Who We Are.

by Melissa Watkins

My love for Fitness came initially from sadness. Sadness at what I see when I look around at my closest friends, family and at this country we live in.

I’m sad every time I look into society’s eyes and see excuses, false perceptions and shaky resolutions.

I’m sad as I meet a middle-aged woman who says she has never worked out a day in her life.

I’m sad to live in a society where 35.7% of people are obese. Not overweight, obese. And in this very society, we still have people who have lived 30+ years without entering a gym, without wanting to change.

I’m sad each time I enroll a client who pays and never comes. I’m even sadder that most gyms want this kind of client. In fact, this exact client is necessary in a typical gym business model.

I’m sad each time I meet an overweight child.  I’m sad to watch parents using candy and cake and cookies as a reward, teaching these children a very unhealthy relationship with food. I’m sad that this relationship follows them for a lifetime.

I’m sad at the food industry in this country.  Yes, of course I’m sad when I see meat by-product in our fast food, transfats galore in restaurant food, chips, soda and candy for 99 cents.  But even worse, the foods that are designed to trick people who are actually trying to eat healthy- The 100 Calorie Snack Pack loaded with empty, bad carbohydrates; the fatty, dense, unhealthy foods with Gluten-Free or Low-Sugar stamped across them; “healthy protein bars” covering our shelves with 20-40 grams of sugar in them; and ALL of these juicing gimmicks telling people if they liquefy their food, it will somehow help them loose weight! Again, in a society dying of obesity, why do we insist on fooling consumers?

But more than anything else, I am sad everyday when I see people that I love struggling with themselves. Often times downright hating themselves.

That is why I created a Steps. These tricks and gimmicks and consumer lies showed me what our society is missing more than anything. We needed something bigger than a gym to walk in to or a video to try to follow at home.

When Steps was opened in 2011, it was opened with the dream of a safe haven for men and women who needed REAL results from their fitness program. I’m talking, the kind of results that include:

1. A lifelong, healthy relationship with food and exercise
2. An honest and true self-love and pride in your own accomplishments
3. An overwhelming trust in us

Steps is a place where we know your name to your face and whether you made it in yesterday or not. We often know your husband or wife, how old your baby is and when your next family vacation starts. We connect you with others who share your beliefs and goals. We share our knowledge with you but NEVER sell you a product or service that we haven’t tried ourselves and seen actual results with. We truly believe in YOU, often times more than you believed in yourself when you 1^st walk in.

This is who we are.