I was sitting with a friend when an ad for a restaurant came up. It featured a cheeseburger, a mile high. There were bacon and cheese and onions. Immediately my mouth started watering. I could feel my body start to crave it. But it was just me. Everyone else around said, “ew that looks so unhealthy" and, "I would never eat that" and, "I think I just gained five pounds looking at that picture."

Nobody told me it wasn’t cool to eat cheeseburgers anymore.

I understand the concept of health. It’s important, obviously. It's imperative to eat well and stay active. That has been the staple health advice for as long as anyone can remember and it makes sense–it's health. But the definition of “eat well” has transformed.

It used to mean eat balanced meals: don’t forget your protein and milk. Drink a ton of water.

Now it means to pretend that you have a gluten intolerance and stop eating anything except vegetables. Meat can be gross and doesn't sound healthy so stay away from it. Maybe just go on a water-based diet... except fruit. That’s right, not even fruit because that has natural sugars in it. And sugar is sugar.

I pity anyone who thinks they can’t eat a cheeseburger, the people who think one occasional “bad” meal will send you straight into cardiac arrest. Where I’ve come from, food was an experience and not just a chore.

You’re never too cool to eat a cheeseburger.

Why can’t society go back to valuing well-balanced meals? Stress that bread is OK in moderation. That EVERYTHING is OK in moderation. That food pyramid we had hung up in our gym and health classes and the cafeteria aren’t invalid now that we don’t see them constantly.

Health has become more of a trend than a way of life. I get looks when I grab a slice of pizza over a wrap. The workers at Chipotle assume I’ll want a salad when in fact I’ll be ordering a burrito with extra sour cream and cheese.

The least you can do for yourself is to stay balanced in life, school work and your diet. It’ll show the biggest benefits.

And balance doesn’t mean portion size veggies, grilled chicken and a glass of almond milk each night with a fat-free pudding for dessert. It means you can have salads, whole wheat wraps, and quinoa but if you want to have something deemed unhealthy every once in a while, that’s perfectly acceptable too.

Eat that cheeseburger.