If You’re The Kind Of Person Who Could Always Eat, These 10 Things Will Just Make Sense
Getty Images | Unsplash You feel angry. You feel sad. You feel confused, impatient, and frustrated. You absolutely do not feel like acting like the mature adult you're supposed to be. You begin to wonder what's wrong with you, and then you realize: you're starving. If this scenario sounds familiar to you, then you're the kind of hangry person who could always eat, and you'll immediately relate to the following scenarios.
If you're the kind of person who could always eat, these ten things will just make sense:
1. You literally cannot leave the house without a snack
What if you get stuck somewhere for hours without food? You can't even imagine this situation. Well, actually, you can, and it's not pretty. Best to avoid it at all costs. You've got granola bars stashed in your car, your purse, your desk drawer, and probably your coat pocket from last winter. It's not hoarding, it's emergency preparedness.
2. People have used the word 'hangry' to describe you
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What's hangry? Well, Urban Dictionary defines the word hangry as "when you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated, or both." Most of us have experienced this to some extent. Some of you, though, are much more intimately familiar with the hangry life. I know, because I'm a member of that club.
Some of you have been called hangry to your face. And you really couldn't even be that mad, because you know it's true. A 2022 study tracked people's moods and hunger levels five times a day for three weeks straight and found that hunger accounted for a whopping 56% of the variation in people's irritability.
3. You do not understand how people forget to eat
Did the sounds your stomach is making and/or the intense emotional feelings building up inside of you not tip you off? Forgetting to eat is like forgetting to breathe for you. Your body sends approximately 47 different alarms before you even hit "actually hungry," and ignoring all of them sounds like a superpower you were simply not given.
4. The statement 'I didn't eat lunch today, but I'll just have a big dinner' makes zero sense to you
How are you still operating at a working, mature level? Skipping a meal isn't an option if you want to be a functioning member of society, big dinner be darned.
Research shows that when you skip meals, your blood sugar drops, your body pumps out cortisol, and your serotonin production tanks. This is the exact recipe for feeling irritable, stressed out, and unable to cope with literally anything.
5. Your friends have learned when to leave you alone, and also when to drop everything and help you find food
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It's really in their best interest to get this situation taken care of. A true friend knows the difference between "I'm getting a little hungry" and "we have approximately four minutes before this becomes a crisis." The smart ones have learned to just silently hand you a snack before things escalate.
6. You feel sincere regret for some of the things you have said when you were hungry
You can't be held accountable for your actions under such extreme situations. A study from Florida State University found that when people's blood sugar was low, they were significantly more aggressive toward their own spouses, and the lower it dropped, the worse they behaved.
Your brain runs on glucose, and when it's running on empty, your ability to filter what comes out of your mouth goes right out the window.
7. You have learned when to shut your mouth to avoid the above
It's for your own good as well as everyone else's, really. Things could turn ugly pretty fast. It's better to just keep your mouth shut for preventative measures. You've developed a whole internal system at this point: recognize the signs, remove yourself from the conversation, and locate food immediately. It's basically a safety protocol.
8. You have, on occasion, had to stop yourself from acting like a toddler when you got too hungry
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Because, you know, you're an adult and stuff. You mean people won't just bring me food if I cry? Researchers found that when you're hungry, you actually perceive everything around you more negatively and are more likely to blame others for how bad you feel. That moment where you almost threw a tantrum in the checkout line was your hungry brain hijacking your emotional processing.
9. You may have actually cried because you were so hungry
You are not proud of this incident. It's really one of your low moments. Has anyone else noticed that hunger tears hit different? It's not sad crying. It's not happy crying.
It's a very specific kind of overwhelmed, desperate, "why is there no food in front of me right now" crying that you can't explain to anyone who hasn't lived it.
10. You can easily think of an example for all of the above
So can your friends. So can your parents. Those of us who live the hangry life know the struggles. However, you do learn to adapt. Planning your days around meals and snacks becomes second nature. You know that having a backup granola bar with you is more than just a suggestion — it's your lifeline.
Finally, as the years pass, you learn to get a handle on yourself and become accountable for your actions. Make no mistake, you still feel all the same emotions (anger, sadness, desperation) on the inside; you just get much better at suppressing them. Stay strong, hangry friends!
Aliza Vaccher is a recent grad from the University of Washington in Seattle, where she studied psychology and international studies. She coaches gymnastics while she attempts to navigate this thing called "real life."
