HANGRY

1) When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both.

2) An amalgam of hungry and angry invented to describe that feeling when you get when you are out at a restaurant and have been waiting over an hour to get the meal that you have ordered.

3)  A state of anger and irritability resulting from being hungry.

I think all of these definitions perfectly describe the feeling you get as time elapses since you have last eaten.  This concept should be applied to men as well!  I have known some men that also start acting hangry when they have not eaten in a long time.

Listen to your body and learn to identify your hunger cues.  Hunger can be described in numerous ways including: the presence of stomach growls, stomach hunger pains, a feeling of emptiness, focusing on food, a loss of energy, and/or a desire to eat.  Hopefully, you will have a snack or meal planned ahead of time to prevent these cues from occurring.  

Getting hangry is a good reminder of this lesson:  Always plan ahead.  If you know you will be stuck at work for a longer period of time, caught in traffic, or will be arriving late to a party pack a snack.  It is important to plan for the unexpected.  When in doubt pack a snack just in case!  Best case scenario you won’t even need it, but worst case scenario…if you have it you can prevent the hangry monster from appearing.

When have you  gotten hangry? 

By:  Brooke Schantz, MS, RD, LDN

Photo courtesy of  metanotherfrog.