Articles by: Lynya Floyd

If you're ready to get moving, but don't know where to start, follow these four easy moves from celebrity fitness trainer Kacy Duke. For a fitness novice, the gym can be an intimidating place, and the idea of committing to a 45-minute workout DVD can seem overwhelming. When ESSENCE planned a health intervention for a hypertensive reader, Kizzie Ruth Branch, who only walked once a week for exercise, our fitness guru Kacy Duke took all of this into consideration. Her plan? Get our reader -- and you -- going with four basic, strength-training moves...

Forget looking for a Mr. Right that's a mirror image of you. The latest smart dating strategy for finding love, says New York psychotherapist Patricia M. DeVost, is going out with a brother from another . . . perspective. Here, DeVost explains why embracing the yin and yang of love may be your next relationship breakthrough... Here's what you had to say: Sara commented via Facebook: "While you and your mate must have the same fundamental life values, he probably will be the opposite of you in personality traits." Angela wrote via Facebook: "I agree. We complement each other and strengthen each other's weaknesses."

Mother Love, co-host of CNBC's "dLife" and Glucerna spokeswoman, had no intention of becoming a poster child for diabetes. "I didn't want people looking in my shopping cart and I didn't want to eat any differently, but I also didn't want to be sick," reveals the motivational speaker and author of "Half the Mother, Twice the Love" (Atria Books), which details how she went from a size 22 to a size 10 to beat diabetes. After watching half her family die from complications of the disease, she decided to take charge of her health -- and help others do it, too. Here, her best advice for overcoming a disease that affects 3.7 million African-Americans...

From the bottom of your Louboutins to the sparkle of your Mac Lady Danger-swept lips, red is definitely a fierce power color for women. And it turns out, it wields power for men as well.

Health experts ask: If only two percent of Black men are bisexual, can we really point to the "D.L." phenomenon as the reason so many Black women are contracting HIV? Here's what you had to say: Sophia commented via Facebook: "I think we are not dealing with sexual promiscuity and that is on us." Myquiche wrote via Facebook: "A lot of women are not requiring these men to wear a condom. We trust too easy and think just because he looks good that he doesn't have the virus."

Standing ovations are a rare occurrence at scientific conferences, but at the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna this week, a husband-and-wife team of researchers received no less than three from a filled-to-capacity room of hundreds of scientists, activists, and reporters...

There's no doubt that African-Americans continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. We're just twelve percent of the population, yet we account for more than fifty percent of new infections. But it turns out that race isn't the only high-driving factor for the epidemic in the Black community...

What a difference five years can make. Or can it? Last week, Barack Obama unveiled the U.S.'s first National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which plans to significantly lessen the impact of the epidemic in America by 2015. And they're not vague about what success would look like when it comes to a disease that's the number one killer of Black women 25 to 34...

A man's risk of acquiring HIV from an infected partner doubles if that partner is pregnant, according to a surprising new study presented at this week's 2010 International Microbicides Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Experts believe that biological changes in pregnant women may increase the amount of virus they shed, thus making them more infectious and leaving their partners more vulnerable...

Imagine a vaginal ring that guards you against the virus. Or a pill you can take daily that will protect you from transmission of HIV. These, and other techniques, are at the forefront of development and could emerge sooner than you think...

Hey Ladies! "What are you looking at?" my friend asked me when we were out for a 5-miler in Central Park. He's a phenomenal personal trainer and even though we were just doing a fun run with our dogs, he gave me coach-like advice: "Focus on that street light at the top of the hill." It sounds simple: Focus on where you're going. Look at the top of the hill and let your feet take you there...

"When you fail to plan, you plan to fail." You've probably heard this phrase a million times. And it definitely applies to weight loss. If I fail to plan ahead and bring healthy snacks from home to work, it's oh-so-likely that I'll fail on my diet and a candy bar will be calling my name at around 3pm. But I've been guilty of a much greater sin than simply failing to plan. I've explicitly gone out and planned to fail. Three weeks ago I talked myself into buying an extra large bag of Reese's mini-peanut butter cups. They were on sale AND I got 10% more in the bag for free. "I just can't say no to these sweets, so I might as well have them around on the cheap," I thought... For more from "The Next Ten Pounds" blogger Lynya Floyd, click here. Read More: I Lost 60 Pounds And Found My Passion Jennifer Hudson Is New Weight Watchers SpokespersonCelebrity Weight Loss: How They Did It

City girls who've found themselves struggling down the street with too-heavy bags of groceries will appreciate ESSENCE.com blogger Lynya Floyd's advice on how to make the most of the extra weight to help you stay in shape. Find out what Floyd's "Camping in the Concrete Jungle Philosophy" entails... For more from Lynya Floyd's blog "The Next Ten Pounds," click here. Read More: Six Ways to Burn 700 CaloriesCeleb Weight Loss: How They Did It

So you're doing your daily workout and are now ready to take things up a notch. Cocoa, an ESSENCE.com reader recently asked resident blogger Lynya Floyd how she could burn 700 calories per workout, which would equal 3,500 calories a week or one -pound of weight loss. Floyd helps Cocoa find the right workout to help burn 700 calories and then some. Here's how you can join in on the fun as well... For more from the "The Next Ten Pounds" blogger Lynya Floyd, click here. Read More: Weight loss tips from Sherri Shepherd's Personal TrainerCeleb Weight Loss: How They Did it"I Lost 125 Pounds in 9 Months"