Embracing Intensity 234: Craving the Yum After Chemotherapy
Today’s guest is truly a multipotentialite with interests spanning gender nonconformity, psychology, healthy eating, photography, and the creative arts. He has discovered ways to embrace his creativity and merge his talents to offer meaningful help to others in their struggles. Join us to learn more!
Greg Halpen is a food blogger and food photographer who created the food blog, Craving the Yum: Eating After Chemo. Chemotherapy can do a number on our palates, leaving our taste buds desensitized and frustrated about what to eat that actually tastes good. Greg gives chemotherapy patients the steps and practical tools to reimagine meals without compromising the YUM factor. Through his food blog, he shares the secrets to preparing meals that are simple, healthy, and extra.
Show Highlights:
- Why Greg is intensely passionate about helping people navigate the frustrating and difficult waters of figuring out what to eat during and after chemo
- How Greg’s personal brand of intensity covers multiple areas of creativity: music, theater, food blogging, and photography
- How Greg’s childhood trauma spurred him into creative outlets as coping mechanisms
- The difficulty for Greg in not having a support system to help him grow as a creative person
- What Greg wishes he knew back then: “There are people in the world who WILL see you and get you.”
- The cultural factors that affected Greg as a gay young man with confusing feelings that couldn’t be expressed and realized
- How digging deep into learning about homophobia and hetero-normative thinking helped Greg cope
- How Greg has had to purposely shrink himself down to be smaller because of his insecurity as a person
- How men are affected by sexuality and gender issues very differently than women
- Why Greg has felt out of control when he couldn’t harness his creativity amidst the chaos of life
- How Greg uses his fire for good in being of service to others and helping people
- How he learned the important lesson that he isn’t at the center of everything
- How therapy, cooking, and helping others with food relationships have helped Greg harness his intensity
- How Greg helps others use their fire by helping them to make small changes and understand “diet culture confusion”
- Up next for Greg: writing a book (the free mini-version is available on his website now!)
Resources:
Get Greg’s FREE mini-cookbook, Eating After Chemo!
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