Member Spotlight: Nieves Soto

We are very happy to feature Nieves Soto for our Member Spotlight this month. Nieves has found a way to make fitness a priority even with a busy work/travel schedule.  We love finding out about our members lives before they joined Forward Fitness. Here is a little about Nieves. 

“I was born and raised in Venezuela. My family and I moved to Miami, FL in 2009 when I was a freshman in High School. After High School, I moved to Gainesville, FL and studied Mechanical Engineering. After graduating college, I moved to St. Louis in 2018 for my first job out of college. I now work as Project Manager for an Engineering Consulting Firm. I love to travel and want to spend a full year traveling around the world before my 30th birthday. In 2022, I visited Guatemala and hiked a Volcano. This year I want to visit my home country of Venezuela and hike to Angel’s Fall, the tallest waterfall in the world.

Before Forward Fitness, I saw exercising as something I had to do to lose weight. It was not something I enjoyed because I grew up not being “athletic”. I would always sign up for a gym but then never knew what to do. It was overwhelming and intimidating to show up and be surrounded by strangers while feeling like I had no idea what I was doing. Before FF, I had never been able to consistently work out.”

Nieves had this to say about why health and fitness are important to her. “Health and fitness are important to me because I have seen what other people in my family have had to go through when they don’t prioritize their health. I also want to show my future children (I don’t have any yet) that prioritizing your health and fitness is not about being “skinny” but it is about feeling strong and grateful for what your body is capable of doing.”

We asked Nieves why she joined Forward Fitness, and this is what she shared with us, “I was not feeling great about the place I was working out at and wanted to join a gym that was welcoming and had community. I also was not feeling great with my body.”

Nieves shared this about her biggest challenge, “The biggest challenge has been staying consistent while traveling for work. But overtime I have learned that I don’t have to be so hard on myself and that all my work doesn’t go to waste if I don’t work out for a few days while traveling.” 

I really love what Nieves shared about making fitness a priority in her life when she said, “Changing my mindset around why I work out. Doing it because I enjoy to move my body and feel strong”

She told us this about what accomplishment she is most proud of, “Feeling stronger and seeing my muscles get bigger.”

Nieves would give this advice to someone thinking about adding a fitness routine to their life. “Find something you enjoy and a community to do it with.”