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Lunch with Ernest

She helps folks get into the spirit of fitness

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published November 4, 2005

This may have been the first time I dined at Olive Garden and ate less than three bread sticks.

You see, it's hard to gorge on the Lasagna Classico or the Chicken Parmesan when you're lunching with a fitness expert. My conversation with Lasondria King, however, more than made up for what the meal might have lacked in high calories.

Pull up a chair and join us.

ERNEST: There are a lot of health clubs in the area. What makes yours unique?

The personal touch. One of the things I've had an issue with, especially with females, is they go to a gym and they get lost. It's like, What am I doing? They don't meet goals and lose their purpose for coming there. With my members, they look forward to our relationship, and they don't get lost. I encourage people to take spinning classes, but I had some ladies in there who could only go 10 minutes. So I said, give me 10 minutes, and we had a 10-minute class. Now we're up to an hour class because each time we added a little bit more. So I encourage people to start from where they are and not make them feel like they have to come out and do a whole hour at the beginning.

Tell me about the genesis of your business. And given the name, I guess genesis is a good word to use.

Divine Health & Fitness is something I believe God has led me to do. My desire is to go into the community and teach people how to walk in divine health. We have so much obesity and so many diseases in this day and time. Working with people, I've seen that a lot of people just don't know how to take care of themselves or they need information. That's my desire, to teach them how to do the right thing.

You're reaching out to Christians, but do they focus more on spirit than body?

How did you get into fitness?

When we were kids, my mom used to make us walk around a track every day. I grew up with it because she was really into it. After I got older, it was an understated competition between my mom and I.

Do you have some thoughts on how to help kids deal with childhood obesity?

Right now, I have a couple of kids that come in that are on programs, and I encourage them to work out with their parents. When a parent is involved in a routine with them, they're more excited to do it. I have one mother whose working out with her son. Since they've been doing it, he's lost 14 pounds. I have another father and daughter who are working out together, and he just encourages her. I see them laughing and getting involved. I think it makes a difference, especially for the child, when they learn the right way to take care of their lives, and they have the parent involved.

On the one hand, childhood obesity is an epidemic, but on the other hand, young girls are dealing with image problems and some end up with eating disorders. Have you been advising people on both?

I have, because I had an eating disorder. I was a bulimic. That's one of the things I'm trying to do, get into the schools and talk to kids about it. I've read studies where young men are now dealing with that type of thing too. It's something that's growing.

I guess our culture's emphasis on image is contributing.

They see all this stuff on TV, people with picture-perfect bodies. Kids need to be educated and understand the right way to do things so they can reach goals. It also falls on parents and coaches and people who are involved not to focus on weight. Kids don't need to be on a strict diet.

How did you deal with your own experience.

It was something that I hid from my family and my mother for years. When I got saved, I was 22 and coming out of that phase; I didn't think it was something I could defeat, but I think God started dealing with me, my own self-image and how I felt about myself and what I was doing to myself. Through that and prayer, and him believing in me, I think that I was delivered. I had to accept who I was. Even though I was never overweight, I had to deal with not looking like the girls on TV. Once I came to grips with that, I was able to accept and enjoy who I was.

DESSERT: A postscript from Ernest

Lasondria, 36, moved to Brandon several years ago from Virginia after her mother, Rosalyn Seabrook, relocated to the community. For several years, she participated in Fitness America and Women's Tri-Fitness events and still appears to be in competitive shape. Her husband, Rodney, is a warehouse manager at Rooms To Go, and she has two children, Sonia, 16, and Christopher, 8. She's a member of From The Heart Church, but she wanted people to know her business is open to all. Says Lasondria: "I don't want to scare people away that aren't necessarily deep into it spiritually or who aren't Christian-oriented."

Ernest Hooper also writes a column for the Tampa & State section of the St. Petersburg Times. Lunch With Ernest is edited for brevity and clarity. To suggest lunch partners, call Ernest at 226-3406 or e-mail hooper@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 3, 2005, 08:48:08]