Archives for February 2018

February 28, 2018 By Arooshi Garg 1 Comment

Make your own natural Colors this Holi !

8 tips for a skin-friendly Holi

Holi is the festival of colours in India that also marks the arrival of spring, a season of joy and hope. The festival is famous for its colours and how people apply these to each other’s faces. I remember one horrendous incident a few years ago that left my face scarred due to an allergic reaction and I was on anti-allergens for over a month. The culprit was a toxic paste colour that my skin came in contact with. I, therefore, thought I should share some good ways to enjoy a safe and non-toxic Holi this year.

In the last couple of years, chemical colours are being used to celebrate Holi as they are cheaper than natural colours. Chemical colours can be very harmful to health and skin of individuals as much as to the environment as well.

Use of safe, natural and eco-friendly colours, can help to save our environment and conserve our biodiversity. As natural colours are obtained from skin friendly sources such as turmeric, flower extracts, sandalwood powder, mehndi (Henna) etc.

Here are some age-old ways to create safe, nontoxic colours with common kitchen ingredients!

1. Brown color—Brown is one color that is never spotted anywhere in the color markets during Holi, so go ahead and surprise your visitors with this different and amazing color this Holi. Acacia catechu (Kattha) – which is commonly consumed with betel leaves (pan) – gives a brownish color when mixed with water. Other methods: Boil tea or coffee leaves in water. Cool it and use it.

2. Saffron--Soak a few stalks of Saffron in 2 tablespoons of water. Leave for a few hours and grind them to make a fine paste. Dilute that with water as per the desired color strength.

Other methods: The Flame of the Forest – commonly known as Test, Palash or Dhak – is the source of the wonderful, traditional color for Holi. For fragrant yellowish-orange colored water, the flowers are soaked overnight in water and can also be boiled.

3. Green–Save a trip to the parlor by using green colored henna powder (Mehendi) this Holi. Either use it separately or mix it with an equal quantity of any suitable flour to get a lovely and natural green shade. Make sure to use pure henna that does not have Amla.

(Indian Gooseberries) mixed in it, as this would be brown in color. Dry henna will not leave color on your face and can be easily brushed off, but when mixed with water it will leave a slight color, thereby making it a fast color.

Other methods: Dry and finely powder Gulmohur tree leaves or crush the tender leaves of the Wheat plant to obtain a natural green color for Holi. The color can also be obtained by mixing a fine paste of green leafy vegetables like spinach (Palak), coriander (Dhaniya) or mint (Pudina) in water.

Blue–Dry Jacaranda flowers (Neeli Gulmohar/Jungle Badam) in the shade and grind them to obtain a beautiful blue powder.Other methods: The blue Hibiscus, which is found in Kerala, can be dried and powdered just like the red hibiscus, or crush berries of Indigo plant and add water to it as per the desired colour strength.

5. Yellow–Mix two teaspoons of Turmeric powder with double the quantity of gram flour (besan). Turmeric and gram flour have magical qualities that are very good for the skin. Ordinary wheat flour (Atta), refined wheat flour (Maida), rice flour, ground nut powder, fuller`s earth (MultaniMitti) and even talcum powder can be used as substitutes for gram flour.

Other methods: Flowers like Cassia fistula (Amaltas), Marigold (Gainda), Yellow Chrysanthemums and Black Babul yield different shades of yellow. Dry the petals of these flowers in the shade and crush them to obtain a fine powder. Mix an appropriate quantity of the powder with gram flour or its substitutes and see your festival come alive sans any harmful effects of chemically-loaded colors.

6. Pink–Slice or grate one beetroot and soak it in 1 liter of water for a wonderful magenta. Boil or leave overnight for a deeper shade and dilute it before use.

Other methods: Boil the peels of 10-15 pink onions in half a liter of water for a pinkish color. Remove the peels before using them to remove any unneeded smell. You can also soak pink Bauhinia variegate (Kachnar) flowers in water overnight or boil them for a bright pink color.

7. Red–Red Sandal Wood Powder, which has a beautiful red color, is extremely beneficial for the skin and can be used in place of Red Gulal.

Other methods: Dry red hibiscus flowers in shade, powder and adds any flour to increase the bulk. For a bright orange-red, mix together a pinch of lime powder with 2 spoons of turmeric powder and a few drops of water. Use the resulting paste only after diluting it with 10 litres of water. Peels of Red Pomegranate boiled in water, juice of tomatoes and carrots diluted with sufficient quantity of water to remove the stickiness also give a natural yet beautiful red color.

8. Black–Last but not the least comes black. Often derived from very dangerous sources like used batteries, this color may cause a lot of trouble later. However, for a safe black color boil dried fruits of Indian Gooseberry (Amla) in an iron vessel and leave it overnight. Dilute with water and use.

Other methods: Extract juice of black grapes and dilute with sufficient quantity of water to remove stickiness.

Some tips to have a skin-friendly Holi this year:

Cover up!!–Nothing can beat covering maximum part of your body with full sleeved clothes and trousers but the old remedy of using mustard oil/coconut oil/ olive oil/ Vaseline over your entire body on the morning of Holi does wonders in removing the colours easily post Holi.

No warm water– Do not use warm water for bathing/removing colours, as this can lead to the fastening of colours. Instead, always opt for cold water to wash of colours post-Holi. You should also try to remove the dry colour powder with dry hands rather than using water as it spreads even more after water application.

Stay Hydrated–Drink lots and lots of water as skin tends to get dehydrated with the use of chemicals. Can try other refreshing water-based drinks too like a virgin mint mojito, or fresh lime and buttermilk to beat the heat out of your body!

Hair Care–Before you use a shampoo, rinse your hair with water to allow the additional colours to wash off. It is extremely vital to condition your hair to prevent any hair damage.

Make a simple hair pack by soaking a few fenugreek (Methi) seeds in four tablespoons.of curd. Apply this pack or an egg yolk on your scalp and wash your hair with a good shampoo after 30 minutes. You can also apply a mixture of honey and olive oil for deep conditioning.

Face regime–Do not scrub the colour off with soap. Opt for a mild cleanser and follow it up with lots of moisturizing cream. If you feel any skin irritation during the process of taking off the colours, then take 2 tbsps. of calamine powder and mix it with a few drops of honey and rosewater to make a paste. Apply this on your face and once it has dried up, wash off with water and apply a moisturizer. You can also take off the colour with a mixture of Gram Flour (besan) and milk. If you are unable to do anything else, simply apply a generous amount of Multani-Mitti on the entire face and body to revive your skin.

Natural body scrub–You can use a homemade scrub by mixing well the following ingredients- 2 tbsp. wheat bran, 1 tbsp. sandalwood powder, 1 tbsp. rice flour, along with some poppy seeds (khus-khus), few drops of honey and a mashed tomato. Scrub your body with this to clear off the colours and to bounce back to your fair and glowing skin. You can also rub a piece of papaya on coloured areas of the face and body to get rid of the colours. There is another good body scrub you can use to wash off colours. Mix with curd, gram flour, orange peel powder along with little turmeric, a few drops of lemon and 1 tbsp. of olive oil. This will help to clean your skin.

Post Holi skincare regime

For the next two weeks, apply a MultaniMitti face pack every alternate day to ensure that your skin remains soft and supple. Also, do not go for any skin treatments like waxing, threading, facials, or apply any other external medication on the skin for two to three days after Holi. Your skin is very sensitive after Holi, so these treatments may cause an adverse reaction.

Hope you all have a vibrant, safe and skin friendly HOLI this year!!! Cheers!

February 27, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian 1 Comment

10 simple tips for Running everyday

Running every day can get boring sometimes. It happened to me there was a point in time when I got bored of running and started cycling more often. I had been running for over 15 years. Running every day is not for everybody if you have never run before. Running requires a lot of patience and practice. You have to beat it to be able to make it your daily routine.

Lots of us have to keep going back to square one to pull it off. Newbies should be especially careful because lack of training and/or lack of adequate preparation can easily result in injury. Having said the above, running is very doable and the key to keeping yourself motivated to run is finding the right balance between the quantity and the quality of your runs.

Here are a few simple tips that one can follow. This is applicable to both the new first time runners and those who have been running but once in a way get bored

Start Easy: Do not go all out the first time. Start easy and gradually progress if you are a beginner and new to the concept of running.

Keep short distances: Learn to start running by keeping short distances. Do not start with sprinting. That is not running. I always find people when they start running they start sprinting. Sprinting tires you within seconds of the start. More so when you have never ever run in your life. Jogging is the way to start.

Time train instead of distance train: Ideally it is better to train with time rather than with distance. You can start with a 1-minute run and 3 minutes of walk, to begin with. Most find it difficult to run for even 5 minutes continuously if you are just starting to run. Increase the 1-minute run to 5 minutes and walk for a minute. Try to run for 20 minutes a day for a month in this order and gradually increase to 3 km a day next month.

Do not overdo: If you realize that you are breathing hard or rather panting it means that you are overdoing it. Give your body enough time to get adapted to your routine. Human bodies are very quick to adapt to certain physiological stresses provided you allow it enough time. For instance, if you feel you can increase your time from 20 minutes to 45 minutes with a 5-minute break after every 20 minutes, then walk for 5 minutes. There is nothing wrong with it. Moderation is a key whenever you are starting a new physical activity.

Prepare a schedule: Just do not randomly run whenever you want to. Prepare a daily routine. If you have a trainer or a coach sit with him/her and chalk out a proper schedule for running.

Your schedule should also include good rest periods. For instance, if you ran at 6 am the day before, consider running at 5 pm or 6 pm the day after or aim for (at least) a 24-hour rest period between runs. If you want to shorten your distance do that. Do what is comfortable. Run a km or a mile on some days. Have 3 days in a week with real easy runs when you start out and be cautious. If you need an extra day of rest. Take it.

Pace yourself better. Try and do the long slow distance pace. You will only become better at doing something when you’re able to understand how well your body is reacting and how you have been performing over time. Slow and steady progress is good progress.

Proper nutrition and rest are important: Make sure that the schedule includes proper exercises, nutrition inputs and rest as 3 important components. If you just run without proper pre-workout and post-work meal, stretching and strength training exercises and proper rest all the effort that you are putting to run will be of no use. Go for a balanced diet with simple and complex carbohydrates and protein. Not to mention, getting enough sleep is just as important.

To keep yourself interested run with a partner: There are chances that you are kicked about going running every day but you can easily get bored of your routine. So to tread that path go running with a friend who is equally interested in running or get yourself a trainer who can motivate you every day.

Set a goal to do a long run within 3 months of starting of Aim to run 5 km after 3 months of starting off. Also, set a time goal for completion of this run. Register for a run. Eventually, this will help you bring about a change in your routine and above all, it will give you a chance to look forward to something eventful.

Reward yourself: Last but not the least reward yourself after a good long run. It will not cost much to get a good massage or visit a spa after a long run to feel good about yourself.

Finally, I would like to end by saying that most of us out there run for varied reasons. Some run to just stay fit and because they enjoy running, some run to get over the runner block that they may have. Some run for a cause so they are motivated to run every day. Whatever the reason may be, run every day or at least 3 days a week because it will keep you healthy. It’s a great addition to have!

February 24, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

“Active Sunday helps connect with like-minded individuals”: Arun Golaya

Arun Golaya-Player

If you are seriously not inclined to fitness, you will never know the joy of waking up early on a Sunday morning and going for a long walk, run, cycling, trek or just group outdoor workout sessions. What for some is a lazy day to sit back and enjoy, for some, Sunday is the first day and they like to start their week by being super active?

Arun Golaya was introduced to GOQii by Cap Anurag Bisen whose team Arun joined two years ago for the 100 km trail walk. It is during this time that he got to know of the Active Sunday concept. He finds Active Sunday’s interesting as it gets him to meet with like-minded individuals and have a healthy gup-shup alongside exercising. Given that GOQii helps keep one conscious of their health and fitness, Arun, has now introduced his daughter to GOQii as well.

February 23, 2018 By GOQii Editor Leave a Comment

“Do not get disheartened, be self-motivated and keep pushing yourself to achieve your health goals”

Ashwin C-COLLAGE

After GOQii Before GOQii

Sleeping during the day and working at night was his regular routine. He had no discipline in life and ate indiscreetly. He weighed 79 kg at a height of 5 ft 6 inches. He tried to lose weight by just dreaming about it and doing the bare minimum. He did not have a good workout routine so the small gym that he had created for himself at home was not utilized to its optimum. Finally magic happened and he got into a routine, joined a gym with a personal trainer, his diet got regularized and he is far healthier and fit that he was. Let’s hear it from Ashwin Chitransh, his story of transformation.

It all began for me in August 2017 when I took a trip to McLeodganj for a couple of days and had rich grand meals. When I came back home, I weighed close to 79 Kg at the height of 5 Feet 6 inches. I was aware that I was leading an unhealthy life but, not doing anything about it. Set up a small gym at home but hardly worked out. My routine was haywire with me sleeping during the day and working at night. My eating habits were bad and nothing was helping me get back on the track. I wanted to change things for myself this is when I was introduced to GOQii by a friend. I quite liked the concept of a personal coach who will motivate and push you to achieve your health goals.

I enrolled in GOQii and also joined the Gym with a personal trainer and this started my journey of transformation. The first day at the Gym, I felt nauseous and thought I’d pass out in 15 minutes. Other guys were working out smoothly which was intimidating for me. There were so many well-built guys using heavy weights that I could not even dream of. The key I realized is patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Don’t compete with others; compete with yourself to achieve your goals.

Apart from a gym workout, the cardio workout is important for me. Most of the fat which I had, was on my belly. I started by walking for 2 km increasing gradually to 5 km per day, at the speed of 5 to 6 kmph. Then, a bit of my belly fat melted, I started running/jogging at 8kmph. I gradually moved to 10 kmph but reduced the distance to cover (to 1.5 km).

Currently, I work out for 30 minutes mostly focusing on the abdominal area. Slowly once the belly fat saw some reduction I started working on 2 muscles a day.

One thing which is very important to keep in mind while undertaking any health goal is that it takes time to achieve these goals. You need understand your body and how it reacts to various strenuous exercises. You need to have patience especially when it comes to achieving weight loss goals.

Exercise alone cannot help you, diet is equally important. “There is no love sincerer than the love of food,” quoting from Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw. A lot of my misconceptions was broken. One such misconception was that if you go on a diet you have to remain hungry. Secondly, good healthy food is tasteless. But, in fact, I learnt tow things

To eat healthily, you do not need to make it taste bad necessarily
Quit (Avoid) unhealthy/junk/fried food

My coach helped me make healthy food choices. My diet now includes pre and post work out meals, salads. I was never a salads guy but I eat them now. I have stopped having refined sugar since November 2017. My meals are balanced and portion size is small with multiple meals in a day, unlike my earlier three large meals.

All these small changes over time have helped me achieve my health goals. I am much fitter and healthier now. My only message to all is don’t be disheartened if your hard work does not pay initially. It takes time. You won’t see changes in a week. Just be self-motivated and keep pushing yourself. There will be days when you won’t be able to work out or you won’t be able to follow your diet regime. But, it’s ok. Continue with the same routine next day. When you fall, you must have the willpower to stand up again not once but multiple times. Its sheer determination and hard work that will help you achieve your goals. Did I fail during my transformation phase? Of course yes, I did fail, and on more than one occasions but then I never gave up.

What does coach Evangelene Wankhar have to say about her player Ashwin?

Ashwin was assigned to me in October 2017. His goal was to lose 10-12kgs and wanted to get active and build strength. Prior to GOQii, he had already started with gym workouts with a personal trainer and lost 3kgs. But, his concern was his food habits. When we started, he was having a heavy meal for dinner, adding few unhealthy foodstuff during the day. These were old habits which I had to gradually get him to shed. Each time he had a heavy meal and ate unhealthy food, I guided and explained to him the pros and cons. I told him choosing healthy food over unhealthy will help him achieve his goal. He agreed with me and started applying the tips I had shared with him every day. Of course, he had few cheat meals but he has managed to make the cheat meals healthy as well and if he took something over the counter which was unhealthy, he compensated that with more activities and a healthy diet the next day. Over the last few months, he has progressed well. He has been very consistent in his workouts, healthy food habits and always has been following every guideline that I share with him. I am proud to say that Ashwin has achieved his target goal of losing 12kgs and now we are in the process of building his strength and muscles since that is his next goal.