less leslie

Your hair or your health? I asked, you answered. Seems there are quite a few products to keep hair from “going back” to its natural state, which women of all ethnicities would prefer not to deal with after a great workout at the gym. Understood. If you spend a lot on perms or relaxers, you’d…

Wrap? Scarf? Just leave it free? Are you natural? Got a weave? Extensions? Doesn’t matter; just tell us how you take care of your hair. I’m asking because of the few areas of discussion we were able to squeeze in during the 20 minutes I was on air last night with “The Daily Drum” host…

Let’s see: four Wimbledon trophies, 13 Grand Slam titles, but all we’re hearing about Serena Williams are her “big boobs and this massive butt.” Those are her words, as quoted in this Harper’s Bazaar article. It’s a nice, light, fun piece about her new, leaner body, fashion sense and self-confidence. Although she says she loves…

In the five months I’ve been blogging for The Root, I’ve already heard from a handful of women who’ve lost 100 pounds or more, and a few of them are African American. I bring up ethnicity because of the 80-percent-overweight thing, even though it appears people of all colors are stalking me via this blog.…

I’ll be off to the gym in a few minutes, and I want to try running on the treadmill, but I’m a little scared. I mean, when’s the last time you saw a 265-pound woman run anywhere? (I hear snickering.) For all my self-esteem work – and I’m going to need to dust off my…

My scale’s on the fritz and I am freaking out. It uses a 9-volt battery, and there aren’t any in the house, so I went to the corner store, and there weren’t any on the big battery thingie. WHY? How many people need 9-volt batteries? Those are for, like, Ice Age devices. I don’t know…

This has been one downer of a week for overweight African-American women. We’re the heaviest group in the nation. We’re leading the pack in heart disease and all it related crises. Our kids are the fattest and nearly half of us don’t exercise because we don’t want to mess up our hair. And the hits…

Here I am, all ready with my coffee and facts, getting ready to write a bit about the headlined topic, when my email dinged, announcing six new ones. I clicked over to Outlook, and among them was a Google alert featuring this story: “Must black women choose between beauty and health?” I don’t believe in…

(Last of three parts.) The children of Generation X are being called “Generation Triple XL,” as in an XXXL shirt size. Where to place the blame? Some say it’s all the hormones, chemicals and additives in our food, from baby formula to Thanksgiving turkeys. Others, all the high-fructose corn syrup in the American diet. Then…

(Second of three parts.) Black women and weight. Could there possibly be a thornier subject? We are a sensitive bunch when it comes to confronting our obese reality. There’s embarrassment and shame, sadness and fear, and a great deal of anger. But there’s an elephant in the room, and no it’s not your Aunt Boo:…