How many tubs of yogurt could you eat in one sitting

Recently, one of my dear friends and fellow bloggers Siobhan brought a debate to my attention. Really, it’s not a debate, but more of a question. How many tubs of yogurt could you eat in one sitting? Tubs, for reference, are generally around 750g.

I am someone who can barely get through a small carton of yogurt - I enjoy it at first, but five or so bites in, my brain flips a switch and I suddenly cannot bear to eat another bite. Because of this, I expected to be bested, but nothing could have prepared me for her answer.

Gun to her head, Siobhan said ten. Thankfully, I was sitting down or else I might have fallen over in shock. Ten? Ten? I never even considered that a number that big was an option for anyone, much less someone I knew.

The rest of my night went by in a haze - writing another blog post about meaningless stuff - too wound up to make sense of what I had heard.

I’ve learned many times throughout my life that the best way to process emotions and your feelings is to talk through them. Because of this, I took it upon myself to ask those around me their thoughts on this question, as if to double check that I wasn’t the one going crazy.

My first test subject I saw early in the morning. Hillary walked beside me as I prepared myself to ask the question that had been burning a hole in the back of my mind all throughout the lab we had just had together.

I knew from many discussions with both Hillary and Siobhan that Hillary is nothing short of a fan of yogurt, so to me, she was the perfect candidate. Was I right to be frightened by Siobhan’s response, or is this what the yogurt community is like? It reminds me of Atlantis, something that legend says exists, but it’s both unavailable and incomprehensible to the average person.

The conversation between Hillary and I lulled, and I snapped quicker than one of the piranhas from dumb ways to die. “How many tubs of yogurt do you think you could eat in one sitting?”

I could barely hold myself together as I watched her think about her answer. Time slowed down as she began to speak, it felt as if the universe was giving me a moment to prepare for what she had to say.

Before I could think about the implications of my study, she had answered. Less than one. I wasn’t surprised by this, because I had said the same thing, but I still needed to know more.

I spent the rest of my day asking those around me their thoughts on this question, and all went well until I texted my roommates. Scientists make mistakes, we all make mistakes, so keep that in mind. Believe me, I know for a fair experiment you need to avoid leading questions and remove bias from the research question. However, it was a weak moment and this thought flew out of my mind.

I told them about these ten tubs of yogurt and asked them - isn’t that crazy? Too my surprise, my roommate Jaimie said no. More than that, she said she thought she could do the same.

Someone powerful once said “in all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory.” This, I think, is a good thing to remind myself of as I close off this post. Just because someone’s reply is shocking and sends you into a yogurt-inspired spiral, doesn’t mean that the debate is lost. As one of my  other roommates, Charlie, reminded me, (as told to her by a dear friend who “plays chess”), there’s no such thing as losing when you’re gaining knowledge.

PSA - I wrote this while half asleep. Reflecting back, I would like to dedicate this post to Siobhan. More than the idea and creator of the question, the clear air of the morning reminds me of the great sense of respect I have for anyone who can eat that much yogurt. I think, objectively, if our lives were ever on the line for something like this she would have a way better chance than me of making it through.