Is a hamburger healthy?
Better question. Can YOU define healthy?
If everything in a hamburger is healthy, why is a hamburger considered unhealthy?
- Norah Pierce
This beautiful question was asked to me by my ten year old daughter. One, I was blown away as we were snacking on our lunch from Wendy’s that she would ask me that. Two, I shut my mouth and asked her to tell me more.
She proceeded to tell me about people online (youtube for her) talking about hamburgers being unhealthy and that we shouldn’t be eating them. She’s confused because things like “tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce are on hamburgers, and they’re considered healthy”. Damn, she’s paying attention!
As a father, I am so stinking happy she felt comfortable enough with our relationship to ask me such an interesting question. Her little brain is taking in so much information, and this showcases how hard it is for humans as we grow to disseminate information and form our own values that we choose to live by.
I know there’s going to be the “don’t eat hamburgers” and “why is your kid on youtube” readers, so let’s deal with that right now. We’re raising our kids to understand that they have choices. The world is going to be pushing and pulling them for the entirety of their lives. We don’t want to put blinders on their minds, we want to expose them to the truths and communicate our beliefs about them as they age and their experience progresses.
I also don’t have any issue with Wendy’s, McDonalds, or fast food every now and again. Are there “healthier options”, absolutely (and we’ll get into that), but life, just like food, is all about balance. Sometimes you’re hungry, and a new Krabby Patty marketing campaign has your kids sold on Wendy’s after riding dirt bikes. So you go to Wendy’s and enjoy the moments you have with your kids waiting for the food that took WAY too long to come out.
As for YouTube, I’ll admit it’s a Pandora’s box that we’ve allowed them to open. I'm torn as a father, and as a creator, whether they should have the access they do. But that’s not why we’re here today.
Define Healthy
The first thing I asked Norah when she was done breaking down her thoughts was “what do you think healthy means?”. She didn’t really have an answer, and that’s ok, because it’s a tough word to define thanks to everyone leveraging it for their own purposes.
Healthy is now a marketing term used to sell us food and a lifestyle. A company wants you to use their product because it makes you healthy. An influencer wants you to use their code because it makes you healthier. Great, but what the hell does healthy mean?
health·y /ˈhelTHē/ : (of a part of the body) not diseased.
Healthy is defined as not diseased, or the opposite of unhealthy. So if I’m a healthy person, I am not sick. Can food help keep you from getting sick? YES, but that’s certainly not what “a hamburger is unhealthy” is trying to tell you.
“A hamburger is unhealthy”
There are MANY types of sicknesses, and food can help, or hurt, that journey. I have a feeling that “a hamburger is unhealthy” was said by those who don’t want people eating meat or those who are discussing calorie intake.
I say those who don’t want people eating meat because my daughter specifically mentioned Vegans in our chat. I don’t have anything wrong with anyone who has chosen Veganism as their desired way to live. I do have a problem with people trying to warp the minds of people trying to learn more about food. But I don’t have control over that.
What I do have control over is the conversations I have with my kids about food, lifestyle, and decision making. If you want to be healthy, or not sick, there is no magic pill. To create a life of health, you need to do the things that move you away from sickness; Eat foods that nourish your body and move regularly.
If you want to be healthy, or not sick, there is no magic pill.
It’s easy to overcomplicate the simplicity of those statements, especially when everyone is trying to sell you on their version of healthy.
When you’re questioning if something is healthy or unhealthy, here’s a good question to ask yourself. Does eating this, or doing this, move me more toward sickness? If the answer is yes, then it’s not healthy for you. Don’t let others answer that question for you.
Food for health
Said another way, food to keep you from getting sick.
The “tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce” that Norah mentioned earlier have nutrients that your body needs to function. The meat on a hamburger also has nutrients that your body needs. The bread, sauces, and american cheese may not be as nutrient dense as everything else, but we need calories to survive. What we don’t need is an overabundance of calories. Eating too much (too many calories) regularly causes us to retain what our body can’t utilize in the moment. These retained nutrients get stored as fat. Put this on repeat for a few months, or even years, and obesity and diabetes can manifest. This is what sick and unhealthy looks like in the real world.
Food for health isn’t considered when most of us are buying snacks, cooking dinner, or planning for road trips. We’re typically looking for foods that we enjoy, that satiate a desire to feel comfort. The harder part of that equation is that food companies are creating foods that fulfill that specific need. They know what tastes good, and they make more of it. To them, it doesn’t matter how much nutrition it provides to your body. If we buy more of their food, they’re winning. We’re just eating more, while getting less healthy.
We have to give some thought and consideration to what we have eaten throughout a day, a week, and a month if we want our health to be a factor in our life. If cereal is chosen for breakfast, plan for more nutrient dense food (meat and veggies) for dinner (or vice-versa). If chips are what you like to enjoy while watching a movie, plan for that with a nutrient dense dinner. If ice cream is on the menu for a desert date, leave the house so it’s harder to sit down with a fresh pint to knock off without much thought.
The biggest thing to take away is to remember that you get to make a choice. You have the ability to choose what foods you eat, where you eat them, and how much of them you eat.
It’s all about Balance
It’s ok to do things, or eat things, that you enjoy that move you toward sickness throughout your life. That’s called balance. Over the span of your life though, you need to do more things that move you toward health than sickness.
CrossFit talks about this as The Sickness-Wellness-Fitness Continuum. It’s an amazing watch if you’re looking for more on the subject of balance and hedging against sickness.
There are a ton of fun foods and life experiences you can have around food, we don’t need to deprive ourselves of those. We do need to recognize that we get to make a choice to be sick, healthy, or fit. Choosing to go to the gym 3-4 times a week is a choice. Choosing to snack on the couch 3-4 times a week is a choice. All of these choices add up to the outcome of sick, healthy, or fit.
Eating one Wendy’s Krabby Patty meal isn’t going to make you sick. Eating it everyday as your normal lunch routine though will add up.
What I want to tell Norah, and you, is to be conscious of the choices that you make. Enjoy life and food, but know that when you don’t pay attention to what and how you eat, an outcome you don’t want, or recognize, will be your future.
Thanks for reading Light Your Match!
My hope is to start conversations around topics that help others live a life of fulfillment. Please share with anyone who may be searching for more.
Insightful and interesting from a parenting perspective. It is awesome to see little minds at work, and your kids asking questions rather than repeating things online as facts alone shows you are doing well in that area, as they are actively wanting to learn and discuss what they see.
Very true! I agree