Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Karapetyan.
Adam, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, I used to weigh 400 lbs. a few years ago, if you go to my website you’ll see a before and after photo of me in the about us section.
Back when I was morbidly obese, I always struggled with cooking and didn’t really know what was healthy or not healthy. I also had no concept of portion control. I remember one day deciding, I love watermelon, and it’s healthy because it’s a fruit, so I’m going to lose weight by eating more watermelon and less junk food. Well little did I know the sugar from the watermelon was just as bad when eaten in large doses, so there I was buying giant watermelons and making huge servings until I felt full and eating that multiple times a day and wondering why I wasn’t losing weight. 😛
I also tried fad diets, juice fasts, cleanses, detox, lots of pills and easy fix solutions and while some of those resulted in some weight loss, the little weight I did manage to lose immediately bounced back. What I didn’t realize back then was I would hurt my metabolism by playing around with it and doing crazy things like drinking nothing but juice for over a week, I remember this hilarious avocado diet I tried, I lost 20 lbs. in a week and gained it back and more. I didn’t realize it at the time but the reason why the avocado diet worked, was it was throwing my body into a state of ketosis and using the fat as an energy source. Anyway, now I’m going on into a rant!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our business opened up with a measly 3,500 in the capital, it was just enough to get business licenses, put a deposit down on a shared kitchen, and buy our first couple weeks’ worth of food. Luckily, it’s been all uphill from there, it’s been 6 months now since we opened and we’re now preparing almost 500 meals on our Sunday meal prep service!
There have definitely been growing pains, like with any business, we’ve had weeks where the business grew and we were short staffed, we’ve had times when we would try to call in new candidates to work for us and not a single one would show up. But we’ve got things operating rather smoothly now and we’re looking forward to a bright future.
In fact, we are about to open up a retail storefront location in west la off-Robertson Blvd.!
Muscle Up Meals – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We offer healthy prepared meals delivered to people’s homes or business locations. This is also known as a “meal prep service” which is its technical description amongst fitness enthusiasts.
I based the meals from what I did when I lost 200 lbs., I ate delicious food full of flavor but with healthy, portioned, and balanced nutrient-dense foods. Too many people get on “diets” and fail, what we’ve created here at Muscle Up Meals is a lifestyle. The food is so good you can share it with friends who are not on diets and they will love eating every bite!
The meals are hand-crafted culinary masterpieces, produced by our master chefs. Our executive chef and sous chef, as well as a few of our consultants have experience cooking for celebrities and making incredible food. We’ve combined these skills with a focus on health and created what we believe to be the best and most delicious meal prep service / healthy delivery service in the Los Angeles market.
Our standard meals are for a balanced diet, just the right amount of carbs, protein, and fats. Unlike most meal delivery services, we don’t give small portions of protein and large portions of carbs to save on cost. We actually provide a very generous portion of protein, in fact, every meal has over 5 ounces of protein which is about 1-2 ounces more than most meal delivery services.
We also offer food for various eating styles such as Paleo, ketogenic, diabetic (low glycemic) and more.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
We’ve only been open for about 6 months but we’ve managed to help people lose as much as 65 lbs. so far, help athletes prepare for competitions, and even donate food to homeless families in need. I’m very proud that we’ve been able to give back and help the community and that our food and our cause has a direct positive effect on people’s lives.
Pricing:
- 15 meal packages start at just $179
- We are offering your readers 30% off their first order by using the promo code: voyage30
Contact Info:
- Address: 45 N San Gabriel Blvd
Pasadena, Ca, 91107 - Website: https://www.muscleupmeals.com
- Phone: 6267738773
- Email: [email protected]
Photography Jennifer Causey ; Prop Styling Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling Catherine Crowell-Steele
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
