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November 23, 2019 By GOQii 1 Comment

How Mr. Nageswaran Won Rs. 5 Lakh in the India Health Quiz

In a world plagued by fake health news and articles spread via the internet, the India Health Quiz launched by GOQii sought to educate the masses with the correct information in a quiz format which tested their knowledge. The idea was to bust myths and fake health news by getting the correct information from experts via GOQii Play and use that knowledge to play the quiz. Players could accumulate points and exchange them for prizes such as GOQii Trackers, Bags, Cell phones and a grand prize of Rs. 5 lakh which was bagged by Mr. Nageswaran!

With so much of competition, difficult questions and obstacles, how did Mr. Nageswaran manage to claim the grand prize? Let’s find out!

What Motivated Mr. Nageswaran?

Being a GOQii Player for about 3 years, Mr. Nageswaran has been quite active on the GOQii App. When the India Health Quiz was announced, he got curious! He knew he wanted to participate. Furthermore, he wanted to increase his awareness about various things related to fitness and nutrition. This was the right platform for him to do that!

Vying For 1st Place!

If you’re wondering, “Did he have a strategy?” He didn’t plan anything. He just went out and played the quizzes with the aim of getting as many correct answers as possible in a collective effort with his wife. His initial thought was that he just wanted to play and see how far he can reach.

As the days progressed, he used to go back to previous quizzes and sharpen his knowledge. He found that some of the past questions had some relevance to the current ones. Towards the end, he knew almost all the answers without even looking at the options.

One of the boons he had by his side was that he never ran out of keys. How? Mr. Nageswaran is a regular at the GOQii Health Store. He says that most of his groceries come from the GOQii Health Store. In fact, he purchased some product or the other every day. This helped him accumulate keys and use them to participate in the IHQ.

As for lives, he had only managed to invite 50 friends. He had retained this number till the last 10 days of IHQ. Towards the end, he referred more people and got his count up to 90. As a matter of fact, he did not need too many lives at later stages as he knew the answers to most questions. He was left with as many as 2000 lives!

Overcoming Obstacles and Glitches

At the start of IHQ, Mr. Nageswaran face a few technical glitches which reduced as the quiz progressed. He particularly points out that the technical team were always eager to help him with any issue he faced. Despite having faced glitches, he is of the opinion that an online quiz of such magnitude is bound to have glitches. Apart from this, he feels the questions were quite simple except a few technical ones which were very hard to figure out.

His Thoughts on the India Health Quiz

Mr. Nageswaran says it was a commendable effort on the part of GOQii to think of a unique and interesting way to impart knowledge to its users. He feels some of the concepts about health and nutrition might have gotten etched in the minds of users who played these quizzes regularly. For instance, he would have never known the food sources of various vitamins and minerals if it weren’t for the quiz.

He feels what started as a casual thing, later on became an addiction. He and his wife used to even participate in the quiz while working and trying their best not to miss any quiz. He feels it was definitely a success story for GOQii and a great learning experience for him.

All we can say now is Congratulations to Mr. Nageswaran and a big thank you to everyone who participated! Keep your eyes peeled for the next challenge!

#BeTheForce

November 16, 2019 By GOQii Leave a Comment

Dinesh’s Ultimate Trick to Completing the GOQii Trail Challenge

(L-R) Vishal Gondal, Vandit Panvelkar, Dinesh Thakur after completing the GOQii Trail Challenge

From everything you have heard about the GOQii Trail Challenge, you’re aware that it puts your limits to the test. The endurance event challenges you, shapes you, breaks you and after each step closer to the finish line, it transforms you with an overwhelming sense of joy of having completed the arduous trail! While GTC is not a race, you can’t deny a human’s ambition to fight against all odds, battle time and fatigue and still hold the desire to win. Does completing a 50km trail that snakes through rough terrain within 8 hours seem impossible? Our very own Dinesh Thakur was able to do this after starting 30 minutes late! How did he do it?

Who Is Dinesh Thakur?

Dinesh Thakur has been a part of GOQii since 2014, working in the Logistics Department. He is 31 years of age and lives with his parents in Mumbai. Before the GOQii Trail Challenge, he didn’t have anything specific that he was looking forward to. He just wanted to experience the trail, enjoy nature and get his mind off everything – much like most of us today.

Apart from playing cricket with his colleagues on a daily basis, he wasn’t into any specific activity. He enjoyed it as it helped him alleviate a lot of stress. When the GTC was announced, he decided to walk a total of 7km from his home to the office and back home every day in order to get used to walking. To achieve this, he even locked his bike in the garage, not using it at all.

Unfolding Destiny

During the trail, Dinesh Thakur was not meant to be a participant despite the fact that he trained for it. He was at the venue as a part of the support team. His participation wasn’t planned although he wished to test himself against the trail before him. When the other participants embarked on the trail, he couldn’t just stand there. The will to achieve sparked within him and he incessantly convinced his manager to let him walk too.

Who’d deny a man’s passion? His manager gave him the signal and Dinesh rushed the trail 30 minutes after the other participants. For someone who wanted to reach the finish line first, this was a clear disadvantage. However, it did not deter him and he decided to compensate for his lost time by not taking any breaks throughout the entire trail.

Grit, Guts and Broken Shoes

At this point, Dinesh’s only strategy was to keep walking until he reaches the finish line. He wasn’t geared enough as he didn’t carry a proper pair of shoes as he was only going to volunteer. In fact, he didn’t even carry a bottle of water. He got one at the first checkpoint.

As he reached Checkpoint 3, the sole of his shoes gave way. He had to tie it with a string so that it wouldn’t come apart. Using his wits, he decided to take his shoes off and walk in just socks on flat terrains, saving the shoes for rocky and difficult patches. By the time he reached Checkpoint 4, he was exhausted. He had to request support for an energy bar to fuel him.

With that being his fuel, Dinesh raced on when he came face to face with his competition – another participant who was vying for first place. Dinesh and his competition were neck-to-neck as they inched towards the finish line. His supposed opponent, a little ahead, tried his best to block Dinesh on a narrow path. This continued for quite some time. When they came close to the finish line, Dinesh decided it was all or nothing and gave his opponent a shock by coming from behind, jumping over a bush and landing on the finish line ahead of him. With nothing but grit and guts, Dinesh was the first one to complete the trail in 8hours and 12 minutes.

Recounting the Experience

Dinesh praises the location chosen for the trail. He loved the fresh forest path, the water bodies which he encountered and the encouragement he received from the locals. He says it was a memorable experience and him finishing the trail before anyone was just a cherry on the proverbial cake. In his own words he says, “I never realised when I started and when I completed it. All I knew was that I had to keep walking.”

There are so many things one can take away from this story. Whether you’re ready or not, prepared or unprepared, at the end of it, it is your determination which counts and your willpower which pulls you through. That’s the real trick – your own determination and willpower!

We hope you’re excited for GOQii Trail Challenge 2019! We know we are ready to #BeTheForce!

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 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