Let’s be real, food is more than just a necessity to stay alive. If you’re like me, food is a passion. Some people make a living off of food based Instagram accounts, critiquing food and writing reviewing meals. Actually, when people ask me what my hobby is… I think that a perfectly valid response to say is, ‘food’! The humor in this lies in the fact that eating college, dining hall food every day is how I recognized that I am a foodie. Living in the scope of New York City, the grub hub of the world, it is very possible that one can become a foodie. If you do not eat tons of random food… don’t worry because I think that being a foodie comes from the quality filled passion that one has for good eats, not just the quantity of food that one consumes. You might even be the opposite of a person who eats a lot; you might be particular about the foods you eat but know you love what is on your plate every meal. It is the passion behind food that makes you a foodie. As silly as it sounds, food can be creative and invoke people’s fancy. I love food and would totally call myself a foodie. Do you think you’re a foodie? Well, here’s six indicators that will confirm that you are food obsessed…

1. You Go to the Gym but Think About Your Next Meal to Get You Through Your Workout.

If you’re like me, you will find yourself going to the gym just to feel better about yourself when eating a dish that you know will add to your waistline. As Khloe Kardashian once said “a moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips”. Don’t get me wrong, I love running out my stresses and listening to music during my ‘me time’ at the gym, but if I know I am going to have a meal that I am really looking forward to in the near future, I work out a little harder. Who’s with me? We all do it, but do we actually recognize it? A foodie will run a little faster, plank for a little longer and do some more steps if they know that delicious grub is coming their way.

2. You are Determined About Visiting Instagram Featured Restaurants.

Whether it is in your home town or on a vacation, you know exactly which restaurant you want to go to; you make reservations in advance and, moreover, you know the best item to order on the menu. If you’re like me, you are the decision maker when it comes to picking a restaurant to go to when the family is visiting at school, or even the restaurants that my friends and I go to on a Friday night to kick off the weekend. I guess you could officially call this foodie decision maker a grub master, I mean it seems fitting, right?

All jokes aside, just by being an Instagram regular, you are bound to see a food post at some time or another. These food posts are most often taken at restaurants, food trucks or any food hot spot. Even more so, these promotion pics—whether they are a gooey, cheesy mozzarella stick being broken into two, or a fresh acai bowl—almost always encourage the viewer to visit. Are you ever really hungry and an Instagram post of food appears on your feed… well in times like those, I am at a most vulnerable time to make decisions about restaurants to visit. It is always a great opportunity to offer up a place you’ve seen on Instagram when family or friends want to go out to eat but don’t know where to go. I actually found my favorite restaurant by way of Instagram and am so happy I was determined to visit there when I first discovered it.

3. A Very Passionate Foodie Will Plan a Trip with Dinner Plans Before Leaving Home.

I mean why travel if you’re not going to experience the food, right? Traveling without making sure you try the common foods of the area is like going to a new place without experiencing the culture. I think we can all agree that this is, well… basically impossible. Food is a way that people can experience culture… a true foodie thinks this way. Even more so, a foodie makes up any excuse to have a grab a great grub. Foodies, how do you feel?

Instagram is definitely a great tool for excavating the best restaurants when visiting a new place, especially if it is a place with a food specialty that is other than your own. A hobby is going to new places to try new foods; grub can be a total hobby. In my opinion, being a grub chief is definitely worthy of being added to your resume.

4. You Take Basic Food Pics and Know the Filter that Looks Best with Food

If you make it your mission to go to an Instagram famous foodie location, you know that you will be determined to take the perfect Instagram post or story… even if that means letting the food sit in front of you for ten minutes without touching the dish, because you just don’t have the right photo. Am I right? I always think it is funny when I try to take a picture of food in a dim restaurant and the flash on my camera goes off. I know my family gets embarrassed when this happens, especially when I become a stickler about not letting anyone even eat a bit of food before I have the perfect picture. It’s a total thing, but if you’re an extra foodie will know exactly which filter to put on the picture and all the hashtags to post it with. I mean, after being a regular foodie for some time, do you blame us? It’s a natural instinct to know the right filter that brings out the best in a dish, and which exact hashtags to use, like #foodie #foodienyc #foodstagram, et cetera.

5. You’ve got food on your mind always

Do you ever feel that food is all you’re thinking about when you’re tired and hungry? Well, from time to time, I do. I always notice that if I need a motivation to get up, go to the gym, get through a class, or even go off of campus, I think of the possible food perks. As savage as that sounds, when you’re hungry, food can be all you think about! Most often for me, when I am sitting through class and am really bored, I think about the delicious food I can get after. Food can be a motivation and wrap your mind… no pun intended.

6. You insist on making your own food in the college cafeteria

When I first transferred to Fairfield University, I never thought about making my own avocado or Nutella toast but, as time passed, it became clear that you do not always need to eat the pre-prepared meal from the dining hall. Rather, you can get creative with your food options. Creativity can range from making your own fruit salad with random fruits around the dining to even making your own avocado toast from the avocado slices in the salad bar, and bread near the toaster. If you’re even more extra, a foodie would find cheese squares or shaves, chia seeds, chili flakes and olive oil to make the complete, photo worthy avocado toast that, more times than not, takes more time to prepare than actually eat. A foodie will recognize the time that it takes to make the best meal, but will be ok with it and never complains about it. I can go on and on about food creativity in the college dining hall… college foodies… you get it.

If you’ve gotten through this article and can relate to at least one of the indicators that you are a foodie, then maybe you are. Foodies are passionate and care always interested in a great grub find. Live, love… food.