If you have a smartphone and are looking for a health coach to make sure you don’t cheat on your workout or diet, the HealthifyMe app is your best bet. It tracks your lifestyle, diet, exercise and weight in an Indian context. Co-founder and CEO, Tushar Vashisht, says, “Gyms, trainers, nutritionists and physicians seem too far away and too expensive. We believe that healthy living should be a simple way of life. Our app nudges people towards healthy behaviour.”
A panel of experts evaluate the health statistics of users in real time once your details are logged on the cloud. “HealthifyMe uses a combination of cloud-powered software (a smartphone application), hardware (wearable pedometers) and manpower (nutritionists, trainers and yoga instructors) to help people reach their fitness goals,” explains Vashisht, adding that premium users connect with their dedicated experts using in-app messaging interface and via Skype. “Like a 24×7 personal trainer in your pocket,” he says adding, “Only offline doesn’t work for everyone and purely online isn’t enough to keep motivation at a peak. Assisted online is the solution.”
“HealthifyMe makes tracking meaningful as an expert looks at the customer’s data, provides contextual plans, recommendations and motivation at a fraction of the cost it takes at a gym,” he says, crediting features of nutrient breakdown of your food and advice, including what to eat next as a plus point. “We also have a GPS tracker, to monitor your run, walk or biking trips. The integration with a wearable pedometer that syncs with the app over Bluetooth keeps track of steps, distance and calories.”
The young entrepreneur hopes to take the app to the entire sub-continent and sign on at least one lakh users before 2016.