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Game Forums Review

I’ve spent a lot of hours doing research on game forums recently and realized that there aren’t as much of a variety as you would think, especially in an of technology where most everything is accessible online. I cut out all the leg work for you guys and chiseled down the list to a couple of my favorites but the one that tops the list is a site I came across called Pocket Gamer.

One thing I immediately recognized about the site is that games from a wide variety of different countries are represented and they offer a multifaceted platform for gamers to discuss and review the top games that are out there and also they also offer helpful information on game tips and guides. And I have to say, the graphics on this site are by far the most advanced I’ve seen in their category. There is a section titled “Find the best games” that has categorized the latest hot games for you to browse through as well. A game worth mentioning is an app game called Hangry Mates that is essentially a food flicking game that will allow facial integration and is due to launch in early February. I’m excited to download this one and see all the features that it has to offer. Keep an eye out for this one!

Other categories offered on the site are “Game finder”, “News headlines”, and “Hardware”. The hardware link will show you an extensive list of all the latest gadgets and technology that are currently on the market in the gaming world. Another cool feature on this site is the PG podcast that has episodes on discussions on games and game related issues. While I was skimming the page I came across a banner that was advertising an event called The Global Mobile Games Industry Conference taking place later this month. The event is two days long and boasts about 2500 attendees and 310 speakers. Tech support is also available for any troubleshooting questions you may have.

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Food Throwing Challenge

Welcome back to our blog! This time, our team Hangry Mates, decided to do a food related challenge in preparation of the release of our game. Hangry Mates is a mobile app game created by a group of friends over a casual dinner. Our company was started and is based in Baltimore, Maryland. Hangry Mates is the first ever food throwing game with real face photo integration. The game allows you to take real time photos of your soon to be hangry character creating hilarious visuals and a unique one of a kind gameplay.

Our goal is to create a really fun and unique game that people could play together and have a good laugh over. In an age where there is such an increase in technology use, we thought it would be a great idea to make a game that would bring people and communities together.

 As mentioned above, we thought of ways to prepare the launch of our game. Then, we decided what better way than to create a food challenge, which we throw food at each other to catch with our mouths, in different environments! The temperature is seriously dropping here in Maryland, but we did not let that stop us. We went out in the freezing cold weather, and we had so much fun! 

We shot video footage over two days. The first day was at a park, where we decided to try throwing and catching food on a playground. First at the kiddie slide and one of us even tried catching food while hanging upside down. Then, there were the swings, where trying to catch food while swinging. This was one of the more difficult tasks for the thrower to time. Our thrower for the swings was able to get the timing down and even threw food to two different people swinging at one time! The challenge then moved over to the park’s soccer field and ended at the parking lot. We noticed someone in a car that was watching what we were doing and was super confused. HAHA! Maybe we should have invited them to our food challenge.

The second day we decided to do some footage for the video in our office. We then went back out into the cold to get some video at the stairs in Towson leading up to the Towson movie theater, a Cinemark. On the stairs we tried two ways of catching food. The first was to have the thrower at the top of the stairs and the person catching move towards the stairs. This was just as difficult as the swing challenge because you have to account for someone’s movement. Probably the moment of the day was when someone tried to make a catch but totally failed, letting it hit them on the face! The second was to have the thrower at the bottom of the stairs and have people catching on multiple levels of the stairs to catch. 

We tried this challenge throwing foods like cupcakes, pizza by Digiorno, hamburgers, donuts from Dunkin Donuts, fried chicken from Royal Farms, tacos from Taco Bell, and mini ice cream cones from Blue Bunny. Obviously some of these food items were going to be hard to catch but we wanted to make it entertaining. The taco, fried chicken, and pizza slices were the hardest to catch. The fried chicken breast was probably the hardest to catch using your mouth just because of its size. It was funny in our video when the fried chicken breast hit someone in the face! Many of our teammates were able to catch the cupcake and mini ice cream cones easily. We did have some catches of the donut and hamburgers, which were really sliders.

We created this video to not only bring awareness of our upcoming game to the community, but also to have fun with our community and to create a food throw challenge. We challenge everyone to find creative places to throw and catch food at fun and unique places! You can see our food throw challenge video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DdVeqz-gPY

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Running with our community

The Baltimore Marathon is the biggest running event in Baltimore, Maryland that hosts four different races; the 5K run, half marathon, full marathon, and team marathon relay. You can also participate in the BaltiMORON-a-thon, which is the 5K and half marathon on the same day. This running event is also referred to as the Baltimore Running Festival. It is a fast growing marathon in the United States and is a qualifier for some of the bigger marathons, like the Boston Marathon. So why am I writing a blog about the Baltimore Running Festival?

As a team event, many of us at Hangry Mates decided to participate in this years Baltimore Running Festival. Some of us ran the 5K and others ran the half marathon, but there was one member that decided to do the BaltiMORON-a-thon. For some of us this was our first race ever and first half marathon. This was my first race ever and I decided to run the 5K the day before the race. I would not recommend running the half marathon and not even the 5K without some training. Since this was a team event we decided to all get matching Hangry Mates shirts.

Health and Fitness Expo

There were some members of the team that went to the Health and Fitness Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center. The Expo was open on Thursday and Friday before the event and is open to everyone. Runners are required to attend because it is where the racing packets with race shirts and race bibs are picked up. The Expo is a fun event with a bunch of vendors selling apparel, accessories, shoes, and even health care products. It is fun for anyone to check it out. You can also take a photo with the Baltimore Marathon background and some props. 

Race Pack

The 5K race packet included a half sleeve race shirt, race bib, and safety pins to pin your bib to the shirt. The half marathon race packet included a long sleeve race shirt, race bib, safety pins, and a skincare product.

Leading Up to the Race

I had no idea what to expect since this was my first race ever. I had to wake up early in the morning to get to downtown Baltimore. We wanted to get there early enough to park and meet up with the rest of our team. It was a chilly Saturday morning, so I made sure to bundle up. When we got there I started to get nervous because it was now hitting me that I would be actually running this 5K race. I made sure to eat a banana and some Gatorade Energy Chews before the race hoping it would energize me. 

The 5K Run

Once we all met up and took our 5K team picture we went over towards the starting area and stood in the second to last start groupings. It was amazing to see all the people lined up for this event, waiting there on a chilly Saturday morning with a great view of the Baltimore Inner Harbor. The announcer signaled the start of the race and we walked slowly up to the starting line waiting for our starting group to begin. Our team stuck together with a steady pace running along Key Highway enjoying the view of the Harbor. We circled back around on Key Highway and started back towards Light Street at around the 1.5 mile mark. It wasn’t easy for me to run without stopping but knowing we were running as a team and the motivation it gave me helped me through it. 

The Finish

As we got back to Light Street I know the end was near. Some of us decided to pick up the pace to finish out this race strong. When I saw the final turn I used all the energy I had to sprint towards the finish, so that I could finish. It felt great to finish, especially finishing with my friends. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and was relieving when I went across that line. After I crossed that line I was out of breath and tired, but once I caught my breath I felt great. We walked down towards the Harbor where they were giving out the medals, fruits, and snacks. The feeling of completing my first race was amazing. 

After the Race

Once we were finally finished with the race and with the snacks, we met up with the half marathon team to wish them luck. We all took a group photo and then watched them start their racing event. 

Once we saw them take off, we were all hungry; so, we decided to grab some food from some of the vendors that were setup around the Inner Harbor. But before we got food, we decided to grab one of the cold beers we earned for finishing our race. One of the reasons I agreed last minute to run, two free beers for all runners! After getting my beer from one of the beer gardens that were setup, I decided to get a rice bowl with gyro meat from a local place called Cava Mezze. 

With the time that has passed after running, my body started to feel stiff and sore. One of the things I was scared of, just hoping I wouldn’t be so sore where I couldn't help my wife with the kids. It turned out my soreness didn’t get too bad, but it did last a couple of days. 

The End

I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in the Baltimore Running Festival as my first race, but more grateful to help out the community with my friends. The race allows you to fully experience our city, Baltimore. The support for the runners in the community is amazing and something worth experiencing!

You can watch our experience of the event from the 2019 Baltimore Running Festival video we have uploaded on our YouTube channel. The link is below if you want to check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y8EwCtdv28&t=13s

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How to prepare yourself for the Paqui One Chip Challenge

Have you heard of Paqui’s One Chip Challenge? Paqui first introduced this challenge by creating the world’s hottest chip, at the time, from Carolina Reaper peppers. They first had a limited release in 2016 and challenged people to post their reactions on social media with the #OneChipChallenge. 

The chip comes with its own individual red packaging, that is sealed to keep the freshness of the chip. The packaged chip is then boxed in a unique coffin shaped box. Both with a classic grim reaper picture to signify your death if you decide to eat it. 

Photo: Paqui

Because of its popularity Paqui decided to release the chip in 2017 with the same chip packaging, but a slightly modified coffin box design. This became viral over the two years and everyone from YouTube personalities, celebrities, and even athletes were trying it. Watching the videos of people’s reactions were hilarious! The chip quickly sold out and the only way to find one was buying it from a reseller, like on Ebay. One of the funniest reaction videos I have seen was Shaquille O'Neal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRtBez3k3F8

The one chip challenge has returned again! Paqui has released a new chip for -their one chip challenge that is even hotter than its predecessors, making this the hottest single chip in the world. This new version of the chip is a blue corn tortilla chip that is seasoned with a black powder made from Carolina Reaper peppers, which is the most noticeable difference from the previous challenge. The black chip along with the new packaging makes this new challenge more intimidating. The chip packaging is red with a skull and the coffin box is now black with a giant red skull design. The challenge is already so popular that the chip is sold out on their site.

We at Hangrymates decided to partake in this challenge! Knowing that we wanted multiple people to try this one chip challenge we decided to purchase the Paqui One Chip Challenge Hell in a Box Collectors Set. This collectors set includes 10 Paqui One Chip Challenge chips, 10 bandanas, 10 stickers, 10 milk shot glasses, gloves, hourglass, One Chip Challenge pamphlet, and a “I’ve been to hell and back…” trophy. 

You can watch our video of the unboxing of this Hell in a Box below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl5wnxhq1Yg&t=29s

There are warnings on the packaging to handle with care and to make sure you wash your hands. It also warns to keep out of reach from children. The pamphlet shows a little bit of warnings and directions on how to complete the One Chip Challenge. What is new to the challenge this year is that you have to eat the chip and not eat or drink anything for as long as you can.

Preparing for the One Chip Challenge:

Based on our experience of attempting the challenge you will need the following to help you prepare for the One Chip Challenge. First we highly recommend gettings gloves. The collectors box included gloves, but the single chip does not. The chip is very powdery and you don’t want that on your fingers and touching your eyes because it will burn. 

The second thing you will need is milk and/or ice cream, which is great for cutting the heat. After eating the chip they said that they had burning in their throat and milk helped a little bit, but ice cream was more effective. 

Third, have a towel or paper towel handy to wipe the sweat. Our box included bandanas to wipe the sweat, but paper towels or cloth will do the trick.

Fourth, get soft toilet paper. The chip is super spicy and will mess with your stomach, maybe not right away, but you might feel it for a couple of days. I guarantee you will be visiting the bathroom often, so you will want the soft toilet paper. 

Finally, just make sure you eat something before attempting this spicy food challenge. Doing this on an empty stomach could really have longer painful effects. Just try to eat some carbs like pasta or bread.

If you are in the mood to see something entertaining, you can check out our video with some of our colleagues attempting this challenge! You can see out of the three people who tried it that won the trophy. You will also see someone in a Batman mask! Do this challenge at your own risk!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUOWPF09Tb4&t=53s

If you feel brave enough to try, but you are having a hard time finding the chip, this is your lucky day! We are giving away 3 Paqui One Chip Challenge chips! All you need to do is like, subscribe, and comment on the video above to be entered in a chance to win!

Here are the thoughts from our participants:

“My overall experience of the one chip challenge was fun, but painful. Looking at the video now, I see that it was worth it and left a lasting memory. However, I had such bad stomach pain for several days after the challenge and made frequent stops to the bathroom that were unpleasant. The chip was not bad at all. The packaging and the chip looked intimidating, but the taste wasn’t bad at all. When I first started eating, it didn’t have any tingling spices or strong smell. I think that’s what made this chip so scary. Super spicy taste doesn’t hit you right away, but it slowly sneaks up on you. After a few secs, your stomach feels hot, then the strong hot spice kicks in. I don't remember too much from the challenge, but one thing I do remember is that my stomach felt like it was trying really hard to digest the chip. Then, my mouth started to get numb, but the heat started to hit all surrounding areas of my mouth. I ate lots of ice cream post chip because I was trying to get rid of that numbness and hotness. Milk didn’t seem to help much, it only made my stomach feel worse. My senses started to come back after 10 mins. I started feeling better and  stopped sweating profusely. However, the stomach pain continued to linger until the following day.” - Batman

“Going into the challenge, I was feeling very nervous. Not only because this was about to be the hottest thing I ever ate, but because I was afraid of the aftermath… I watched other videos of people attempting the one chip challenge and it just made me feel more nervous. After eating the chip, the heat hit me instantaneously. My whole mouth felt like it was on fire and it felt like everything was swelling up, especially my lips. This feeling lasted about half an hour and the only thing that really helped with the pain was good ol’ ice cream. On the plus side, after eating the chip, my spice tolerance has increased exponentially!” - Eric

“Biggest mistake I made was trying to enjoy the taste of the chip like it was a Doritos. Bad idea... I had to inhale the other half of the chip so I could finish the challenge. The taste was pretty terrible by the way, like a piece of cardboard, 0/10 would not repeat. The heat lived up to the hype though - my sweat glands were pouring, nose running, mouth drooling, eyes watering. I'm just thankful Batman shared his ice cream with me, a true hero! - Eddie

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Charm City Night Market To Remember

I was born and raised in Baltimore, also known to be the “Charm City”. It isn’t one of the largest cities in the United States, but it’s relatively a decent sized city with great potential. We are mostly known for crabs, crab cakes, old bay seasoning, pit beef, and Inner Harbor. Within the past few years, the food scene in Baltimore has grown beyond just crabs and crab cakes. Many farm to table has made its way into the city, and the cultural aspect has really made an impact in the food scene, where many Asian food places can be found around Baltimore. 

People have overlooked the asian culture in Maryland for many years. Matter of fact, there is actually a huge Korean community in Ellicott City, which is right outside of Baltimore. It may not be as big as New York or Los Angeles Korean community, but you can still get all types of Asian food; such as Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Hawaiian, and Asian fusion.

The Charm City Night Market is a testament to the growing Asian culture in Baltimore. It is a one day market event organized by the Chinatown Collective, that first started last September. Their goal for the event is to showcase local Asian American culture and Asian business owners. The event is held at Park Avenue, where Baltimore’s Chinatown was once located. The significance of the location is a tribute to what used to be Chinatown and how they would like to revive the area and reestablish a Chinatown.

My family and I were able to go to the event this year along with some of our coworkers, from HangryMates, and their families. I thought it was an overall great experience and it was great that we could all go out and support the local Maryland, Virginia, and DC Asian American restaurants and shops. We wanted to beat the crowd because of our little ones that we brought along, so we all decided to go right at the start of the event at 3 PM. I have not been in this part of Baltimore for a couple of years, so the first thing I noticed was some renovations taking place on some surrounding buildings. 

The market stretched over a couple of blocks and into two park areas, both park areas had stages for performances. It was awesome to see so many local shops and restaurants come together with a common goal to showcase Asian cultural to the city of Baltimore. The weather was a little steamy, but it was a great day to have my wife, son, and daughter experience this event with me.

We got to try a lot of different foods that we normally wouldn’t. Some of the food that really stood out to me was the Filipino food. The pork and chicken skewers from Chuck’s Trading Post were delicious. They had a slightly sweet marinade, which went well with the grill/smokey taste. They also had a Filipino signature whole pig on top of the grill where they were grilling the skewers. The lechon belly from Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly is my all time favorite Filipino dish, my son really enjoyed it, too. The classic crispy pork skin was like candy, while the meat was flavorful and tender. The garlic rice was a good compliment and the pickled vegetables helped cut through the heaviness of the pork belly.

My family got to try some food from an Asian Fusion restaurant that I have already tried in Baltimore. Ekiben is one of my favorite places in Fells Point, with dishes. Their “neighborhood bird steam bun sandwich” is one of the best fried chicken sandwiches I’ve ever had. The large piece of chicken was nice and crispy in between the soft pillowy steam buns. The chicken has a nice curry type of seasoning with spicy sauce all over, which reminded me of the Taiwanese popcorn chicken. The Local Fry is another restaurant that I have always loved. They are known for their unique french fries and wing flavors. My wife loves french fries, so we tried their signature Korean galbi loaded fries; the fries were crispy and the meat on top had a delightful sweet soy sauce flavor. 

My wife tried the musubi from Lei Musubi. Musubi is a marinated piece of spam with rice that is wrapped with nori, a Japanese seaweed paper, that is usually shaped into a rectangle. Spam musubi is a popular snack in Hawaii. Then, we finished our little food tour with some ice cream from a local food truck called Bmore Mochichi. My son loved the ice cream and really enjoyed the little mochi pieces on top. 

Along with the famous “fried watermelon”, there were some other notable restaurants that I did not get to try:

Ejji Ramen - Japanese 

Dooby’s - Asian Fusion

Sobo Cafe - American

Old Boy  - Korean 

Dear Globe - Coffee

The event also served alcohol like wine, liquor, and beer. All the beer was from local breweries in Maryland. Key Brewing Company was one of the local breweries that the event offered. The cool part about one of the beers they offered was their Gose, which was specially created for the event, called the Charm City Night Market Gose. A Gose is a sour beer that seems to be gaining popularity recently. It’s an acquired taste for some, but I personally love them. The Charm City Night Market Gose was not as sour as some of the ones I’ve tried before. https://www.instagram.com/p/B3cgfjlJ_tu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The Charm City Night Market event also offered other entertainments. There were performances of people singing and dancing. One of the greatest parts of the performance that really attracted everyone’s attention was the traditional Chinese lion dance, which is two people running around while holding up a giant lion, so it looks like the lion is actually dancing. My son was enjoying the lion dance until they came up to him, which scared him because it can be a bit intimidating when up close. My wife, son, and daughter thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the event. 

We didn’t get to experience everything due to time, so I would love to take my family again next year and try other foods. I would also love to see what the Charm City Night Market looks like at night when its dark. Maybe we’ll consider going without our kids because of their bedtime. This is something I would want to support every year because I think supporting the local Asian community really benefits the Baltimore community as a whole.

Here are some other opinions about the event from some of my coworkers:

“Personally, I did not enjoy the Charm City Night Market. With that out of the way, there were some aspects of the event that I see would be enjoyable to some. The food was tasty even though the cooks were not actually cooking at their restaurants but instead under a tent. Ekiben was one of the best things that I tried although I feel like the chicken was a little undercooked. The event showed off a lot of Asian culture from martial arts to ethnic dances. So, in closing, would I attend the Charm City Night Market again? Probably not.” -John

“Overall, Charm City Night Market was a great experience for us as a family. The various restaurants and shops being represented truly showcased the often overlooked and even forgotten highlights to the city. My favorite sampling came from the Pork Bao and the coffee stand. I’d definitely visit again next year!” -Hyo

“My wife and I enjoyed the event. There was a lot more vendors than we thought. Since we love trying new cuisine, it was perfect for us to try little bits of this and that. Our favorite part was learning about many of the local restaurants and food joints that we never heard of or got to try. The best thing we had was the hot chicken sandwich from Hot Lola. It was hot, spicy, and juicy. Besides food, we saw a couple of cultural performances that were entertaining but the performers were mixed with different races and ethnicities, which I thought was fascinating. We would definitely go back to Charm City Night Market next time.” -Ryan

“Charm City Night Market was one of the most interesting markets I’ve ever been to. I saw so many different cultures come together, especially through food. So, I was able to try various kinds of food such as chicken sandwich with an Asian twist, crispy pork belly, musubi, and mochi waffle on a stick. It’s safe to say that food was my favorite part of the event. I also loved how it was family friendly. I took my 2 year old; he loved trying all the food and dancing with the chinese lions. I can’t wait for next year!” -Dinah

Lastly, check out our video from the Charm City Night Market!

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[hangrymates-blog]

What not to do when someone’s hangry

Believe it or not, there are some what to do and what not to do to consider when you encounter a hangry person; especially your spouse, friend, family member, or coworker. I thought about this topic after having to deal with two hangry people in one week, one was my wife and the other was a coworker. Just my luck, right? 

For those of you who are not familiar with the word hangry, it is a term to describe someone who is hungry and angry at the same time, thus “hangry”. Someone decided to coin this term by mashing the two words hungry and angry. I would bet you have experienced hanger yourself or encountered someone with serious hanger.

It’s not fun having to deal with a hangry person, trust me on that. Not handling a situation with a hangry person correctly could lead to a fight or an awkward situation, “hanger problems”. Sometimes one little wrong move could really set a hangry person off. 

I love my wife and she is one of the most loving and gentle people I know; however, when she is hungry, I do not want to mess with her. All I know is that I need to get her some food right away. If I sense any signs of hanger, I will even try to avoid her when I can until she gets something to eat. Couples fight over hunger all the time. Over the past 6 year of our marriage, I have learned the hard way that hanger is a real thing. I am just hoping our kids didn’t get the “hanger gene” because I don’t I think I can deal with three people being hangry. 

There must be an epidemic breakout of hanger because I experienced another episode with my one of my coworkers. At work, we have a secretary who had been there for over 20 years. She is an older lady who knows everything about the company, and she is some that everyone loves. One day, I was very busy and had so many tasks to complete, I had to ask the secretary to send out a form via fax right at that moment. I was in such a rush that I couldn’t explain the situation and abruptly asked her to send it for me. She dropped the paper in front of me and snapped that it is her lunchtime and that she is not my assistant. I was taken back a little and I realized she is “hangry.” I immediately apologized and kindly asked her if she could send it out after her lunch break was over. I must say that was a very awkward moment I ever encountered at work. I hope that I don’t ever repeat that and I do not wish that upon anyone else. 

As you read through my experiences, I hope you took notes of what not to do with someone who is very hungry.  

In fact, to make matters easy, I put together a list of things you should not do to someone who is hangry: 

1)Know who you are dealing with. Not everyone gets hangry. It may be rare but I believe there are people out there that have never been hangry. They have the patience of a saint and whenever they are hungry, anger never follows. 

There are also people that have a higher tolerance to getting hangry. I think I would categorize myself here. I am no saint because I have had my hanger episodes. My wife would love to tell you those stories but I would like to think that I don’t get angry as easily as some people. 

So my point here is that you have to recognize the “hanger tolerance” of the people you interact with. Knowing how people react to hunger comes with experiences with them. This helps in the long term to understand if someone says they are hangry, you better believe them! When you recognize the signs of hanger you could also avoid them. Haha, I have definitely done this plenty of times. I find it better to avoid someone then to make contact and somehow trigger them. Which comes to my next tip.

2)Be careful what you say to them and pick up on their hangry clues. This should be an obvious one because if you notice someone is angry then you might want to be careful what you say to not agitate them more. But sometimes you don’t catch all the signs. I have to admit that I am not the quickest to catch all the signs with my wife, so I sometimes cluelessly ask or say something to make her more angry. 

Saying things like  “didn’t you just eat?”, “why are you in a bad mood?”, “can’t you wait just a little bit?”, or “I’m not in the mood for that.” will not help the situation with a hangry person. Sometimes it is easier to just say nothing at all.

Picking up on clues also helps. I am better at picking up clues from other people than my wife. It is important to be able to notice the signs of someone getting hangry. People in the work place especially need be more aware. Since there are more people in an area it is easy to irritate someone. You don’t want to prevent someone that is hangry from getting food by talking their ear off or interrupting their lunch. I have noticed a coworker hanger start building up when being asked to do work during their lunch time. 

Recognizing someone’s hanger and being able to say the right things can save you!

3)Let the hangry person win! I find it easier when dealing with a hangry person to just let them win. This means you should let them choose what to eat and where to go. Don’t give them trouble and fight about what you want to eat. You have to learn and pick your battles. For me I have learned happy wife, happy life! This article explains why a happy wife can enhance family life.

I know it isn’t fair to always let them choose especially if they are always hangry. I can understand in this situation if you sometimes want to give your opinion. If you have to be difficult just try not to be indecisive either. Make sure you don’t drag on the picking process, so they don’t get even more hangry. Have some ideas ready to suggest. Here are some places that I enjoy and you should recognize, Chili’s, Five Guys, or Chick-Fil-A. Be willing to compromise too!

4)Don’t try to distract a hangry person. The idea of taking a hangry person’s mind off their hungry might work in some instances but it could also backfire on you. I can calm my wife’s hanger sometimes by allowing her to shop on Amazon or Nordstrom. But this is just a short fix and it sometimes backfires because she gets even more hungry that leads to a bigger outburst. So don’t even use this tactic unless you are buying time to either make dinner or waiting for a delivery man.

 ……

I know these aren’t the only things shouldn’t be doing to someone that is hangry but I hope it gives you some ideas. 

I came across this game where you can get “revenge” on that hangry person by throwing food at them. You can check out the game at www.hangrymates.com.

[hangrymates-blog]

5 creative ways to curb your Hanger

Hangry? Many people get irritable and angry when the hunger overtakes their patience. This situation is often referred to as hanger, the deadly combination of hunger and anger. It can ruin your mood and can also ruin the mood of others around you. When you become impatient, you can act or do things that you would never normally do. Being hangry is a state of mind and no one should ever put themselves in because nothing good comes from it. Take these five tips to curb your hanger before you get extremely angry.

Snack when hungry:

The first hangry remedy is to eat a snack the moment you start to feel hungry and you know you won’t be able to have a meal anytime soon. It can’t just be any type of snacks, unhealthy snacks or junk foods like chips, candy, or cake can provide temporary relief to hunger but it doesn’t seem to keep you content. For me, getting full on junk food just doesn’t make me feel good afterwards. So even though the Snickers commercial tells you that “you aren’t you when you are hungry, so eat a  snickers”, you might want to consider something healthier. 

Just like consuming a well balanced meal, eating a snack that is balanced with protein, fat, and carbs is what will help you overcome hunger longer. Snacking smarter is what I would recommend. A snack which includes nuts is a great choice. Nuts contain protein and fiber content, which helps you feel satisfied. They are also rich in vitamins and minerals, which tend to be a great go to snack to hold you over in between your meals. Just don’t over do it with the nuts because they are also high in fat; a healthy fat, but you still want to consider having that balance.

Fruits and vegetables also make great snacks. Based on this article, researchers have found that a higher consumption of fruits and vegetables resulted in greater energy, calmness, and more happiness. There are many benefits to fruits and veggies consumption besides just being your hanger solution.

Eat grapefruit:

Eating a grapefruit is not only healthy, but it can apparently minimize your appetite and keep you cravings away. This article shows that grapefruit is a great natural appetite suppressant, but also has other recommendations. It is a low-calorie food that is rich in soluble fiber, which helps keep blood sugars steady and make us feel fuller faster. Some people say that eating one grapefruit a day is extremely beneficial and helpful when dieting. I have also read that oranges can have the same effects, because oranges like grapefruit, are high in fiber. 

Try not to skip a meal:

Making sure you don’t miss a meal is important because it provides your body constant energy. A meal every four to five hours is the recommendation. Skipping a meal could lead to tiredness and drop your blood sugar levels, which are some key factors in becoming hangry. Hunger with tiredness and low blood sugar levels are reasons why someone would get hangry. A missed meal also has other effects like loss of focus from low brain function and mood swings. This article from Women’ Health goes deeper into the side effects of skipping a meal. 

Eat fiber:

Having meals with fiber is a great strategy to prevent hanger. Eating more fiber in your current diet is a great way to fill up your stomach because it takes up space in the digestive system. Fiber provides steady energy to your body over a longer period of time by helping to regulate blood sugar levels and insulin response. Fiber also has many other health benefits like being a natural detox, healthier bones, reduce the risk of cancers, and lower risk of heart disease. Here are some recommendations of foods that are high in fiber.

Keeping busy:

Distracting yourself with something can always keep your mind off your hunger. For me sometimes when I am at work and I am very busy I won’t even notice that I am hungry. This might not be the best solution for curbing your hanger, but it could work for some people. Keeping busy with work isn’t the only distraction. Playing games, surfing the internet, or maybe even reading a book could also be an option for you. For many younger people, games are popular from computer games, console games, or mobile games. Mobile games are easily accessible from your phone and could easily keep your mind off your hunger for some time. I was browsing through the internet and came across this game that is perfect for this article, HangryMates! It could be a fun game to pass the time by throwing food at someone’s face.

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These aren’t just the ways we can curb your hanger. Stayed tuned to our blog to see if we talked about other hangry remedies!

[hangrymates-blog]

Surprising reasons why people suffer from hanger

Hanger is a term used in society today to define an emotional state of anger that was triggered from hunger. Hangry is the adjective version of hanger, with the words popularity it was added to the dictionary. I have friends and coworkers that always talk about being hangry if they aren’t able to eat at a reasonable time, but I sense a bit of exaggeration, sometimes. I don’t have any personal experience of hanger, so it is difficult for me to relate. All people should have experienced the feeling of being hungry. I would now bet that many have experienced the feeling of anger that stemmed from being hungry.

So what exactly causes hanger? There may be several factors that contribute to the feeling of being hangry, but the main reason that I believe people suffer from hanger is their blood sugar/glucose level. There is a correlation between low blood sugar/glucose level, hunger, and anger. The combination of hunger and low blood sugar/glucose levels is the proven reason why people suffer from hanger. When you are hungry and have low blood sugar levels, people tend to get irritable, which leads to irrational actions and emotions like anger.

This article from CNN talks about glucose levels dropping as a reason for getting hangry, but it also mentions that hunger and anger are linked because they are both controlled by a common gene. When you are hungry, a natural brain chemical called neuropeptide Y, is released into the brain. This ignites crazy hunger behaviors through a variety of receptors in the brain such as the Y1 receptor. Both neuropeptide Y and Y1 receptor are used to regulate hunger, but also controls our anger. People with high levels of  neuropeptide Y seem to show more impulsive aggression.

With that being said, I believe that one’s personality plays a factor into hanger. People that are patient will have less chance of getting hangry, or it may take a while for them to even get hangry. However, we may come across those who do get hangry and even aggressive very quickly. Some people will show hanger a lot quicker than others. 

There are some other factors that I believe can contribute to hanger as well. Stress is something that can affect your emotions when hungry and lead to being hangry very easily. One symptom of stress can be irritability or anger. So, being stressed and hungry may be the perfect recipe for possibly getting hangry. I know stress can not always be avoided, but there are ways that can help you better deal with stress. Having a quick snack in your desk at all times could be the possible resolution. 

Just like stress, emotional tiredness can contribute to why someone might get hangry. Based on an article from Medical News Today a symptom of emotional tiredness is changing of moods. One of those moods include anger and irritability. Being a parent to an infant and a toddler makes me feel emotionally and physically tired at times. I can understand why people get irritable when emotionally tired. Although I don’t get hangry, I am constantly reminding myself to not react impulsively when I am emotionally drained.

Most importantly, as long as you don’t let your blood sugar levels drop too low and be hungry at the same time you can avoid getting hangry. Hanger can lead to impulsive actions towards people, which could lead to an unpleasant moment that requires forgiveness. If you are someone who gets hangry, my biggest “hangry advice” to you would be don’t skip meals and keep snacks with you at all times. Stay tuned for another blog on what you can do to prevent hanger, so you can avoid “hangry forgiveness.”