A lush place to lose weight

Alicia Robinson

Two of America’s top trainers are hoping to trim the fat from Newport

Beach, and they’ve created a well-appointed facility to do just that.

Orange County native Tom Kousoulas and his wife, Nicolette, opened

Living Fitness last week in the Newport Coast shopping center,

offering a five-phase personal training program as well as selling

fitness gear and nutritional supplements.

“We just thought that was the ideal place to create what we

thought would be the most luxurious and the most advanced

fitness-training facility anywhere,” Tom Kousoulas said.

The spa-like amenities and personal services are what put Living

Fitness a step above other gyms, he said.

It has a private studio dedicated to Pilates training, with high

ceilings and other design features to give “a real serene mind-body

experience,” Tom Kousoulas said.

Before designing a customized exercise program for a client, Tom

Kousoulas and his staff will assess the client’s posture and range of

movement. Yoga and flexibility training are incorporated into the

fitness routine, he said.

His interest in fitness stems from his childhood, which he spent

around a grocery store run by his Greek parents. After growing up

overweight, Tom Kousoulas lost 70 pounds in 12 weeks while studying

nutrition at UCLA.

A similarity of interests brought Tom Kousoulas and his wife

together, he said. Tom Kousoulas called it a “perfect match” when he,

a competitive weightlifter, met Nicolette, a former finalist in the

Miss Galaxy competition, in Hollywood. The pair opened a fitness

center in Anaheim Hills, which they sold when Tom Kousoulas decided

to open his latest venture.

While he was in Hollywood, he counted celebrities among his

personal training clients, though he declined to drop names. Perhaps

a more important distinction, Tom Kousoulas said, he and his wife

have written for fitness magazines and each has been named America’s

top trainer by several fitness publications.

The booming health club industry is now geared toward the average

person rather than the fitness fanatic, but people get discouraged at

gyms that are overcrowded, and they don’t know how to use the

equipment or create a workout that’s right for them, Tom Kousoulas

said.

The personal training at Living Fitness will fill a niche for

people who are serious about incorporating fitness into their lives,

he said.

“The thing that attracts us most to the coastal communities is,

people tend to be active and embrace a more healthy lifestyle,” he

said. “That means they want our services more. Of course, being by

the coast is always a beautiful place to be.”

Living Fitness will fit well with the variety of tenants -- mainly

restaurants as well as some specialty retail and service-oriented

stores -- that now occupy Newport Coast shopping center, said Nina

Robinson, spokeswoman for the center’s owner, the Irvine Co.

“We’re thrilled because Living Fitness will round out the mix of

tenants,” she said.

Living Fitness will hold a grand opening celebration Saturday from

11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with champagne, hors d’oeuvres and tours of the

facility at 21139 Newport Coast Drive.