less leslie

(First of three parts.) The stats are embarrassing: African-American women are the most overweight people in the United States. Here are the numbers: 78 percent of us weigh too much, and 51 percent of that group is obese. That means four out of five us are overweight – meaning a body mass index (BMI) of…

I’m trying to remember the last article of clothing I bought for myself that wasn’t gym-related. The only thing that comes to mind is a white blouse, and that was several months ago. Other than that, I’m wearing the same pieces I wore this time last year. Folks, I just can’t stand the thought of…

For me, it was early last year, during one of my many attempts to lose weight. I had joined a gym called Box-2B-Fit, and attended their early morning “boot camp” class. It was an intense workout bordering on brutal, and got increasingly harder. I was almost always the biggest one in the class, of course,…

When I woke up this morning, I decided against turning on the news, which is what I usually do. It was a nice, quiet morning, I’d had a good night’s sleep, and I had also remembered that the whole mess with General McChrystal would be all over the news, and I didn’t feel like exposing…

It is too hot to move. I’m supposed to go to the gym or doing some form of exercise daily, but today, I am the very definition of sluggish. It’s not that I hurt all over from yesterday (I do). It’s not that I’m lazy. It’s the heat, which according to the temperature thingie in…

It’s the first day of summer, the longest day of the year, which means more time for me to experience all the aches from this morning’s training session with Moraitis. (Yes, of course I know it has to do with daylight, not hours, but I’m trying to wax poetic here.) Here in Raleigh, the temps…

Just when you thought it was safe to swallow that multivitamin, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee (DGAC) pretty much trashes that idea. The guidelines are updated every five years, and this week the latest findings were released. Very little changed from 2005. Some news outlets say the report signals a move to a…

Thanks to Twitter and blogs, how-to methods for eating disorders are reaching kids and adults with frightening speed, according to a study published today in the American Journal of Public Health (APHA). The term “pro-ana” refers to pro-anorexia sites, “pro-mia” to pro-bulimia sites. The APHA study checked out nearly 200 active pro-ana and pro-mia sites.…

Heart attack. Stroke. Congestive heart failure. There are several different reasons why these problems have been front-of-mind lately, most recently this morning when, after a session with Leslie Moraitis left me sweating and breathing hard, I wondered why I wasn’t clutching my chest and falling to the floor. Am I the only one who’s ever…

To make up for May’s slack, I’ve been going to the gym far more often. I’m actually trying to go at least five days a week, but missed today because of a small crisis that need immediate attention. My new routine includes twice-weekly personal training sessions at the gym, and so far, it’s been pretty …