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Level Up Your 2020 With GOQii!

Level Up 2020

The year has come to an end and around this time, we all begin formulating resolutions for the coming year. While most of us haven’t stuck to our resolutions or surprisingly achieved them, we need to understand that being healthy and active is an ongoing process. It never ends and the only thing to do is Level Up!

What happens once you achieve a health goal? Do you stop? Do you go back to being unhealthy? What happens if you don’t achieve your health goals? Do you give up? The answer is no! You move forward. You rise up to the challenge. You learn all there is to know to push ahead and #BeTheForce. That’s what we mean when we say Level Up.

So how do you Level Up? How do you take things up a notch? Let us help!

How You Can Level Up Your 2020

Below are a few things that GOQii helps you with so you can better equip yourself with the right guidance, right knowledge and the right products – all available within the GOQii App.

  1. GOQii Play: Tired of routine? Have doubts about nutrition? Want to try yoga and meditation? We’ve got all of these covered and much more on GOQii Play. You have access to tons of information from experts in their respective fields. Be it sexual wellness, mental health or medicine, we bring you the latest topics, exciting workouts, healthy recipes among others, all of which will help you better equip yourself to take it to the next level in 2020!
  2. Health Store: Want a trusted source for nutraceuticals? Want to eat healthy snacks? Do you need clothing for your gym? The GOQii Health Store has everything you need to get you started on the right path to good health. The brands and their products are curated by a team of experts to bring you nothing but the best. Let shopping healthy be one of your resolutions this year.
  3. Active Sunday: If motivation doesn’t find you, you need to go out there and find it yourself! Nothing works as better motivation than a group of like-minded individuals who meet up every Sunday for an hour and exercise. GOQii Active Sundays happen every week and are a great way to kickstart your week on a healthy note. Currently, we have around 50 GOQii Champions who conduct Active Sundays across different locations in India and at the pace at which we’re going, this number is likely to increase in the coming year. Want to be a part of this? Click here to register: https://goo.gl/KN82CU
  4. Challenges: In 2019, we initiated 3 challenges that were massive and had a huge impact on healthcare in India. Through the India Steps Challenge, we were able to increase the national step count to an average of 9391. The India Health Quiz helped users increase their knowledge about all things healthy and bust common health myths which were floating around the internet. The GOQii Trail Challenge this year saw an amazing turnout, inspiring stories which included a 60 year old participant completing the trail with a broken arm as well as a blind and sighted duo who completed the 50km arduous trail in 16 hours. In 2020, we’re going to issue more challenges and more opportunities for all of us to shine!

In one app, you have all the tools you need to make 2020 as healthy as possible but don’t forget one of the key ingredients which is YOU! It is your willpower, determination and motivation which will make all the difference. 2020 is about you and what you do to Level Up your lifestyle and make a difference.

So walk more, eat healthy, sleep right and have more fun! The world is your playground. Here’s to a healthy and happy New Year!

#BeTheForce 

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6 Tips to Help You Form and Stick to Resolutions

form and stick to resolutions

How often do we wait till the end of the year to make “resolutions” and end up not sticking to them? If you were to review your year basis the resolutions you made at the start, how close are you to achieving that goal? Do you find it difficult to form and stick to resolutions? Well, don’t worry! That’s where we come in.

A lot of resolutions fail because they’re a tad bit unrealistic. A resolution may be wrong for one of three main reasons:

  • It’s a resolution created based on what someone else (or society) is telling you to change. 
  • It’s too vague.
  • You don’t have a realistic plan for achieving your resolution.

The key to form and stick to resolutions is planning a SMART one.

Points to Keep in Mind to Form & Stick to Resolutions

  1. Understanding Your Goals: At the end of the year, there is renewed optimism as there is high spirit among people to set new goals for the New Year. The achievable goals are those which are specific, measurable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). The first step to behavior change is to clearly understand what “it” is.
  2. Start Small: To do “something big or to do nothing” – this frame of mind rarely works when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. If you’ve never exercised before, it’s unlikely you will suddenly start working out for an hour every single day. Instead, start with small and attainable goals, such as going to the gym three days a week or short daily walks. Once this becomes a habit, you can tack-on larger goals.
  3. Make One Change at a Time: Setting multiple resolutions at a time will not give desired results, thus we should go at a steady pace.
  4. Make a Monetary Commitment: Financial incentives plays an important role to stick to the resolutions, either you get a reward for fulfilling your commitments or you pay from your own pocket for not following it and see others enjoying their rewards.
  5. Keep a Log: A daily activity log should be maintained and updated to track progress. This is one of the easiest and effective ways to make your resolutions stick. The more we monitor our performance, the more likely we are to achieving the goals.
  6. Have Patience: We must set realistic goals and realize that progress is never uni-directional. Some people see rapid gains in the beginning and hit resistance at a later stage. For others, initial progress may be painfully slow, but then they suddenly achieve rapid breakthroughs. Making lasting changes takes time. Thus patience is the “key to success”.

A Resolution is a promise a person makes. Regardless of what resolution you commit to, the goal is to improve life in the coming year. We hope the above suggestions help you form and stick to resolutions! Here’s wishing you a happy, healthy and successful new year!

#BeTheForce 

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Healthy Eating: Dates and Walnut Cake

Dates and Walnut Cake

It’s the season to be jolly and nothing is jollier than a freshly baked homemade cake! As we slowly step towards the New Year, it would be awesome to end 2019 on a healthy note. So let’s bake our own healthy and delicious eggless Dates and Walnut Cake! It’s a dense, rich cake which provides you with healthy fats and nutrition.

This is a recipe we’re sure your family will enjoy!

What You Will Need

  • Dates – 1 cup
  • Milk – 1 cup
  • Whole Wheat Flour – 1.5 cup
  • Roughly Chopped Walnuts – ½ cup
  • Coffee – ½ tsp
  • Cinnamon Powder – ½ tsp
  • Olive Oil – 100 ml
  • Baking powder – ½ tsp
  • Baking soda – 1 tsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp

How to Prepare 

  1. Soak coffee in a little water.
  2. Soak Dates in hot milk for 2-3 hours until they soften. Then grind the dates + milk into a fine paste in a mixer.
  3. Take the date paste out in a mixing bowl and add olive oil to it.
  4. Sieve the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, coffee, cinnamon powder & salt and mix well with the dates puree using whisker.
  5. Now, add the chopped walnuts in the batter and gently fold them within. The cake batter is ready for further process.

From here on, there are two ways you can go. One with a Steamer and the other with an Oven.

a. Steamer

  1. Add a cup of salt in an idli steamer and place a plate or vessel in it and close the steamer.
  2. Preheat the steamer for 10 minutes at high flame.
  3. Transfer the cake batter in a properly greased pan and keep it inside the steamer.
  4. Cook the cake in the steamer at low – medium flame for 30-35 mins.

b. Oven

  1. Preheat the oven for 10 min.
  2. Transfer the cake batter in a greased mould and bake it for 35 to 40 min at 180 degree Celsius.
  3. Your cake is ready! 

Highlights of the Dates and Walnut Cake

  • Definitely, a cake with no unhealthy fats, giving you the satiety of eating a dessert.
  • Dates make it nourishing for the guests as it is packed with a host of heart-healthy nutrients.
  • Most importantly, it is absolutely yummy! 

Before you begin preparing this wholesome dates and walnuts cake, check with your doctor for any allergies you might have. For more tasty and healthy recipes, tune in to GOQii Play. 

#BeTheForce 

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Holiday Health Tips: It’s All In The Chew!

chew your food

It’s precisely between this week and January 1st when people tend to put on most of their weight. There are two reasons for this. The crazy festive season filled with weddings and parties and then Christmas, New Year Eve and the fact that people tend to let loose during this time, with the justification that they will start anew with  ‘healthy new year resolutions’ from January onwards.

  • What if I told, you could enjoy this season and it would not impact your weight?
  • What if I told you that snacking on a cookie or dessert here or there would not impact your weight goals?
  • What if I told you that you could eat rice / Roti / Bread at lunch and dinner, and it would not impact your weight or health?
  • What if you could enjoy this festive season, have loads of fun, eat your favourite foods and still maintain your health and weight?

The human body is a miracle and we are living examples of this miracle. The way our brain and body functions, blood flow, smell, feelings, emotions, the ability to recover from the deadliest of diseases, and the ability of our cells to heal and repair. Every day, trillions of cells in our body work non-stop to fight out germs and bacteria all around us, which if infects us, we could fall very sick and even die. That miracle is called ‘ immunity’.

Our stomach produces sufficient acid to melt down a razor blade. Such is the power of our digestive system. So what’s an ice- cream or a chocolate bar or a cookie going to do when it finds its way into our stomachs? Our body is made to digest the hardest of foods. Red meat is tough to digest but the body will break it down. Vegetarians don’t escape either. Cellulose in vegetables are extremely difficult to break down, but the body breaks it down eventually (this is one reason that vegetarians suffer from more flatulence than non vegetarians).

The body can break down meats and vegetables and that dessert. The secret lies in the ‘chew’.  The reason food tastes so good is because you’re supposed to enjoy it—slow down and savor it, not just get it to your stomach as quickly as possible.

How Does Chewing Thoroughly Help? 

Chewing your food thoroughly is actually the first step in the complex process of digestion, and if you glaze over it, just chewing the minimum amount of times necessary to get the food down your esophagus, you’re actually compromising this process. And that’s the mistake many people make.

We have teeth not just to smile or picture pretty. The primary function of teeth is to tear down and break up food into small bits. Saliva mixes with these small bits, further softening them, and guess what?

Let me get down to some basics!

Why Should You Chew Your Food Thoroughly? 

When you chew, more saliva gets produced and your saliva contains enzymes that break down FATS and CARBS. Yes!!! Digestion starts in the MOUTH! By the time your food reaches your stomach, it’s already processed by enzymes and your stomach has no issues in completing the assimilation/digestion process.

  • You feel light
  • You feel full for a longer period of time.
  • You do away with flatulence, gas, indigestion, burping.
  • You learn to savour and enjoy the taste of your food.
  • Your body absorbs all the goodness of your food (vitamins, minerals) better.
  • You eat exactly how much your body needs, to you maintain or arrive at a healthy weight

Imagine all the times you gobble down your food. You have undigested chunks sitting in your stomach, giving rise to gas, discomfort and chances are that most of your food gets converted to fat.

Chew your food. Enjoy a dessert but eat it slow, savour it and over time, you will learn not to abuse it. The more you chew your food, the cleaner you keep your intestines, stomach and colon because the body can quickly cleanse itself when digestion happens the right way.

Say bye to constipation, fatigue and migraines/headaches.

Try this exercise today:

The next meal, eat it really slow. Take a spoon of food, chew it several times, savour the flavour and taste, and then swallow. Put your spoon down.

Then take the next. You will find yourself getting fuller quickly, and then you should stop eating. This way you save on calories you intake and over time, this will become a habit and you will serve yourself less food. Less food equals less calories, better health, longer life and a healthy weight.

Take 1 serving spoon less at every meal, chew and eat your food. You will find that it is enough and all these save spoons of food which add up to a lot of calories saved. You will lose fat and you will feel healthier

Diseases are caused in most cases by overeating, and we always think how much we eat is enough, but it may not be correct, if you have been eating your meals fast. Chew your food and you will never have to diet. Your meal time is more important that your work, respect it. That’s your personal time between you and your body, where you feed and nourish it to keep you healthy and strong to do your work and live well.

This is a lifestyle change, and if you master it, you can enjoy all the foods you like in moderation.

#BeTheForce

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