I have to confess to something. I grew up completely vegetarian in India. When I came to the US at the age of 18, I was a good tennis player, but had almost no strength which is required for the kind of tennis played in college here. After getting demolished in a division 3 tennis match where the other guy was all serve and volley and I was all rally from the baseline, coach suggested some strength training, which obviously had to be supplemented by some good protein. The options given to me were (1) lots of soybeans, (2) meat. This was a problem either way. After discussing at length with my housemates, the decision was made to NOT try meat, since my 18-year-old self had never experienced it. Of course, you can guess what happened next. I rode my bike from the University to the nearest Burger King, and … the rest is history. Yes, BK was the beginning of a life-long love of good burgers.
Over the years I did get better at tennis, and also stronger. When I pivoted to running ultramarathons, I found that for me, a high animal protein (“beef”) diet was much better than a high carb (“pasta”) diet. I could feel that I had more endurance, and fatigue set in much later than on a high carb diet. My kids and I have now become burger connoisseurs of sorts, and on each trip, big city or small, big village or small, we search for the best burgers in town.
I have a simple four-point checklist for what makes a burger good: (1) Start with the best, highest quality meat with little to no additives or hormones, (2) Cook It just right, (3) Add the right toppings – fresh vegetables are the best and serve with the best sauce possible, (4) Eat it hot right off the grill. That’s it. And as local Southern Californians know, In-N-Out is pretty darn close to hitting these checklist items for a good price and convenience to boot.
The full note on this important topic can be downloaded at this link: LTA Thinking – My Burgers and Bonds Checklist