Fit@98 : Making Healthy Eating More Accessible

Moving to a new city can be tough, sometimes even exasperating — the thrill of a new job comes with the unpredictability of a new place and the pressure to make new friends. And so, keeping up with the one thing that’s the most important — your health — can be an even bigger challenge than usual. It also doesn’t help that you have fond memories of home-cooked food. So, when you’re faced with everything from masterfully marinated meats and thalis to a tempting array of street food like spicy samosas and kebabs, healthy eating can easily take a backseat. And when the options in front of you are so cheap, how can you resist?

That’s when your mind starts telling you things like, “Eating healthy is expensive”, “Healthy food isn’t that tasty”, and “Eating healthy means giving up your favourite foods.” But what if there was a way to fix all that? At eat.fit, we aim to change the way people think about eating healthy, so why not start with busting some of these myths, right? That’s how the idea of Fit@98 meals came into being.

So, why Fit@98?

It’s affordable

Fit@98 is exactly what it says — healthy food at just Rs. 98. Imagine eating a complete, balanced and healthy meal for less than the price of a fancy cup of coffee, or Saturday night movie tickets, or even mineral water at your favourite restaurant! We wanted to dispel the notion that good food is expensive. Fit@98 was designed to bring about a change and give people the kind of food their body deserves, while still being accessible and, most of all, yum!

It’s healthy

A wave of health consciousness is sweeping across the nation, and that means more and more young people are starting to make healthier food choices. But, very often, youngsters have many other things they want to spend their cash on, and don’t always have a large budget for food. We wanted to give college students and those who were just joining the workforce a way to stay healthy while still keeping their budget in mind — and we knew it wouldn’t be easy. Our biggest challenge was maintaining the same eat.fit quality that everyone expects from us, while providing a hearty quantity of tasty food — all at a competitive price point! Phew!

How did we do that? Simple! We replaced things like preservatives, added flavours, harmful colour, refined flour, processed sugar and more with whole wheat, whole grains and cleaner ingredients. Just that little extra effort allowed us to create healthier versions of some crowd favourites, which makes it that much easier to choose health without compromising on cravings.

It’s familiar

How often have you walked past the Chinese food cart on the street, salivating as he tosses up noodles in a big wok? Or avoided your favourite rice dishes because of the carbs? Healthy eating can be challenging when you’re in the mood for some comfort food, right?

We wanted Fit@98 to be filled with items that young folks would be happy to pay for and eat every day. It was our way of showing everyone that healthy food need not always expensive, and it can include familiar, everyday food items too. And so we picked some of the most popular and well-loved food items, such as Hakka noodles and good ol’ curd rice and gave it a healthy twist, which meant that people could indulge in guilt-free eating!

For instance, our version of the oh-so-yummy Hakka noodles is made using whole wheat, is low in sodium, and has no additives, MSG or preservatives — but it’s got the same lip-smacking Indian-Chinese taste we all love!

What about something carb-rich like sambar-rice? No problem! Our sambar is sweetened with jaggery, balanced with tamarind, and spiced using mustard seeds and curry leaves — all the good stuff, with the same delicious warmth that you’re used to. It’s enough to make you want to dive into it hands first!

Fit@98 is designed to cater to a variety of palates and preferences. What’s more, all these dishes are lovingly crafted and prepared by the same star chefs who make eat.fit the healthy, yummy option it currently us. In fact, the team has tirelessly worked to recreate authentic flavours, minus unhealthy ingredients — at half the usual price!

At eat.fit, we’ve already changed the perception of what it means to eat healthy, by focusing on wholesome, nutritious food instead of a highly restrictive diet. This means that our customers can now eat healthy while still choosing from a variety of dishes — whether it’s Indian thalis, rice bowls and desserts, or cuisines like Jamaican, Rajasthani, Thai, and Cambodian, healthy food is now no longer just soups or salads. And now we’re taking on a new beast — healthy eating at a great price!

Written by Nidhi Ray & Nrithya Randhir