About Anusha Subramanian

Anusha Subramanian, a British Chevening Scholar and a two-time award-winning journalist is a health, fitness and adventure enthusiast. She has combined her skills sets of writing and adventure training to be able to work for the larger good of the society by getting more people introduced to the outdoors and adventure.

November 19, 2022 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

Venkatrao Alaparthi Loses 20kg With Guidance From His GOQii Coach

While earning a good livelihood is important, is it taking more life out of living? Long working hours, being seated most of the time with no physical activity and bad eating habits can take a toll on your health over a period of time. If this sounds relatable, you might have a lot in common with our Player Venkatrao Alaparthi.

Successful But Sedentary

Venkatrao Alaparthi, 46, is a Food Science Specialist having studied Dairy Science, and is currently working with Amul in Gujarat. Due to the nature of his work, he remains seated before his desk for long hours. For most of his work life, he has been sedentary without any exercise regime or proper eating habits.

As he wasn’t doing any regular exercise, the bare minimum being when he walked from his home to the factory, it led to severe weight gain. “I was consistently inconsistent in pursuing a health regime. I had no medical condition or medical issues but, I was obese due to a sedentary lifestyle and irregular patterns of eating,” says Venkatrao. As he is from South India, 90% of his diet consisted of carbs.

His work also involved touring. On one of his tours with his colleagues, Venkatrao Alaparthi realised how unfit he was as he couldn’t walk much. “I was sad that I was obese,” he says. As he was tired all the time, he couldn’t enjoy the visit as much. His 8 year old daughter pointed out saying, “you have a huge stomach” and his wife also told him how inconsistent he was while trying to lose weight on his own.

“My wife has been getting me to take care of my health for the last 10 years, and I have been inconsistent in being able to maintain a good lifestyle and my health,” says Venkatrao.

Due to all these factors, he decided that he would have to do something about his health. While researching the best way to lead a healthy lifestyle, he came across a GOQii Ad on social media. “GOQii & Fit India were my motivation to lead a healthy life. I decided to get the band and try it out,” he said.

Making Healthier Choices To Lose Weight

Venkatrao Alaparthi joined GOQii on Jan 30, 2022. He set his goal to lose weight. At the time, he weighed 91kg. After their initial conversation, GOQii Coach Parul Massey realised that he didn’t have any severe medical conditions and was only obese. She deemed that they had to work on weight loss slowly, in a healthier manner.

“I asked him to start with 30 minutes of normal morning walk, reduce portions of rice from his daily diet and replace it with a protein-rich diet, jeera and lemon water on an empty stomach. He started following these habits daily,” says Coach Parul Massey

During the first week, Venkatrao Alaparthi found it difficult to walk for 30 minutes even at normal pace. But, he did not lose hope and continued doing it by slowly increasing his time to 45 mins after 10 days. In a month’s time, he began noticing some difference.

His diet had changed to include lots of proteins and vegetables for fibre. He also began including eggs, sprouts, and flax seeds, etc to his breakfast. In the second month of coaching, Coach Parul added a few more habits such as having nuts and seeds.

Did These Changes Pay Off?

After 2 months of following these minor tweaks in habits and changing his lifestyle, he lost 5kg. After months of making changes and following the course set by his GOQii Coach Parul Massey, Venkatrao Alaparthi lost 20kg. He is quite fit and active now. He even had to change his wardrobe due to his successful weight loss journey.

Currently, he clocks in over 20k steps daily. “I could not walk 3km and today, I can easily do 10km,” says Venkatrao Alaparthi. Apart from walking, he also plays badminton 3 times a week. For yoga and strength training, he subscribes to GOQii PRO classes within the GOQii App.

His wife and his daughter are quite happy with the change he has made to his lifestyle and the weight he has lost. His wife says, “I am happy that you are more consistent now”. Venkatrao Alaparthi has been an Elite GOQii Player for 272 days and is among the top 6% of active players. He is still going strong with an active subscription, consistent changes, and guidance from his coach, Parul Massey.

Do you want to make a lifestyle change and reduce weight too? Speak to a GOQii Coach by subscribing to Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads.

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October 22, 2022 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

The Art Of Reducing Medication & Getting Healthy With GOQii

If you speak to anyone who has lost weight the right way and maintains their health, you’ll begin to understand that it is an art that requires patience, dedication and consistency. Without these, your health will spiral downwards. Our Player Hema Sangani realised this as she took the decision to get healthy with GOQii. Here’s how Hema Sangani painted her Health Story.

Lifestyle and Women’s Health Issues

A dentist by profession and an artist by passion, Hema Sangani is 52 years old and resides in Bhavnagar. As a dentist, her routine can be quite hectic and over the course of time, long working hours left her with no time for physical activity.

She also drank copious amounts of tea on a daily basis and that, coupled with some other habits led to her developing medical issues which included acidity, hypothyroid and women’s health issues. At the age of 44, due to an Ovary Cyst, she had to undergo hysterectomy to avoid malignancy.

She also gained a lot of weight and weighed around 75kg with lots of fat around her tummy and thighs. With all these issues, her only option was medication. She was on medication for Thyroid and Acidity – taking as many as two antacids a day.

Her husband was aware of the issues faced by Hema and figured that there might be a better way to maintain good health and manage the condition without popping pills. After a fair amount of research, he came across GOQii and gifted it to her.

Making Lifestyle Changes & Reducing Medication

Upon joining GOQii, Hema Sangani’s 3 primary goals were to:

Reduce weight
Reduce acidity levels and the antacid medication
Control thyroid medication

She was assigned to Coach Parul Massey who understood Hema’s needs and worked out a plan to achieve her goals slowly. “We started this journey by setting the goal of reducing acidity by including buttermilk in meals and reducing the quantity of tea consumed during the day,” says Coach Parul. Slowly, Hema reduced her dependence on tea.

Along with some changes in nutrition and diet, Hema also got motivated to join GOQii PRO classes within the GOQii App. She began joining these live sessions by experts for basic workouts in the morning. The one-on-one guidance during these sessions helped her get more active than before. She also began meditation to reduce stress levels. Now, she regularly attends GOQii PRO classes in the morning.

To know how Hema Sangani painted her Health Story, get the complete picture by watching this episode of GOQii Health Stories where she speaks to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal:

What Changes Did Hema Sangani Experience?

After making several lifestyle changes by eating right, on time, exercising regularly and meditating, Hema Sangani was able to reduce her medications. After 3 months of joining GOQii, her acidity medication reduced to one tablet and she reduced the medication for her thyroid issue as well. She also witnessed an inch loss.

“I love GOQii and I keep telling my husband that It’s one of the best gifts that he has given me till date,” says Hema. She has been a GOQii Elite Player for about 204 days till 17th October, 2022.

Hema continues to paint her Health Story but what about you? Do you want to make a positive lifestyle change and manage health conditions the right way? Speak to an expert by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads.

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August 27, 2022 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

Yogesh Shah Manages Multiple Illnesses & Gets Healthy With GOQii

Often, managing just one condition can be an insurmountable task. Imagine working your whole life, while your physical, mental and emotional health just spiral downward, while the number of pills you take keep increasing. Our Player Yogesh Shah was in such a predicament where he was dealing with multiple illnesses but managed to overcome them with help from his GOQii Coach Deepali Sharma. Here’s how Yogesh Shah wrote his own Health Story.

Dealing With Multiple Illnesses

Based in Ahmedabad’s Mani Nagar, Yogesh Shah is a 63 year old retired Government Employee. He said that he had a hectic schedule. “There were times when I would work from 7am to 11pm, never even having the sun’s rays hitting my body for years,” he said.

Erratic work hours led to bad eating habits, disturbed sleep and high levels of acidity as he consumed a lot of tea. Yogesh Shah told us that this was his routine for 36 years of his work life. While he was extremely dedicated and diligent towards his work, it took a toll on his health. He suffered from multiple issues which included weight gain, diabetes, hypertension, disturbed lipid profile, chronic stress, bipolar disorder, gastric trouble, anxiety (8-10 attacks a month), palpitations and cervical pain due to a surgery he had 4 years back.

Till 2021, he used to pop 18 tablets daily. Around Dec 2020, he was consuming 26 tablets which included medication for COVID. Despite the issues, he was positive and did not let his conditions damper his way of life.

“I realized I was not doing the right things and that this was taking a toll on my health but, I did not do anything about it,” says Yogesh Shah. The health issues started around 1992 and aggravated in 10 years. His family was worried and felt helpless about not knowing what they could do to help him.

Making A Positive Shift

He wanted to get better, reduce weight and control his illnesses but was not sure how to go about it. Then, just before retirement, he got to know about GOQii from two young women in his office. They motivated him to go for it. Yogesh Shah purchased GOQII from Amazon in Oct 2021. Initially, he found it difficult to decipher and understand GOQii but, slowly and steadily he was able to understand how the platform works.

He followed all the instructions given to him by his Coach Deepali Sharma. She introduced small changes which had a big impact. Over the course of time, he has been able to improve his health and control his illnesses. He says, “Initially I could not understand my coach but then slowly, I started understanding. Some of the changes she brought about made quite a difference.”

His daily routine begins with praying, then gardening in his little kitchen garden. He follows this up with morning meditation for which he follows Coach Rounak Gajjar on GOQii Play. He also follows Coach Sheetal Tewari and Coack Bhumika Unniyal for yoga, meditation and pranayama.

Currently, he walks about 15km on most days whereas before, he would feel breathless even after 1km. On the International Day of Yoga on June 21, he walked 21km. He says that he now wants to participate in the GOQii Trail Challenge 2022.

“Coach Deepali has given me a lot of habits and I follow them religiously. Hence, I have been able to make a change!” he says.

What Are The Results Of Yogesh Shah’s Efforts?

“Nothing will work unless you do. You need to work hard to achieve your goal. This is something which my Player Yogesh Shah has proven with flying colours,” says Coach Deepali Sharma. “Initially, he had multiple issues like weight gain, uncontrolled sugar levels, disturbed lipid profile, chronic stress, bipolar disorder, gastric trouble, anxiety and palpitations.

He used to feel tired after a kilometer walk and now, he is on 21km, which is equivalent to a half marathon. His HbA1c came down from 8% to 6% with almost controlled Fasting blood sugar. Episodes of anxiety dropped drastically from 10-12 episodes to almost nil now. Symptoms like shivering, headache, restlessness are completely out of our book, which were quite prominent before,” she says.

“It’s not stress that kills us but it is our reaction to it and Mr. Yogesh was outstanding in cultivating that positivity with intrinsic motivation. Stress was affecting his sleep a lot. With hard work and determination, he is now out of his anxiety medicines. We worked on setting a sleep-wake cycle as well and relaxation exercises also helped us a lot. I have seen an incredible improvement in his sleep from 2-3 hrs to an average of 5-6 hrs as of now. He is a person with a clear vision and that’s the reason we lost good weight. He is 71.25kg (latest) which was 82 kg when we started. This was achieved by keeping post sunset meals light, adding healthy snacks and carb control,” says Coach Deepali Sharma.

As of now, Yogesh Shah’s medication has been reduced to 13 pills. You can view Yogesh’s entire journey as he speaks to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal on an episode of GOQii Health Stories.

Do you suffer from similar conditions? Did this story inspire you to make a lifestyle change? Then reach out to a GOQii Coach and subscribe for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring Health Stories, check out Healthy Reads.

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August 24, 2022 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

8 Basic Monsoon Trekking Essentials You Will Need For Your Next Climb

The weather has been great and if you’re thinking about venturing outdoors for a little hike or trek in the lap of nature, it might be a good time to get to it! Whether you’re a seasoned trekker or if this is one of your first few treks, we all need a checklist before we make the climb. So what monsoon trekking essentials will you need? Let’s go over them!

Monsoon Trekking Essentials You Will Need

Windcheater/Poncho: This accessory makes it to the top of the list for a reason. This is one of the trekking essentials you will need if you’re planning a trek during the monsoon. With the rain being unpredictable, it is imperative to keep yourself and your belongings as dry as possible. A basic poncho is a must have! Additionally, also carry a bag cover for your backpack so that all your trekking essentials are safe!
Trekking or Hiking Boots: When trekking during the monsoon, having a firm grip is everything because the terrain gets slippery and you might get severely injured if you’re not careful! Invest in a good pair of trekking or hiking boots that are sturdy enough. Practice with them on flat as well as uneven surfaces, so you break into them before your next climb.
Water Bottle or Hydra Pack: Staying hydrated on your journey is a must. You need to keep replenishing all the fluids you lose when you make a climb. Carry a minimum of 2L of water in a bottle or a hydra pack and remember to sip slowly and not gulp.
Healthy Snacks: Trekking can be a strenuous activity and your body needs fuel to perform that activity. To keep going, carry a nutritious trail mix or protein bars that will energize you along the way. You can also carry some healthy cookies!
The Right Clothes: Carry a Dri-Fit t-shirt or a full sleeved shirt. It will help absorb the sweat quicker and keep you dry. Moreso, wearing full sleeves along with trekking pants (avoid shorts) will save you from getting scratched against shrubs and bushes along the trail. Make sure you also carry a towel, an extra pair of clothes and socks in case you get wet.
Ziplock: There’s no harm in carrying gadgets you need on a trek but you must have a ziplock to keep them safe! Carry one where you can store your phone, electronics such as a portable charger and even your wallet to protect it from unexpected rainfall.
First Aid Kit: As much as we may try to avoid them, injuries might happen. Even if it is a small cut along the way. Always carry a first aid kit with cotton, bandage and a disinfectant. Make sure that a hand sanitizer is also a part of your first aid kit because hygiene comes first!
Power bank: You don’t want your phone’s battery running low during an emergency. Keep a power bank handy to ensure that your phone is charged just as much as you are!

There you have it! Carry these basic monsoon trekking essentials and you’re good to go! If you’re a beginner and new to trekking, you should also check out our previous article where we covered the Top 10 Basic Trekking Tips For Beginners.

We hope this article helps you. Do share your thoughts in the comments below! If you need any help to train or build your stamina for a trek, reach out to a GOQii Coach by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce