writingwyo's Journal, 07 October 2023

My hubby won't eat yogurt. I will eat a little of the low carb flavored kind which I know is not as healthy.  

Confused— is it soy or dairy? 

I love yogurt great job!!! 

It's soy milk, JB, but I used 1/4 cup dairy yogurt as starter. From now on, I'll pull my starter for each next batch from the soy yogurt I make. We have a really good yogurt culture we've been using for a while now -- started it with store bought Fage yogurt, and it's never failed us. It was only the time I tried to start it with cashew yogurt that it failed. Really made me question whether the cashew yogurt really had any probiotics to speak of 

Thanks, buenitabishop! Morticia -- it's not everyone's thing 😊 And if what you're eating works for you as part of your overall eating plan, go for it. Heaven knows, not every thing I eat in a day is the absolutely healthiest choice possible 😉 It's the overall pattern that matters  

That's so cool that you made your own yogurt 😁. I had a friend on my last health app before it went away 😭 that made her own. I think it's super cool and impressive that you do that. I have the best of intentions but I'm a little afraid that if I did it I would accidentally murder the family... I work up to doing things like that. 😀 

@writingwyo yes, I have a dietician at our hospital who has helped. he doesn't help with much beyond which carbs to have. I just "graduated" to yams, parsnips, sweet potatoes <<< not my fav, and some squash I feel defeated from all the food allergies that interfere with trying to lose weight. if it comes in a can or box I am usually allergic to something in it. if I don't keep my blood sugar high enough, I have to resort to a literal tablespoon of honey or butterscotch candy. I need to be at 140 before bed so I can sleep through the night or get up and make almond milk with honey and have 1 tblsp almond butter as well. reactive hypoglycemia means it drops dangerously low and too fast. they misdiagnosed me as having vertigo, which was true, except it was caused by extremely low blood sugar.  

Very ambitious, do you ever slow down there lady? You are force to be reckoned with, and I mean that kindly. Feeling a bit like a groupie here, wondering what you're cooking up next, or another mtn. you’ll climb.! Making healthy a bit more achievable and fun. TY 

Leah -- it's actually pretty difficult to mess up yogurt, especially if you have one of those instapots with a yogurt making function. I don't have one, so I use a crockpot -- lots of instructions on YouTube how to do it. Biggest thing is to make sure it's cooled down enough before you add the starter so that you don't kill it. If you decide to try it, I recommend starting with Fage brand Greek yogurt as your initial starter.  

Glad you're getting some help, 6hearts. Yes, it can be frustrating to have to deal with dietary restrictions around medical issues. I'm trying to figure out how to get my kidney function tests back in line, and there are things that are difficult for me. In terms of foods that aren't your favorites, have faith that taste buds usually eventually follow your dietary choices. I have foods I really enjoy now that I initially had to persuade myself to eat. Can your dietician point you to some reliable sources of information on how to manage this? (Beware the cesspit of misinformation on YouTube -- good info is out there, but so is bad.) Or maybe your local library? I will also throw out for your consideration what may be an unpopular opinion on a weight loss app: sometimes you have to focus on resolving a medical issue before you can focus on weight loss. For years, I dealt with weight gain from psych meds, but truly had to get that straightened out first. As for allergies vs stuff in boxes and cans, I'll always advocate for whole foods as much as feasible. Takes more cooking, but your body will thank you 😊 

Ah, FoodyDuty, my reputation exceeds me 🤪🤣 I'm actually kind of a slug. Cooking is what I do for fun. Some of it is also in self-defense -- I like to recognize what's in my food and have better control over how much sodium, sugar, and fat I eat. For yogurt, I'm trying to get away from dairy for a few reasons, but I'm big on the microbiome, so I still want the probiotics. After the utter failure of the cashew yogurt starter, I really questioned how effective the probiotics in it are. And no one around here sells plain, unsweetened soy yogurt. I can find flavored and sweetened soy, or I can find the unsweetened cashew, coconut, etc., which doesn't have the nutritional content I want. So, best option is to make it