A new business in Athens now serves up alternatives for those looking to achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Odyssey Nutrition, 30 E. State St., is a nutritional club that opened its doors at the beginning of the academic year. It is the first of its kind in Athens.
Owner Stephen Adams said the focus of his club is creating healthy, active lifestyles and helping people achieve wellness goals.
“We do serve smoothies, we do serve shakes and things like that,” Adams said. “It’s a lot more than just that. We want to provide overall health and wellness and positivity to the environment.”
Adams refused to disclose the prices of menu items over the phone and said customers have to visit the store to learn more.
Adams and the other co-owners of the business are all representatives for Herbalife, a global nutritional company. Adams has been a representative for Herbalife for three years.
“We just found ourselves aligned with the goal of Herbalife, which is to bring health and wellness to the world and to each and every community,” Adams said.
Before opening Odyssey Nutrition, Adams worked with nutrition and wellness in other capacities, he said.
“We did events and things like fit camps and fit clubs where we did free work outs and showed (Herbalife) products to people and how they can get a result by using it at home,” Adams said.
Odyssey Nutrition was the next step to getting more involved within the community, he said.
Adams was a transfer student at Ohio University and graduated in 2015 with a degree in psychology.
“I was pretty involved here on campus,” he said. “I created the organization Fitness Odyssey and was a former walk-on for the football team.”
Adams made it clear that the whole point of his business is to “service healthy lifestyles.”
“We don’t consider ourselves a smoothie bar,” Adams said. “We are not just a shake bar or a shake shop because all of the products ... we do serve are total healthy meals that can substitute as the meal itself.”
Any customer that comes in will receive a special that includes an aloe shot, tea and a shake. Other items on the menu include the Best Defense, which is a tablet that helps with immune support, and Lift Off, which is a healthy energy drink, Adams said.
Ashleigh Johnson, a sophomore studying psychology, said the new business adds variety to Athens.
“I think it’s cool someone opened a place like that,” she said. “We have a lot of places to get smoothies and shakes, like at Boyd.”
Shilah Kidd, a junior studying exercise physiology, has been to Odyssey Nutrition before and enjoyed her experience.
“It was good; they offer a lot,” she said. “It is expensive, but it is a healthy option.”
The menu is constantly being added to, Adams said.
“We have an entire product catalog through Herbalife, but we are just working on getting more of those (items) at the club as well,” he said.
Adams said his goal is to expand his club within Athens, in other Ohio towns and, eventually, to a national or global scale.
Odyssey Nutrition is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Sunday, noon-2 p.m.
