I love coffee. I don't care if it's 8 a.m. or 9 p.m., if I want coffee, I have to have it. It's totally an addiction, and I own up to that.

As college students, we live off coffee. The Starbucks on campus always has a line and nearly everyone walks around with a cup in their hand. It's apart of our culture, a normalcy, to drink coffee all the time.

But it becomes dangerous when we start replacing that for actual food.

In my own life, I used to drink coffee so I wouldn't get hungry as much (it's an appetite suppressant). I was in a super unhealthy mindset and thought that it was totally normal to drink coffee instead of having breakfast. Coffee became my ally with my disordered eating and became a necessity for every day just so I could try to repress what my body was telling me.

It was hungry. I thought I could trick it with some extra shots of espresso and some gum.

And I saw a lot of people around me do it too. I thought it was normal that regular people skip meals or drink instead of eating. I thought it was normal to have coffee all the time- because that's what everyone always talked about. But I took it a little too far.

Seeing everyone around me have these disordered eating patterns helped fuel my own eating disorder. Coffee was a huge part in that.

I'm not saying the people who drink coffee on a regular basis have (or even potentially have) an eating disorder. My brain just loves to obsess over things and take them to the extreme. I understand if, on occasion, coffee is the only thing you have in the morning. Sometimes you're stressed or busy or lunch just seems to sneak up on you.

But it is not okay to do this on a regular basis.

I see so many college kids and my friends lean into this idea of having coffee to start their day, or as a pick me up, or as a way to hang out with your friends. It's become so ingrained into the culture of college, it's hard to see the issue.

Your body needs nutrients. It craves love and attention and most importantly, food. We've always heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why not make it one. Having breakfast, even if it's just a granola bar, allows you to be more focused, energized, and actually less hungry throughout the day.

Stop idolizing those people who skip meals and drink a ton of coffee. It's so much better to fill yourself up with good and fun things, instead of boring and empty calories.

Next time you reach for that extra cup of coffee, listen to your body. It could be telling you it's just hungry.