1. Hunger
Maybe you just moved out. Or maybe you have been sitting at a computer in the library for so long that you have forgotten what your home even looks like. Regardless, your mother’s cooking is nowhere in sight. Your body and your mind are both going into shock. The continual scent of something cooking in the family kitchen is amiss from your daily routine, and the responsibility of having to feed yourself has yet to be faced.
2. Scavenging
Without too much conscious awareness, you end up eating your friend’s food. You nibble off their late night study session snacks and you only really think to consume a proper dinner until they invite you out for sushi. This phase lasts about as long as your friend’s patience.
3. Foraging
You embrace the warm and glowing convenience of the vending machine. You pick out the food item which has the most bang for your buck: something filling and for the low price of $1.75 is preferable. Next thing you know, you are reading the ingredient list of chocolate bars and convincing yourself that these delicacies are the perfect dinner.
4. Malnourished and Impoverished
Being a blatant response to the previous three phases, this phase reveals itself through the extensive amount of shaking that your coffee induces. Hopefully at this point you realize the error of your ways, but perhaps a following decrease in energy and the fluctuations in your waistline are the tip-offs, which lead to an analysis of your daily nutritional intake. In the very least, your wallet will shrink from going out to eat and you will be left with no choice, but to supply your caloric needs with alternative sources.
5. Hunting and Gathering
You actually manage to step into a grocery store. At first, this place is scary and you find yourself looking to your left as if your parent should be standing right there next to you. The absence of your mother dearest gives you an initial cringe of anxiety, but then you see bulk cookies and the world feels okay again. Next thing you know, you have taught yourself a couple of basic pasta recipes and maybe even ventured into the protein section of the store on one of your weekly visits. You are not exactly Gordon Ramsey, but you are addicted to Facebook recipe videos, have just Googled Kylie Jenner’s ramen recipe, and the world is looking a little bit more exciting and full (pun intended).