but knew I needed more. I've begun to slow walk for a 1/2 hour daily. I look at my to-do list and if I have too many things on the list, I cut one item and am learning to put this walk as a priority (something that would typically drop to the bottom of my list).

Walking slower than normal is harder than you think. I'm finally getting into a groove and remembering I'm not walking to beat my personal best, but walking to lower my blood pressure and de-stress. I listen to music with a slower sound (okay, a lot of Dave Matthews and Matchbox 20) and as I'm listening to music, I try to focus on a topic that has nothing to do with my worries. Yesterday, it was the snack chip.

I think the death of the creator of Doritos has been having people ask that question lately and I began to mull it over as I was walking. What I discovered is that are a lot of snack products that have been added over the years, and although I love Salt & Vinegar chips, I'm going to have to stick with my Fritos.

Why?

Maybe because they've been around before I was born, or I believe them to be healthy because they are gluten-free, but I think it's because they're just tasty.

What's your favorite snack chip?