Archives for October 2019

October 31, 2019 By GOQii Leave a Comment

The New Age Health Horror of Diabesity

When someone says “horror”, what do you imagine? Definitely nothing pleasant but something extremely scary, right? Do you picture ghosts and demons? If your perception of horror is limited to only supernatural occurrences, you might want to take a big step back. While supernatural entities are subjective, health issues are very much real and their stats are horrifying to say the least.

Recently, we came across a study titled ‘Finding a Policy Solution to India’s Diabetes Epidemic‘ by Karen Siegel, K. M Venkat Narayan and Sanjay Kinra. The study indicated that ‘In India, 35 million people have diabetes—a number expected to more than double by 2025, disproportionately affecting working-age people’. That means over 70 million people. Isn’t that scary?

Diabesity, which is a combination of Diabetes and Obesity, is even worse! Can you picture it? Obesity is a key risk factor for diabetes. India has the world’s largest number of people with Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) and Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG), which are the precursors for diabetes. Obesity and IGT are mostly found in younger populations.

Major Causes Leading to Diabesity

Globalization: facilitates access to various pre-packaged and processed foods. In fact, there is minimal physical activity as we have one touch access to almost everything! Surely, we are growing economically but at the cost of our health.
Nutrition Transition: There is a major shift observed in the meal patterns of Indians today. People are turning more towards western foods, foods that are pre-packaged, ready to eat foods, high in calories, sugar, aerated drinks, hydrogenated fats over the simple traditional food which are high in vitamins, minerals, fiber and other essential nutrients.
Higher Percentage of Abdominal Fat: Abdominal obesity is the key factor of insulin resistance and development of diabetes.
Malnutrition During Pregnancy: Because of the co-existence of underweight and overweight, children are often born underweight and adapted to a low-nutrition environment. Low-birth weight infants are more susceptible than those of normal birth weight to obesity and diabetes, especially when raised in an Obesogenic environment.
Lifestyle: Most people today lead sedentary lifestyles devoid of much movement. Even at work we’re glued to our desks and laptops. This accounts to minimal physical activity. At the same time, the stress factor is the maximum with respect to targets/goals associated with work, family and social circles.

How To Keep It At Bay

Keeping Diabesity at bay actually involves 3 very simple and basic lifestyle modifications:

Make Healthy Food Choices: Choose whole grains and its products over refined ones. Incorporate more fruits and veggies daily. Opt for products less in sugars, fats and high in fiber. Make a habit of reading nutritional labels before buying a product. Do not forget “MODERATION IS THE KEY”.
Exercise: Make it a point to exercise on a regular basis. Exercising will not only keep you active but also help reduce insulin resistance, improve cardio vascular strength, tone your muscles, and increase Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Exercising releases endorphins which is a feel good hormone that will also help you relieve stress(both physical and mental).
Stress Management: Managing time and stress is essential to stop the release of the stress hormone Cortisol which makes you crave for foods that are high in carbs. All that you eat when stressed is stored in the body as fats, especially in the belly. Meditating regularly before going to bed, deep breathing during stressful moments, indulging in your hobbies, exercising, completing your work on time, etc. will help curb stress levels. It is not a single factor that would work but both.

If you want to learn about effective ways to manage obesity and diabetes, or want effective exercises to combat both, tune into GOQii Play and get live coaching from renowned experts you can even interact with.

We hope this article on Diabesity alarms you enough to make necessary lifestyle modifications before its too late! Stay healthy and #BeTheForce!

October 29, 2019 By Dr. Viral Thakkar Leave a Comment

Stroke: Straight Drive or Pavilion

“Doctor please help! Half of my body does not move anymore” came a slurry cry from a helpless Vinod Agrawal, a businessman. His wife stood next to him in the emergency department weeping profusely and their 16 year old son watched his parents helplessly.

When examined thoroughly, Agrawal was diagnosed with STROKE. Thanks to the lifestyles that most people lead these days, this is a common site in hospitals.

A stroke strikes when the blood supply to the brain is affected either due to blockage leading to ischemia or rupturing of vessels. Due to this the brain does not receive enough oxygen and nutrition causing cell death, which is the ideal condition for stroke.

How Does a Stroke Happen?

Ischemia: Occurs due to narrowing or blockage of blood vessels due to blood clots formed either in arteries connecting brains or other vessels or due to dislodgment of fatty deposits called plaques (atherosclerosis).
Haemorrhagic: Bursting or leaking of blood vessels which compresses the brain cells. This leakage of blood puts pressure on brain cells which is accumulated in brain due to trauma, hypertension or some blood thinning medication.
TIA- Transient Ischemic Attack (Mini Stoke): Brief episodes of stroke which is self-limiting. Blood flow is briefly interrupted and these are the warning signs of future stroke. It is like an alarm from the body.

Common Presentation of Stroke

Weakness or tingling in half or full body depending on the involved artery
Deviation of face with difficulty in speech and closure of one eye
Mental Confusion, severe headache, loss of power in the limbs

When any of the above symptoms are seen, the patient must be rushed to the hospital.

After thoroughly understanding the history and general examination, few specific tests and examination like CT scan are done to find out the cause of the stroke. The treatment is very complicated and management is done in ICU and Neurophyscican may be required.

As there are two major causes of stroke- ischemia and haemorrhage-both have different management. If ischemic– the focus is to restore adequate blood flow-clot is broken or dissolved.

If haemorrhagic -stop bleeding or leakage of blood, to reduce the pressure of brain cells. Surgical intervention may be required if there is any arterial malformation or rupture of vessels.

Rehabilitation activities like physiotherapy, speech therapy, etc help to restore the physical activities gradually.

Prevent It!

All the above symptoms and complications can be prevented if a healthy lifestyle is followed. Eat a healthy- diet which includes fresh fruits, vegetables, avoiding processed meat and avoid junk food.

Yoga, especially Pranayama, as this ensures that every cell of the body receives adequate oxygen for appropriate functioning. Pranayama rejuvenates the body cells which ensures the ideal functioning of the body.

Stress kills! Accept what life offers happily and keep working towards your goal without killing yourself.

Remember Smoking Kills — all advertisements shown are true. STOP smoking. Avoid alcohol, if you do consume it, make it minimal.

If you are hypertensive keep absolute check on blood pressure and follow all dietary and physical discipline so the blood pressure is controlled.

If one is diabetic, regular check of sugar is important.

Listen to your body. It always warns you before the disease sets in.

Stroke is an acute emergency but the root cause lies in chronic habits and patterns of life. Every moment, even at this moment of reading the blog, we can choose health or disease. Either you choose to pick up alarming signals of body and take necessary prevention to live a healthy life or be undisciplined and get hospitalized. THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

October 28, 2019 By Saba Mirza Leave a Comment

Health Benefits of Weight Lifting You Might Not Know

Whenever I advise my players to include weight lifting in their workout regimes, their reactions range from, “It’s too complicated or difficult for me,” to “No! I don’t want to bulk up”. These are the misconceptions engraved in our minds from the glossy images of sculpted and chiseled bodies of men and women appearing in fitness websites and magazines! Apart from the fact that many of these photographs are Photoshopped or Edited, they unanimously promote the sole purpose of weight lifting as ‘body building’, which defers many people who want to actually stay fit and active, from it. Weight lifting, in essence, is not just about getting toned and sculpted! The benefits of weight lifting are numerous, ranging from improving your body composition, burning fat, strengthening your bones and joints and increasing your happiness quotient as well!

Health Benefits of Weight Lifting

Get Stronger and More Active: Weight lifting stimulates the growth and development of the slow twitching muscle fibers (type2 muscle fibers) which improves agility, endurance, and builds up your stamina and strength, thus, boosting your performance in doing activities of daily livings (ADLs).
Boosts Resting Metabolism: When the muscles are stimulated after strength training, they need to work harder to rebuild. Hence, they utilize more calories for redevelopment and growth! Muscles are metabolically active tissues which keep burning calories even during the resting phase known as the Afterburn Effect!
Strengthens Your Bones and Joints: Weight training not only strengthens your muscles and ligaments but also improves bone density. The way muscles start developing under stress, the bones also adapt by increasing deposition after consistent weight lifting. This becomes more important as one reaches the age of early 40s when we are prone to natural decline. Also, stronger ligaments and bones prevent the occurrence of injuries while performing cardio and other activities!
Lower Risk of Diabetes & Blood Sugar Levels: A study funded by the National Institute of Health has found that men who added weight lifting to their cardiovascular exercise routine had a 34% lower risk of diabetes. It’s advisable for individuals with type 2 diabetes to include weight training in their workout regime as toned muscles improve insulin sensitivity and better utilization of glucose!
Improves Heart Health: As weight lifting improves the lean muscle mass in the body, it improves blood flow to different body areas which put less pressure on arteries, thus improving cardiac muscles pumping capacity!
Improves Posture & Balance: Weight lifting strengthens your core, tones up your muscles and improves your posture. It reduces undue stress on different bones and joints, especially the shoulders, spine and hips which are more prone to injuries because of bad posture! Weight training also promotes the development of smaller muscle sets known as stabilizers. These take care of keeping you upright and helping you balance on a slippery surface or on one foot when you are reaching out to a higher shelf!
Makes You Happier: Weight training stimulates the release of endorphins in the body which are also known as the ‘feel good hormones’. They trigger the happy centers in the brain. A well-toned, lean and fit body elevates your mood and self-esteem. Weight training brings you out of your comfort zone. High intensity weight training proves the worth in persisting through uncomfortable situations – a lesson which can be applied to be successful in other aspects of life too.

How to Start Your Weight Training Journey?

The simple mantra is just ‘go ahead’. Simply enter a gym or put on a video to see how you can take your journey forward. Start with minimum weights and gradually increase. Make sure to start under the guidance of an expert to avoid injuries or wrong postures or techniques. Keep setting challenges and targets which will keep you motivated to push harder.

You can even subscribe to the GOQii App to seek guidance from your GOQii Coach or watch fitness videos, tackle myths and get the right information about weight training by interacting with experts on GOQii Play.

Push past your limits to the extent that your toughest workout now, becomes your warm up later! If you hit a wall, simply climb over it. What stops you from hitting the gym? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

#BeTheForce

October 26, 2019 By GOQii 1 Comment

If You Must Take Control, Control Your Health! | Sakuntala Rao User Story

At some point in life, you can’t help but wonder that as you get older, things change. Life passes you by in such a blur that most times you’re unable to take control. Health issues begin to surface as medication and doctor visits become more common. While things seem bleak in this fixated downward spiral, there are individuals who think otherwise! At the age of 60, our player Sakuntala Rao can proudly say that life didn’t pass her by. She’s living it, breathing it and enjoying it to the fullest with good health… but was it always like this?

Early Life and Health Issues

Hailing from Bangalore, Sakuntala Rao had two major concerns – sleep issues and fluctuating weight. Albeit, she was aware of the reasons for both her concerns but was unable to find a viable solution. She attributes her sleep issues to high levels of stress. Being a control freak, she used to get worked up when things didn’t go the way she wanted. She had trouble falling asleep and used to wake up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep. Less sleep hours and disturbed sleep were regular occurrences.

On the other hand, her weight was something she had always struggled with. This was due to her travel routine for work, her diet which was completely erratic, marred with junk food, untimely eating, and zero portion control. As she puts it, her eating habits were all over the place.

To add to this, she was under medication for hyperthyroidism for 14 years before she underwent Radioactive Iodine Therapy which reversed her condition the wrong way. She developed hypothyroidism since most of the gland was destroyed during the procedure. This again contributed to hormonal imbalance leading to weight gain.

She often tried fad diets from time to time. Though she lost a little weight, she would gain it back in a month or two. Her daily routine was also devoid of any physical activity. After her retirement in 2017, she got herself a personal trainer to help her get active. She decided she wanted to focus more on health and fitness. That’s where GOQii came in!

Joining GOQii and Making a Lifestyle Change

In 2018, her husband got her a GOQii tracker as a gift. She explored the app, learned about the coaching mechanism, live video coaching by experts and blogs which motivated her to stick with GOQii. She was assigned a GOQii Coach when she signed up. Her goal was to just get fit which, with help from her Coach, got narrowed down to her two major issues – improving sleep and weight loss.

The first habit set by her GOQii Coach was an early dinner. She was also asked to perform Pranayama as demonstrated by GOQii Play Coach Ronak Gajjar. Sakuntala Rao was also given a few links to meditation which she was asked to listen to after Pranayama. She was also asked to stay away from her phone for at least an hour before bed.

All of this together, with the realization that she cannot control everything and that she needs to let go at times, helped her calm down. This reduced her stress greatly and thus, improved her sleep quality.

She wasn’t asked to change much in her diet as she had already started eating healthy. Only a few tweaks were made. For instance, including protein in each meal. She also began intermittent fasting on the 16/8 pattern – Her last meal being dinner at 6 pm and she breaks her fast at 10 am the next morning. The first thing she drinks is a glass of warm water followed by Ajwain (soaked overnight) and pink salt followed by nuts.

Her lunch consists of 2 rotis, some curry, and a large bowl of salad which consists of carrots, cucumber, radish, avocado, capsicum and some seeds mixed with curd. She consumes a cup of coffee and eats a fruit before that. Dinner consists of one roti, some curry, soup and salad.

Currently, she has set her goal as reaching a weight of 60kg in order to fall under the normal BMI range and maintaining that level.

Experiencing the Change

Sakuntala Rao says that her sleep has improved significantly. She is now able to sleep for an average of 7 hours and doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night. Her weight has reduced from 79kg in July 2018 to 70g when she last checked. She feels that progress has been difficult but consistent. She thanks her GOQii Coach for being persistent and following up with her, ensuring she keeps on track.

Now, she believes that mental health is just as important as physical health, especially after the age of 60 with people talking about Dementia and Alzheimer’s everywhere. She has enrolled herself for a dancing class as a hobby and she is also associated with a group called Silver Talkies. They cater to people over the age of 55 and get them involved in various social activities. The group has also planned a dance performance for early November in support of a social cause.

Her current physical activities include functional workouts 4 days a week, walking for at least 4 days and attending dance class 2 days a week. She attempted swimming but gave up as she couldn’t overcome her Aquaphobia (fear of water).

What Sakuntala Rao Thinks of GOQii

Sakuntala Rao praises her GOQii Coach for helping her make such a positive lifestyle change. She said her Coach was very prompt in her responses, be it a comment or a problem. She is very pleased with the fact that her Coach personalizes her entire routine keeping her age in mind. She also shares a lot of information which is educational and useful.

Has this story inspired you to make a change? If anything, it tells us that even if we can’t control everything, we can certainly control our health and the choices we make. Want to share your story with us? Fill this form and we’ll reach out to you.

Keep inspiring, stay motivated and #BeTheForce