For a lot of people, trying to lose weight means changing the way they eat. Many people cut out what they consider to be “bad” foods and replace them with what they consider to be “good” foods. The question is, how do they decide what’s good for them and what’s bad for them?

Marketing can be misleading. It can be easy to assume that fast food is bad and foods packaged with labeling that says “high protein” or “sugar free” means that it’s automatically good for you. That’s not always the case.

Personal trainer Laura Ghiacy decided to prove to her TikTok followers that sometimes eating fast food is actually healthier than eating diet food. She broke down the nutrition information between a protein cookie and a McDonald’s cheeseburger. After comparing factors like fat, protein, and sugar content, the cheeseburger was the clear winner. Watch her video below to see this detailed comparison for yourself.

 

@lauraghiacyIS A PROTEIN COOKIE HEALTHIER THAN A @McDonald’s CHEESEBURGER? ##protein ##cheeseburger ##healthyeating ##balance ##fitnesstiktok♬ original sound – Laura Ghiacy

In response to her video, her followers felt like they finally had permission to eat cheeseburgers again. One comment reads, “All I heard was – you can eat cheeseburgers without feeling guilty now.”

Another person made a comment that is also a very good point. “This is not about saying the cookie is bad. It’s that a small cheeseburger is not actually the villain that many make it out to be.”

This is true. There might be a time and place where the cookie is a good idea. Perhaps it’s a good alternative to a brownie sundae, for example, or maybe it’s helpful to keep one in your purse or gym bag to avoid a craving for something else; however, if that craving is for a cheeseburger, it might be a good idea just to go ahead and give in to your craving.

Ghiacy told Bored Panda that she doesn’t think it’s healthy to scrutinize every nutrition label, but she also realizes that the marketing on labels can make it confusing to know what’s healthy and what’s not. She explained, “Guilt is not an ingredient in any food but we’re made to think we are ‘bad’ for eating stigmatized foods. We’re not. And if one video on TikTok can help someone feel a bit less shame… then that’s what I’m here for.”

Does it surprise you that a McDonald’s cheeseburger is actually healthier than a protein cookie? Does it surprise you that a personal trainer eats McDonald’s cheeseburgers?