BENGALURU:There is no doubt that Bengaluru has seen a rise in number of fitness enthusiasts. Besides gyms, people are focussed on a good diet plan. To meet this growing demand in a hurried city, young women under the age of 30 are turning into suppliers of low-calorie, nutritional food.
27-year-old Trishala Ashok, who started Fitbakes in 2016, serves this at a cafe and supplies packaged meals to hotels, gym enthusiasts, body-builders, pregnant mothers and so on. Trishala who has a sweet tooth took baking classes and then began to experiment with healthy ingredients.
“I have used healthy recipes for all the meal boxes, that is there is no maida, refined sugar or butter in them. Instead we serve ragi brownies, whole-meal brownies, oat muffins and so on,” says Trishala, who has always been a fitness enthusiast.
Have macro-counted meals
27-year-old Esha Hegde, who started her company in 2015, serves everything from salads to desserts! The young Bengaluru-based nutrition and fitness enthusiast was always passionate about experimenting with food.As a teenager, she says, she had poor body image. “I was conscious about my puppy fat and that’s when I decided to start on a healthy diet,” says the founder of Fit Dish Fetish. The meals distributed to her clients are macro-counted (measured to fit the body's daily requirements of various nutrients including protein, carbohydrates and fats) based on the client’s fitness level. Esha also gives advice on how to stick to a perfect diet plan with the help of a nutritionist.
“The recipes change every day. The portion and ingredients can be customised,” she says. The young entrepreneur focuses on 25 to 38-year-olds, who are looking for a lifestyle change.According to Slimsins' owner 25-year-old Akansha Raju, social media has had a huge influence on young fitness enthusiasts in the city. But her journey started with her struggle with obesity, and she lost 24 kilos five years ago. “I used to eat only home-made food without a cheat day for seven months,” says Akansha.
'Experts must guide them'
According to Dr Jyothsna Reddy, Chief Clinical Nutritionist, Sakra World Hospital, there has been a rise in youngsters under the age of 30, supplying diet packages in the city with six to eight organisations approaching her for advice on a monthly basis. Most of these entrepreneurs are women because they tend to be more body conscious than men. “However, young men have been also coming for consultations to build their muscle weight in particular,” she says.
However, these startupreneurs maybe too eager to expand their client base. Dr Jyothsna says, “They would like us to spread word about their services to customers visiting us.”“They listen less and talk more to convince us that their services are the best. When we question them about quality parameters, the inexperienced ones stop approaching us,” she says.
However, Swati Mehrotra, Nutritionist at Femiint Health & Fertility, adds that it is safe for customers to approach these inexperienced youngsters as long as they are being guided by a nutritionist on the side.