Hanger - the feeling of anger or irritability caused by hunger - is something that everyone experiences from time to time. Whether it’s because your busy schedule interferes with your ability to eat enough to satisfy your stomach, you’re stressed out, or you’re just flat out hungry for no reason, hanger is almost like being drunk. It makes you do and say things that you normally wouldn’t, you probably won’t stick to your diet, and (depending on how hungry you are) you won’t remember much after it’s over because everything's a blur.

1. Running Low

This is the start of the downward hanger spiral. You begin to feel lethargic, as if someone is slowly draining the energy from your body. Class and work slip down from the top of your priority list, whereas napping and eating a full sleeve of Girl Scout cookies get closer to the top.

2. Hanger Pains

That sour, nauseating feeling in your stomach begins to rear its ugly head. You try to think about anything but food to make the feeling go away, but even the smallest whiff of your coworker’s hamburger or the pretzel place in the mall brings it back.

3. The Honeymoon Stage

Fantasies of bottomless buckets of fries and romping around in fields of chicken nuggets fill your mind. If it was legal to marry your favorite food, you would.

4. The Comedown

The fantasy ends and you realize that your dreams are just that; dreams. Not only would eating all the food you fantasized about give you a massive stomachache, you’d have no money left after. Unless you’re a college freshman with a meal plan or at a buffet restaurant, it’s going to require lots of your hard-earned money to feed the hanger demon.

5. The Hunt

You’ve finally acknowledged that you can’t push off eating any longer. Everything and everyone else will just have to wait. Your stomach is practically begging you to fill it, and you can’t think of anything else besides the literal emptiness you feel inside. Now begins the hunt.

6. Feeling Lost

You wander around aimlessly trying to figure out where to go, but it’s difficult to figure out what you want because everything looks good. Every restaurant, cafe, and taco stand within sight is fair game.

7. Rock Bottom

By the time you finally pick a place to eat, you’re in bad shape. Your stomach is in a fit, the line to order feels like it’s five miles long, and the cashier can’t seem to get to you fast enough. Everything makes you angry, from the little kid who bumps into your knees while heading towards the exit to the couple arguing behind you in line about who was supposed to take the trash out earlier that day.

8. The Waiting Game

Depending on where you’re eating, putting in your order might not be the end of the road. Unless you’re at Chipotle and can get instant gratification in the form of guacamole, you’ll have to settle for taking a number and sitting at a table somewhere while your food is being prepared.

9. Jealousy

As you sit there waiting for your food to be ready, you look around at everyone else and long for the same kind of euphoria that they’re experiencing in that moment. You stare at their food wistfully, reminiscing about the last meal you had and how delicious it was.

10. The Climax

After what feels like an eternity of waiting, this is it. Your heart is pounding, your palms are sweaty, and your stomach is still throwing a tantrum. You get tunnel vision as you walk up to the counter or the server walks up to your table. All you see is your food, making its way to you like two lovers running towards each other on the beach at sunset. It’s practically a rom com waiting to be written.

11. Happy Ending

Nothing could ever compare to the love, happiness, and sense of peace with the universe that you feel when you can finally dig into your meal after a hanger episode. This is what dreams are made of.