Is dining alone meant to be awkward or is it me suffering from some sort of social anxiety? I want to deal with this. Following is my situation in detail:-

I usually have food with my friends in the mess. Sometimes timings differ and I am forced to have food alone in the mess. I find it incredibly tough to have food in such situation and most of the time I skip that meal.

I introspected on this behavior and here is why I think I feel awkward:- I am a loner, an introvert. I actually enjoy having my meals alone with my thoughts. But situation in the mess is different. I want to have my meal with someone. There should be someone sitting besides. I worry that if someone sees me eating alone, they will think that I am some sort of social retard with no friends. I think I'll be able to eat alone in a place where everyone is eating alone.

Hope you get my problem. I am double-minded in this case. On one hand, I should not give a fuck and have my meals no matter if I am alone or not. On the other hand, reputation matters and I don't want to look as a social retard.

Am I over-analyzing? Is this natural? If not, kindly suggest correct behavior and how I can improve myself.