Encouraging Others to be 'Fit Like Me'

With her 40th birthday approaching, Nevina Gray decided it was time to get into the best shape of her life. She began working out. She began eating right. And after dropping 40 pounds, she became a magnet for people looking for fitness motivation.

“I prayed on it,” she said. “People were coming to me. And I thought ‘what am I supposed to do with this?’”

After some consideration, she began holding workout sessions with a small group in a park near her Upper Marlboro home. When cooler weather hit, she brought the workouts to her basement, then a room inside a church. 

“It was then that I decided, I need my own space,” Gray said. 

Gray is now a certified personal trainer and operates Fit Like Me Divas on Priest Bridge Court in Crofton. Gray opened the gym in October and will have a Grand Opening Celebration Saturday. 

The women’s only fitness space offers one-hour cardio and weight sessions, plus nutritional advice for customers looking to drop some weight. 

“This space is for women who want a lifestyle change and need assistance in their journey,” Gray said. “I’ve seen so many women whose heads are hitting the floor because their self-esteem is so low. This is a place of no judgement.”

Fit Like Me Divas offers memberships with 12 classes for $150 per month, or unlimited workouts for $175 per month. It’s also possible to drop in on a class for $20. Every membership starts with a consultation, in which clients receive a basic assessment and a "before" picture to help track progress. Gray encourages all prospective clients to sign up for at least three months in order to track results. 

Fit Like Me Divas has weights, a kickboxing bag, and ropes, all designed to offer a wide range of workouts.

“We like to say we shake the fat and confuse the muscles,” she said. 

Her own personal favorite workouts are pushups and burpies (a combination of squat thrusts and jumps.) While Gray herself gets in shape by teaching each class, she also works out on her own afterward. She now boasts of her recent victory in a pushup contest, as well as her entry into bodybuilding competitions. 

“I was a junk food junkie,” she said. “I was eating cookies and candy all the time. I have learned how to feed my body.”

And now, she’s passing on that knowledge to other women. 

“People tell me I am enriching their lives, but at the end of the day, I am the one being enriched,” she said. “This is not something I planned to do, but this is my journey and I was directed to change other womens’ lives.”

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The Grand Opening at Fit Like Me Divas will go from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday with a ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. The event will feature health screenings from Anne Arundel Diagnostics Imaging, plus appearances from the Vitamin Shoppe, The Counseling Services of Mitchelville and other groups. Food will be provided by Keith’s Eats and Treats. 

Fit Like Me Divas is found on the web at fitlikemedivas.com