NORTON SHORES – About 13 years ago, Mark Middlecamp was a stressed-out, slightly overweight businessman who badly needed a physical outlet.

He was part owner of Uncle Mark’s, a traditional greasy spoon restaurant on Apple Avenue in Muskegon Township, and his busy lifestyle led him to indulge in a lot of not-so-healthy items on the menu.

Middlecamp did not like the way his health was trending, so he signed up for a membership at the old Omni Health Club in Muskegon Heights and took full advantage.

In about six months Middlecamp’s weight dropped from about 210 to 150 pounds, and he was sold on the benefits of having a regular workout routine.

“I was putting in so many hours of work and it was just easier to eat the fried foods,” said Middlecamp, 52, a lifelong resident of the Muskegon area. “I just went to the Omni to release some stress and lose some weight.

“After a while I had far more energy and I was far more productive. I was able to get completely off my blood pressure meds, which was literally due to my weight loss and eating better food.”

The best part is that Middlecamp stuck with the program, kept his weight down, and currently checks in at a very healthy 160.

“My life insurance company called yesterday and gave me a lower rate because my bloodwork came back phenomenally,” he said.

That personal fitness odyssey opened up a whole new universe for Middlecamp. He took his restaurant experience and applied it to the fitness world, leading to the creation of the Rec Room restaurant/sports supplement store – and now the brand-new Rec Room Gym – which are both located in the Pointes Shopping Center in Norton Shores, at the corner of Sternberg Road and Old Grand Haven Road.

The Rec Room is the only combination health food restaurant/gym in the Muskegon area.

“It’s a trend now, healthy living and working out,” Middlecamp said. “Over the last six or seven years it’s really become a movement.”

Secret to restaurant success: Healthy food that tastes great

It all started back at the old Omni, which had a health food restaurant in the basement when Middlecamp became a member. That business closed, he was asked by the owners of the Omni to take it over, and the Rec Room was born.

Within a few years Middlecamp’s old greasy-spoon restaurant closed and so did the Omni, but the Rec Room was doing well, so Middlecamp moved the popular eatery to the Pointes Shopping Center.

Hundreds of impressed customers became regular visitors on a weekly and often daily basis. That led to the need for more space, so the Rec Room moved to a bigger spot in the shopping center and continued to flourish and grow.

The key to success at the Rec Room restaurant is that the food is healthy AND tastes really good – a trick that Middlecamp learned from his days of operating Uncle Marks.

“You can make pretty common everyday food items healthier by just using healthier ingredients,” Middlecamp said. “We use a lot of natural seasonings that don’t have all the additive crap. Instead of using white rice we use brown rice, and most people don’t even realize it. We use whole wheat pasta instead of normal spaghetti. We use 90/10 angus beef instead of your normal 30 percent fat burger.”

The biggest attractions at the restaurant are the 48 varieties of protein shakes and smoothies. The Rec Room sells approximately 700 of those per week, Middlecamp said.

Other popular menu items include fiesta lime chicken, a variety of homemade soups, amazing turkey burgers and trail mix salad. The Rec Room even offers a great-tasting and healthy bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

“Obviously bacon is bacon – people are still going to eat the things they want to eat,” Middlecamp said. “But we use all-natural hickory smoked bacon and whole wheat bread instead of white bread loaded with sugar. Simply substituting healthy ingredients for not-so-healthy ingredients makes a big difference, and you would never know.”

A lot of customers have been so impressed with the food, and what it offers in terms of health, that they have signed up for the Rec Room’s meal prep program, which provides pre-cooked meals for an entire week.

“We prep the food into containers that people can just heat up,” Middlecamp said.

New Rec Room gym completes the circle

One benefit for the Rec Room in its early years was the presence of a nearby gym in the Pointes shopping complex. A lot of people who worked out at the gym came to the Omni to eat healthy and purchase nutritional supplements, so there was a built-in connection to the local fitness community.

That ended last year, however, when the gym moved out of the Pointes and took its members with it.

Middlecamp recognized the benefit of having a nearby gym, so instead of waiting and hoping for another one to move in, he decided to rent another space in the Pointes and create his own.

After months of work, the second part of the Rec Room – a full-service gym – opened on March 1 and has been a huge hit.

Approximately 200 members signed up in the first month, and Middlecamp’s business circle was complete.

Now lots of members go to the Rec Room Gym to work out, then walk a few doors down to the Rec Room restaurant to eat and purchase products.

“Because our restaurant business has always been gym-oriented, it made sense for us to be near a gym,” Middlecamp said. “We were fine when there was a gym here, but when that left, opening our own gym made sense.

“We went in with our remodeling skills and painting skills and put-together skills and got it done. We started last August and had a soft opening on March 1. Our customers were just waiting for it to open, and we had more than 200 members within a month.”

New gym has a family atmosphere

The Rec Room Gym is buzzing these days, largely because of its unique features, including its 24-hour, 365-day accessibility.

There is readily available equipment for members at all fitness levels, beginner to advanced. The gym offers indoor turf for pull sleds and exercises, a NordicTrack vault mirror with a virtual reality trainer, NordicTrack treadmills and rowers with built-in interactive personal trainers, a pit shark squat platform with dip attachment, a stair-stepper machine, private showers and lots of other amenities.

Memberships range from $45 per month for individuals (seniors and students pay $35 per month), $80 per month for couples, and $110 per month for a family plan that serves up to four people.

Potential customers are invited to visit the gym on any “Membership Monday” from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., when they can get guided tours and sign up.

Middlecamp said a lot of people have been attracted to the new gym because of its family-oriented and encouraging atmosphere – the same type of atmosphere that helped him succeed in his own workout program at the Omni all those years ago.

“The gym is doing phenomenal,” he said. “So many of the people we have as members are former Omni members. We are obviously locally- owned, and we put more focus on what people are asking for and what they want. Our members are not just numbers. We now have 232 members and I pretty much know them all.”

A new generation of leadership at the Rec Room

Part of the success of the Rec Room can be traced to the presence of unusually dedicated employees. While many businesses these days have trouble finding enough help, Middlecamp has been blessed with a young staff that shares his passion.

Two of those young staff members are Carter Golden, 20, a graduate of Fruitport High School, and Jace Vanderweide, only 17, who just graduated from Western Michigan Christian High School.

Both are former high school athletes who were captivated by the health food/sports supplement business and threw themselves into it at very young ages.

Their hard work was recently rewarded when Middlecamp allowed them to become part owners of the Rec Room restaurant and gym.

“I really enjoyed learning about sports supplements and what they can do for you,” Vanderweide said. “Mark has been teaching me about running the business, and I have been doing a lot of the paperwork. I have been learning about real life very young. It’s a great opportunity.”

“I just want to help this business grow,” Golden added.

Middlecamp said his two young partners have proven themselves, and their continued presence will help the business run smoothly, grow over time and survive well into the future.

“I needed to put people in place who I could trust to take care of things,” Middlecamp said. “Plus we like to keep things modern and fresh, and they are up on the latest trends.”