LITTLETON, Colo. -- "No judging allowed."
That's the motto of a new women's fitness center in Littleton called Camp MissFits, which offers mental and physical fitness to everyday women of all ages and walks of life. A warning to gym goes, however: if you're looking to see super models and yoga shorts — you might want to find another gym to go to.
"It's regular gals like me," said Rabbi Kim Harris. "It's not like, your typical gym."
"(We have) grandmas, we have students, moms, stay-at-home moms, working moms, career moms," said MissFits owner Priscilla Freed.
Freed came to Denver from the Bay Area 14 years ago to enter the Denver seminary. But life had other plans.
"God hit me over the head with a divine frying pan and said, 'If helping women with their health and well-being and their emotional health isn't ministry, which is serving others, than what is?" she said.
Freed's program combines Pilates, weights, and pulleys, with spiritual growth and empowerment thrown in the mix.
Her 100 clients range in age from 20 to 81 years of age.
"We dig into the psychology and the emotions behind what lead to the weight gain," said Freed.
All clients are women — regular women — Freed said, adding supermodels and Instagram influences need not apply.
"We really want to target the everyday woman who really just wants to feel better. No booty shorts. No," said Freed.
That philosophy resonated with Rabbi Kim Harris, who dreaded going to her old gym and feeling judged by strangers.
"All those really thin people and you're the only chubby one," said Jones.
Jones joined Camp MissFits two years ago and has never looked back.
"No matter how you look, you're just accepted here. That's why I love it so much. I get to be myself. I just feel so comfortable here," she said.
Freed started the program in 2006 and trained a handful of clients wherever and whenever she could, but the road hasn't been easy.
"Man, I was in homes and parks and backyards and alleys," she told Denver7.
That worked until a Colorado summer storm blew in and threatened to harm one of her only clients.
"She was holding a barbell and her hair started standing up... and I'm like, 'Drop the barbell,' and we ran underneath a pavillion," Freed said. "She was holding a lightning rod, basically."
After years of sharing church and dance studios, she finally found a space in West Littleton Boulevard, and Freed and her grateful students aren't looking back.
"We've been blessed. This place is amazing," she said.
For more information about classes and the program, log on to CampMissfits.com.
