My Mom always cooked healthy. Greek food lends itself to cooking healthy.

It's fun to pick a cuisine and say I'm going to research Ethiopian food, and see what it's all about. You find that there are a lot of similarities in cuisines from around the world and a lot of similar flavors.

If eating out, order your meal and ask the server to wrap up half of the portion to take home with your for the next day, keeping your portion size in check, and stretching your dollar into two meals.

Purchase items that can be made into several meals, like a whole roasted chicken, or bag of sweet potatoes, and shop the periphery of the grocery store, avoiding the middle aisles full of processed and higher-priced foods.

The thing about being at home versus being out in the world working is, it's a whole different vibe. When I'm home with my kids and partner, I will cook - even though she's a very good cook. She's learned over the years. We started with basics, you know, how to saute onions, how to saute mushrooms.

When I was growing up in Mississippi - it was good Southern food... but I also grew up with a Greek family; when other kids were eating fried okra, we were eating steamed artichokes. So I think it played a big part in my healthy cooking.

I know growing up as a young gay person how much you hate yourself, how much you already think you're different.