How I keep my stress levels in check

1. I get a decent night’s sleep (at least 6-6.5 hrs/night is my absolute requirement, anything extra is decadent).
2. I get at least 30-60 min of cardiovascular activity a day (I’ve been doing a really fun circuit lately to shake things up a bit).
3. I avoid talking to other people (there are a lot of high anxiety stress balls around here who just ooze stress when you talk to them, so I make it a habit to jet out of class as soon as lecture is over).
4. I try not to buy food that makes me want to eat it. When I get semi-stressed I feel like snacking on carbohydrates that are mostly digested before they even reach my intestine. When I get really high anxiety, I don’t want to eat - unfortunately/fortunately I almost never get high anxiety (maybe if I avoided items 1 and 2, I could induce it).
5. I pray to not be stressed.
6. I munch on raw garlic (this is not just something our Balkan parents do). This helps with item number three – if the stress ball people attempt contact I lean in and give a breathy ‘whhhhaaaat’.
7. I complain to Raz about every little thing that irritates me (poor him – he’ll actually sympathize with me). I’m more of the ‘tough love’ type and would probably tell me to ‘suck it up’ and ‘deal with it’, and then drop and give me 50 push-ups.
8. I sniff my highli ---oops, I didn't mean to write that one.