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Humans evolved to love fatty, calorie-loaded meals. And unfortunately, while our access to food has drastically changed from the time we had to hunt all day, our affinity for the fattening hasn’t. Plus, we’re constantly coming up with new reasons to eat like there’s no tomorrow (or at least like there will be no food tomorrow). Here are twenty of those reasons:
You eat...
1. To send those amazing pleasure signals to your brain.
2. Because you were given a birthday cake or candy for Valentine’s Day, and it would be rude not to.
3. Because it’s the only thing you can do to distract yourself while waiting for your boyfriend to answer your proposal… or to distract yourself from anything you’re anxious about.
4. To reward yourself for something. Sometimes, it’s for that hour long run you just went on. Hmmm…
5. Because you don’t have a dog to take the rest home to and there are starving children in third world countries.
6. To punish yourself. Pissed at yourself for blowing a job interview or a first date? What better punishment than to see your ass jiggle a little more tomorrow.
7. Because the damage has already been done. You ate two cupcakes? May as well eat the whole box now!
8. To procrastinate. The thought of finishing up that report suddenly makes you certain you are hungry. And you just can’t work on an empty stomach, right?
10. To avoid negative emotions. Keep those taste buds stimulated and the pain of your breakup has to take a backseat.
11. Because you will never, ever come across this specific food again. At least, that’s what you tell yourself.
12. Because the fridge is like your clock: it helps you transition from one part of the day to the next. You can’t move onto your workout until you’ve had that afternoon snack.
13. Because you’re about to fast or diet.
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14. Because you just exercised or are about to exercise so you think it evens out.
15. Because no one is watching. You’ve been eating salads all day at work and out with friends, and now, late at night, it’s just you and that pantry.
16. Because you’re a grown woman and no one can tell you not to, damnit! (This will particularly happen if you have a parent who constantly nit picks at your weight).
17. Because it is your art—say you’re a caterer or pastry chef.
18. Because you’re on vacation or it’s the holidays. These often are accompanied by plenty of alcohol that only makes us eat more.
19. Because it’s a ritual to do so at certain events or times. Hey, everyone else at your book club eats half a pizza…
20. Becuase you’re eating for two. Self-explanatory.
Wow. We humans are great debaters. We can debate our way through an entire box of Krispy Kremes. You have probably eaten for one or all of these reasons at some point in your life and you just didn’t realize why you were eating at the time. Hopefully, now that you’ve seen the reasons written out, you can accurately identify why you’re b-lining it for the kitchen in the middle of the night next time.
Julia Austin is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles. She covers travel, lifestyle and love+sex for a number of media outlets including Discovery's PlanetGreen, LipGlossCulture.com, and QuickieChick.com, a site dedicated to giving busy women quick and easy workouts, recipes and lifestyle tips to better their body and mood. When she isn't writing she is planning her next trip or sharing dating stories with her friends at happy hour.