less leslie

Folks, the editors here are kicking me to the curb. They said I didn’t lose enough weight for them to allow me to continue. I was so depressed, I baked a cake and ate the whole thing. (Are you actually falling for any of this?) Seriously, though, they are kicking me out. Because I have…

Again, I’m both happy and sad Christmas is over. I love all the build up to The Big Day. The malls, the music, the wrapping paper, the decorations, the solemnity of candles in celebration of the holy day. Mostly, though, what I’m feeling right now is relief. I don’t know what it is about this…

It’s late, and this is the first time I’ve set foot in my home since 7:30 a.m. – 15 hours ago. That would sound unusual if it weren’t Christmastime. I set out early so I could buy some package-sealing tape on my way to work, and spent the rest of the day limping around the…

I love, love, love the Christmas season, and don’t want it to ever end. At the same time, part of me just can’t wait until it’s over, and the reason is food. There’s too much of it everywhere, all the worst of the best: eggnog (spiked or no), pies, cakes, candy and the omnipresent cookies.…

On a promo poster for A&E’s upcoming show Heavy, there’s a photo of a large woman, natch, against a stark, dark background. At the top it states, “From the network that brought you Intervention.” In other words, “We know how to edit to squeeze the most drama out of every moment and every last drop…

Red Lobster, you’re on notice: I find it nearly impossible to resist your calamari, so I’m going to sue you for unfairly tempting me beyond my control. That’s pretty much the essence of a Sacramento mother’s lawsuit against McDonald’s. She’s suing the company for what she calls unfair marketing to children. Monet Parham claims she’s…

The new year always signals a new beginning, whether you want it to or not. It definitely will be for me, but I’ll tell you about all the coming changes in the next week or so. Right now, anyone vowing to join me on the weight-loss wagon January 1 will find “motivation” everywhere. Just like…

I’m kidding, of course. I know there are diets out there now with special cookies that are loaded with fiber to fill you up, but I can’t say I know anything about them. I do know about the cookies I made yesterday – six dozen, while at the same time making two chicken dinner pies…

Let me see if I understand this correctly: Allergan Inc., makers of the Lap-Band medical device, successfully petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lower the weight limit for lap-band obesity surgery. In addition, the head of the FDA advisory panel petitioned by Allergan owns stock in (drum roll, please) Allergan Inc. Maybe you’ve…

I’d fully intended to talk about the FDA’s recent OK of lap-band surgery for smaller people, but at the end of my workday Tuesday I heard the shocking news about Elizabeth Edwards’ death, and really haven’t been able to focus on anything else, since. It wasn’t the fact she died of breast cancer I found…