Archives for September 2016

September 30, 2016 By Ruta Satam 1 Comment

Joy of giving

Have you ever realized how elated you get when you give? Giving is indeed one of the best investments an individual can make towards achieving genuine happiness. True giving comes from the heart, with no expectation of reciprocation. It is manifested with kindness and generosity and there is no substitute for this ‘Good Karma’. It just makes you feel good.

This month we celebrate the festival of giving also popularly known as the “Joy of Giving” festival. The festival begins on Oct 2^nd– the birthday of our father of our nation MK Gandhi and continues till the 8^thof October. Being the season of giving, I call upon one and all to share love and spread happiness in the lives of those who are far away from these pleasures. Let’s share our happiness with those lesser privileged people who ask nothing but love.

There are various ways in which you can participate in this festival. You can participate by sharing your Old clothes with people who require the most. GOQii has partnered with Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust for this drive.

With this drive we would be helping RNCT to distribute usable garments to the poorest of the poor of all ages. To ensure that it reaches out to more and more needy people, RNCT will further distribute the collection to grass root organizations and institutions working with the underprivileged group of society across the country.

How do we participate in this drive?

-Communicate the ‘Joy of Giving’ message in your office, society, family and friends

-Inform us if you are interested to organize this collection drive in your office or society

-If you have a collection that weighs more than 20 kg, a pick-up will be organized for the donation material

-Your garments will then be sorted as per age and gender, repaired if required, ironed, folded and packed

-The sorted collection will be sent to orphanages, Old age homes, institutions working with street children or tribal or women’s help centres

Let the goodness begin 🙂

To know more about the drive mail us your queries at ruta@goqii.com

It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put in to giving ~ Mother Teresa

September 27, 2016 By Leah Burkhart 1 Comment

The Foods all Nutritionists agree are ‘Good For You’.

We all love reading about the latest trending super food. Whether its Acai berry, Maca powder, or cacao nibs…we wanna know what’s going to up our metabolism or give us that boost of energy we are absolutely itching to have again.

Well folks…let the drum roll begin. Because the REAL super food category of the hour is not some fancy-named upgraded coffee bean or a concoction of some super vitamin made in a lab somewhere.

It is…..

Plants. Specifically fruits and vegetables (Background applause!!!)

Wait….how come you’re leaving? Wait! No…seriously! they are SUPER good for you!

I know, I know. It’s WAY snazzier to imagine that the secret ingredient is some hidden oil or seed or fruit buried at the bottom of Indiana Jones’ cavern. We want the food to be a singular holy grail. But, that is just not the way of it.

No – I’m afraid your mother, and her mother before her and HER mother before HER knew what they were talking about when they said simply “eat your vegetables.”

We have the evidence to prove it. Here are just a FEW examples of the tangible benefits researchers have uncovered about eating more vegetables.

Those who eat more fruits and vegetables (at least 8 servings per day) are 30 percent less likely to have heart disease. (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vegetables-and-fruits/)
Those who eat more fruits and vegetables (specifically 8 servings or more) report greater levels of happiness and emotional satisfaction. http://sciencenewsjournal.com/eat-fruit-veggies-happy/
Eating fruits and vegetables is associated with better weight loss and management outcomes:https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/rtp_practitioner_10_07.pdf
Eating a high concentration of fruits and vegetables are associated with a reduced risk of cancer:http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/how-healthy-eating-prevents-cancer
Those who eat as few as five servings of fruits and vegetables every day tend to live longer. http://nutritionfacts.org/2015/09/17/how-much-longer-do-fruit-and-vegetable-eaters-live/
Eating fruits and vegetables can even improve your sex life:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/knowmore-tv/8-ways-eating-fruit-juice_b_9872488.html

So if you’re looking for the newest, latest and greatest super-food, you really need no look toward the dark corners of the Bermuda triangle. It’s right in front of you at your local farmer’s market.

September 21, 2016 By Anusha Subramanian 1 Comment

Working towards your Health goals

For the last couple of months I have been talking to GOQii players and tracing their journey to health and fitness. While doing so I realized how important it is for one to share their goals and their personal progression with others.If not for anything it’s simply a great ego booster and a motivator for the person to do much better going forward.

Working towards a health or fitness goal? Sharing your goals—and your progress!—with others can make a huge difference in how successful you are along the way. Research proves it. According to studies published in International journals, strong social circles can be very effective in combatting obesity and helping individuals succeed. It has also been proven that those who have shared their weight goals with their friends on social media have lost weight as compared to those who have kept their goals to themselves.

So what is it that makes one to achieve their goals easily if broadcasted?

Sharing Your Goals…Creates Accountability
Telling your family, friends, and colleagues about your goals creates the opportunity for someone to ask you about your progress down the road. And, knowing someone might be checking in can help you stay on track. If you have a coach or a personal trainer it becomes even more difficult to skip a day of training or chat on your diet. That constant watch over you to get healthy and fit will only help you in the long run.

…Provides Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is defined as the process of recognizing and rewarding a desired behavior in an effort to encourage its continuance. Getting a pat on your back is always encouraging and give you a sense of self-worth and in this case it is nudging you to be healthier and a fit person. Positive reinforcements like “great job” and ‘keep up the good work’ helps you to alleviate any self-doubts that you may have about yourself and your ability to perform well. In other words it will only help you to stick to your health and fitness goals.

…Strengthens Your Support Network
Sharing your goals and receiving support from your social circle, encourages others to share and get support too—it’s a positive feedback loop, says Steven Ledbetter, an expert on behavior change and co-founder of Habitry. “Talking about your goals in a common space where you feel safe, creates an intentional community—you share values, like living your healthiest life possible, and help each other live up to those values,” says Ledbetter. The more you share, the stronger your community becomes, and the easier it is for everyone to reach their goals.

GOQii Can Help!

The GOQii app’s ‘Social’ section helps you connect with other players and share your experience and stories. Also the GOQii active Sunday’s are great enablers for players to share each other’s stories and health goals with each other and motivate each other to achieve those goals. So what are you waiting for, let’s get started.

September 19, 2016 By GOQii 1 Comment

Introduction to Doctor’s Blog

In India, medical blogs are not so popular. We do not have very many medical blogs by top doctors. While it should be a priority for people to be aware of their health yet, there is a huge lacuna in terms of accessing right information and creating awareness. People collate information from Google and try to understand a medical condition or problem. Blogging has been around for a decade or more now yet, we do not have anything interesting or specific on medicine in India. Given this backdrop, GOQii which already has a huge repository of blogs on health, nutrition, fitness, healthy recipes etc will now complete the circle with Medical blogs written by the GOQii doctors. GOQii Doctors are lifestyle doctors who believe in prescribing a healthy lifestyle and largely guide one towards forming healthy habits. These blogs will tackle the most frequently asked questions, break various myths that people have with regard to a medical condition or medicines etc and also answer the very pertinent questions in a very lucid and simple language.

Given that Dengue and Chikungunya has struck across the country affecting many people, our first blog by Dr. Ashwin talks about what is Dengue and Chikungunya, what does one need to do and how can you prevent it.