Episodes

  • Hiking Snack Dilemma

    Hiking Snack Dilemma
    Oct 10 2025


    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    3 mins
  • Playbook to eating whilst hiking & travelling

    Playbook to eating whilst hiking & travelling
    Sep 23 2025

    Proof is in the pudding and I’ll show you what I managed food wise on the near “perfect pilgrim day” in the next 24 hours.

    Eat Well. 🥣



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    Less than 1 minute
  • What's my next book about?

    What's my next book about?
    Aug 12 2025

    You can find the book launch details by signing up here - it will be available on Amazon and my Payhip Store - by October 2025.

    At the heart of GULP is the Mind Food Body System - the practical framework designed to help individuals eat safely and live socially after head and neck cancer. But behind the system lies a deeper philosophy: the Commensality Comeback. This model represents the emotional and social restoration that occurs when eating becomes more than nutrition-it becomes connection. GULP brings them together, offering both the strategy and the soul to navigate life after radiated dysphagia.

    * GULP = the full package

    * Mind Food Body = the “how” (system/process)

    * Commensality Comeback = the “why” (philosophy/purpose)

    I developed the Mind Food Body System based on my own experience recovering from head and neck cancer and learning to eat again after a PEG tube. During that time, I noticed significant gaps- especially in how information was shared between patients, carers, and the clinical team. This system was created to close those gaps with a practical, structured approach that supports safer eating and better communication.

    The Commensality Comeback isn’t a concept I invented-it’s the bigger picture. It reflects the return to shared meals and social eating after medical treatment. GULP supports that comeback by combining the system with easy-to-use tools.

    Here’s how it all fits together:

    * Philosophy – The Commensality ComebackA shift toward restoring shared meals and connection after treatment

    * System – The Mind Food Body SystemA practical framework to guide patients and clinicians through the return to oral eating

    * Tools – GULPA set of resources (book, app, and toolkit) to support learning, planning, and implementation

    GULP. Is my story, my challenges and how I went about creating my best food life and new life having had a PEG tube for 15 months. It is intended as a story but an educational story, built with layers of experience in food, cooking, hiking, strategy and an unwavering belief in oneself.

    It’s all designed and created to ensure that you..

    Eat Well.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    3 mins
  • Welcome to GAG.| eating life

    Welcome to GAG.| eating life
    Feb 4 2025

    If cancer gave me anything it was a hot cup of tea and a good talking to.

    I wanted to read stories from people who had a clue.

    I wanted to get some sort of idea about what it was I was going through and what others had experienced.

    I didn’t want to get unsolicited advice from a thousand people on social media about the dodgy looking ulcer on their tongue.

    Not helpful, non of it.

    …and so GAG.| eating life was born.

    This is a documented life journal told in story format of my setbacks and comebacks after surviving head and neck cancer.

    Now I am a writer and international hiker.

    A story teller and still, after everything a foodie at heart.

    May it provide the inspiration and clarity you need.

    Eat Well.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    5 mins
  • Survivorship is a big battle too.

    Survivorship is a big battle too.
    Jan 22 2025

    Wow survivorship. The second battle - I didn’t see it coming.

    There are people who actually do their PhD’s in this so I’ll leave the details to them.

    I guess the nuance of what I write is now based on “survivorship” and as I have documented my journey from day 1 - it’s becomes a useful resource, for not only me but those that unfortunately are coming up the rear of which there are many.

    This next stage is where I need your help. Your thoughts, comments and ideas publicly written if possible, that way it doesn’t just become because “I said”.

    You know what I mean, so if you can make a comment here on Substack, Linkedin, social media or even just send me an email - and being comfortable with me using your words in the public arena is all super helpful.

    Please share this publication - it helps get the message out there …

    Becoming a paid subscriber also super helpful. 😉

    GAG.| eating life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    Eat Well.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    5 mins
  • For the love of all things spicy.

    For the love of all things spicy.
    Dec 23 2024
    I still, very occasionally, get gifts from unsuspecting givers. Two such items arrived this past week via a flustered delivery driver.I know both givers, one quite well the other I have spoken only via the telephone and only ever on a professional footing. The trouble I face is I look as though not much has happened to me, although if you peer closely you can see the tell tale signs of radiotherapy, the neck dissection, that ever so slightly drawn look only head and neck cancer patients have, that sort of landed fish look. Crooked teeth (my once prized possession unbanded) so unless you listen oh so carefully to my speech, or happen to be in the sneeze zone of sharing a meal, you’d likely not know what I have been through. So you can forgive the uninitiated when they send you a full box of Charlesworth mixed nuts as a Christmas thank you gift. I know, I know it’s the thought that counts, but I am (and say this with hand on heart) really surprised anyone gifts food of any description in this day and age when every second person seems to have allergies to gluten, peanuts, avocado, fruit, vegetables, Mariah Carey you name it. Don’t get me started on school canteens and the fact that one is allergic to peanuts we all are allergic to peanuts rhetoric. I think the giving of food to anyone in the head and neck space is a very bold move. I recall back when I was still navigating my PEG and trying to work out how to actually eat real food when someone (who absolutely should have known better) presented me with a bottle of sweet dessert sauce. My guess in their thinking was “it’s a sauce” “it has no bits” - “it’s … add in the reasoning and the seasoning”. I opened it with trepidation and sure enough, whatever was in it made my sinuses swell up and burn my mouth and throat to within an inch of its life. That bottle stayed open in my fridge for the next 18 months and only then I could manage to consume it. Anything that lasts that long (I don’t do expiration dates - Brie, Camembert, Mariah Carey point in case, are always better after their due date) I am always dubious about, but when you can’t eat or swallow a thing you tend to ignore the obvious red flags.Here’s a list of what I think is pretty safe in the head and neck cancer gift giving space. * A cotton Japanese Handkerchief (male or female) those things are big beautiful and soft and make excellent stylish wipes.* Vitamin E Laden moisturiser / cream with aloe vera - I use Tri -Natural Products * An enriched lip moisturiser with SPF 50 - great for those small spots in the corner of your mouth (angular cheilitis) * A Spotify / Audible audio subscription * A meditation app like - WAKE UP/Head Space * Scented Candle* A linen tea towel - a nice one that grown ups have* Buff (head cover - for sensitive ears) * An experience - insert zoo / museum / game to attend / race track / lap around a circuit * A travel gift card (that might be a me thing 😉)* Warm gloves (again male / female) * A tray of mangoes if you feel the need to do food or insert “avocado “ pending the point above * A good water bottle or drinking vessel with the correct opening for drinkingAnyway you get my drift. A quick list off the top of my head to get you thinking.I arrived home after 6 weeks walking to two very fat cats, but otherwise a very dishevelled house. My favourite Japanese lacquered spoon (gone), my Nutrifleur toothpaste (all used), pots, pans and lids just shoved wherever and not in sets. Mouldy towels, unwashed dishes, a dead garden - shall I go on? Still, the cats were happy.The one thing that they did leave for me was a huge (and likely very expensive) food hamper, the contents of which I could not eat… none of it - I could just manage the Pukka caffeine free tea bags. It contained the following items :- * Bag of mixed nuts - No* Tin of Cadbury Favourites (Chocolates for my non Aussie readers) - No ( FYI - cheap chocolate burns like the all get out and is in no way pleasant to consume) if you are a Chocolate person I do eat dark Haighs at 70% cocoa but that’s taken me years to get to that point and even then it is hit and miss. * Some slab of indescribable salted Caramel Rocky Road - No * Chocolate dipped Almonds - Double No * Trail Mix - for the love of all things spicy - NoI would have prefered they put the money toward a house cleaner, there you go, what an idea, maybe a gift certificate of a clean house.My point is - know thy market, dont think because its soft, runny, smooth it will work - it likely won’t unless you know the person really really well. Because a gift received that completely alienates you as a human is not fulfilling its intended purpose. You can forgive those that simply don’t know, but when something is explained in agonising detail and still ignored, you have to question the sincerity of the trail mix. Eat Well.Enjoy this post ? You can share it and help more people and caregivers … thanks 💜 This is a public ...
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    7 mins
  • Adapting to Spain's culinary landscape with dysphagia.

    Adapting to Spain's culinary landscape with dysphagia.
    Sep 12 2024
    My Google Translated Elevator Pitch … Side effects of head and neck cancer treatment means I have trouble swallowing food & drink.It’s happening.I am about to navigate 6 weeks of eating on the hoof, away from my kitchen and most importantly, away from my country of origin. I am travelling half way around the world to walk across the Pyrenees and Spain. The Camino Frances I have experience of course, two previous Caminos under my belt, my very first Camino hand selected based on the food alone. The Portuguese Coastal way, think soft fleshed fish, BBQ vegetables and soup instead of crusty bread, cheese and meat, like ham & bacon. The perfect bacon I had all but given up on, presented itself on the buffet at the hotel I first stayed in Porto. Unlike failed attempts to eat “bacon” in Australia, it was soft, flavourful and seem to disintegrate on impact. I put it down to the pig, the way it was raised, my attempts in Australia was akin to chewing shards of glass, little joy in any of that. That was the plan, it worked well and I ate fish soup, a lot of garlic bread and plenty of beautiful fresh fish with steamed potato and sometimes mayonnaise. I had a lot of stunning coffee (cafe branco) and pastries filled with sweet custards dusted with icing sugar. I consumed tuna and fish pastries and quite unexpectedly I did not choke, sneeze or gag much, if at all. The pastries had enough fat to slide and if and when they caught, I had coffee and or water on hand. Stunning pocket sized morsels that kept me going kilometre after gruelling kilometre.I chose the Portuguese coastal way as my first Camino for no other reason than my expectation of the food on offer. It turned out that I could manage quite a variety of food, including some breads, some cold meats and definitely the beer and the Portuguese wine - mental note to self, don’t talk yourself into not being able to eat something. I talk about the food here to some length in takes you to my You Tube channel.Eating in Portugal go to time stamp 3 mins where I speak directly to thoughts as to why I could manage something like bacon in Portugal but as to why it varied between establishments. I also love the ocean and the two combined made an ideal active holiday for me. The first one since head and neck cancer treatment and my first in Europe. I spent the majority and most of my adult life in Australia and South East Asia, so to experience Europe in Portugal whilst walking a spiritual path was the perfect introduction for me. In Portugal I noticed olive oil was served with most things, little acoutrement packages of oil, mayonnaise, mustard, sauce - every where I went that meant I could add a little moisture to food that I sampled. I was surprised with what I could manage and as my confidence grew walking, so did my food repertoire. The only meal I had which caused me some problems was smoked salmon and avocado in Lisbon. I carefully selected what I thought I could manage off the menu but it came smothered in a seeds and the avocado was too unripe for me to manage. I couldn’t chew it, break it down nor swallow it easily, it also came with lettuce and we all know how that turns out.I went hungry that night and there was no kettle in my room so I couldn’t prepare a cup of soup or a cup of tea. Be aware, Spain and Portugal don’t as a rule have kettles in rooms so preparing soup in a cup or noodles when desperate was not possible. Spain - what’s next. I am excited and filled with anticipation as to how Spain will unfold. I am only in France for a few days and I suspect that will be a different culinary experience again. My first two Caminos gave me an enormous amount of food confidence, food confidence I had not realised had been eroded from many months of Peg tube feeding, my relationship with food had changed dramatically and the process of walking and eating became symbiotic and the process to which my new life began.I don’t panic about what I can eat, I know that there will always be something I can manage even if I can’t communicate internal radiated fibroids in Portuguese or Spanish but what I can say is this …Los efectos secundarios del tratamiento del cáncer de cabeza y cuello significan que tengo problemas para tragar alimentos y bebidas. Translated means Side effects of head and neck cancer treatment means I have trouble swallowing food & drink.What Spain will provide is part of my food learning journey, I will not pack any additional preconceived food fears, I will pack healthy optimism and the knowledge that I must try to eat at least 3000 calories a day to compensate the 25-30 kms of walking. I know there is considerable amounts of meat available and often selecting any vegetarian options are just easier from a dental hygiene (ORN) and time perspective (eating with others). I have lost weight on previous Caminos and chocolate, Portuguese custard tarts (Pastel de nata) and wine became a staple in my daily eating and main calories (...
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Grace.

    Grace.
    Aug 10 2024



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 min