GOQii Editor, Author at GOQii

January 18, 2018 By GOQii Editor Leave a Comment

“Good health is easily accomplished by just learning to live healthy and fit”

2 years back

Renu_Scan1

As of Nov 2017

Like every other corporate professional, her excuse for not keeping fit and healthy was her busy schedule and family. She would go for a walk as and when she felt she had the time. It was clearly not a priority for her. Being a foodie she had no concept of portion controls. She ate to her heart’s content. The end result of all this Renu Rajani, 50, was 25 kgs on the heavier side along with low metabolism and thyroid. Her condition scared her to no end and she decided to take matters into her hand to rectify her habits and become healthy. One year of disciplined lifestyle change that included exercise, eating right and sleeping well has helped her shed over 12 kgs and she is still counting. Today, she walks 15-20 k steps on an average daily, apart from 45 minutes of Yoga every day. How has she been able to transform herself? Let’s hear Renu’s story in her own words

Until mid-2016, I used to pride myself with my busy schedule, international travels and when it came to my weight gains, justified it for lack of time, about being busy with growing children and time needed at home beyond my job. Also, being a foodie, I enjoyed the richness of food, at home as well as outside. I never believed in the concept of portions control. All my New Year resolutions were short-lived. Also, amount of catching up on work late in the evening made it just impossible to wake up the next morning for a fitness routine.

My idea of fitness was just about an easy walk if I found the time. During the last 10 years, I was introduced to Fitbit and walkathons by my organizations, but I could not discipline myself. I had stopped swimming due to lack of time and I had stopped using bicycle some 15 years back. Over the last 10 years, my sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle had got me to acquire thyroid and I had to go on routine thyroid dosage. Doctors gave varied advice, some who took a view that since I had thyroid and started on medication, it should reduce my weight with some exercise. Some were of the view that given low metabolism with thyroid, it was difficult to reduce weight. I was then 25 kgs overweight.

It was difficult for me to take that 25 kgs and move around. I felt lethargy. Later in mid-2016, I started feeling stiffness in my knees, found it difficult to climb down stairs and felt swelling in my lower legs towards the evening. I found it difficult to drive back home from work. Initially, I thought it was temporary, but soon, it became a routine habit for me to come home and put my legs in the warm water to relax. My family and friends said I was ageing and that I should stop driving and have a driver. Not that I could not afford a driver, but I felt it would just make me more immobile and I would lose my freedom by restricting my activities.

I visited the doctor again and was suggested a full health examination. The examination revealed that apart from thyroid, I had borderline cholesterol, BP and Sugar. While I was thankful to god that I did not actually get into these health issues so deep, it was certainly a warning sign for me to rectify my lifestyle and in the process improve my health. I decided to accelerate my fitness journey as that was the only way to be healthy.

Soon my quest to my fitness journey started. I began with a regular walk every morning. In the process, I came across a group that performed Yoga and Pranayama in my neighbourhood. Doing Yoga at 6 am in morning meant I wake up at 5 am and walk/carry out my warm-ups. I took this seriously and had shed some 6 kgs with regular walk and yoga in about 4 months. I started to change my lifestyle influenced by my Yoga group. I started drinking water in the morning before warm-up, started carrying food from home to office, started to ensure, I slept on time to wake up for my fitness pursuits.

In the midst of my fitness journey, one day I came across GOQii in my office. It was being offered as a trial to all VPs in my organisation. I got one as well. Unlike other times where I have been introduced to a program and, I chose to not be active, this time around I took it very seriously. I thoroughly understood what GOQii does. I had an introductory call from my coach to set up goals for myself. I liked the discipline and methodical approach of GOQii. Some of my peers who were introduced to the same program used to joke about coach chasing them up for an appointment. But, having gone through a disease scare, I felt this was important and being pushed by a coach was needed. In fact, it’s the discipline and the routine set by my coach that helped me shed another 6 kgs within 6 months.

Although, I started slow. My initial goals were very basic – drink 3-litre water daily, walk 5000 steps a day, have minimum 6 hours of sleep, have smaller portions of meals more frequently (I started to have 5 smaller meals, rather than 3 big meals). I tried some simple changes – walk/cycle rather than using the car for short distances, climbing steps rather than taking the elevator, perform regular stretches to increase my activity levels. I started recording my Yoga sessions to be able to continue with Yoga during my official travels outside of Bengaluru. Food for me during international travels remained a challenge. Each time I travelled overseas, I came back with 1 Kg added in 2 weeks trip.

GOQii coaches are well trained and I have been lucky to always get a good coach. I have been a unique case of having had 7 coaches in a span of a year. 3 coaches went on long leave and each time I felt very sad about losing a good coach. On the positive note though, having the wisdom of more coaches is valuable as well. While I found one of them too easy on me and hence wanted a more pushy coach, there were two of them who pushed me beyond my stamina. Although one of my goals was weight reduction, my first priority was to get fit. I realized despite my trying, body did not cooperate. I chose to ask for a coach who would have coached age group of 40-50 women. I then found the right coach as per my needs and goals set. I am happy with my current coach Pooja Rao now.

I feel very good about myself now. My coach has slowly made me realize that I could have the right nutrition I need and could have a balanced meal with low carbohydrates. She regularly looks at my logs, suggests me any changes to food if required, has advised me on sleep, water, exercises, nutrition, etc. I feel motivated to continue trying various activities.

Over the last year, I have reduced a total of 12 kgs. Apart from my step count, Yoga/meditation and balanced food, I have been an active cyclist. I had discontinued music many years back and got back to practising music now. A month back, I also joined Salsa to add a fun activity that can also contribute to fitness. I feel lighter and feel encouraged to try more activities. I have built my stamina over the last year. I walk 15-20k steps a day, apart from 45-60 minutes of Yoga every day.

3 months back I felt encouraged enough to start with high-intensity workouts. While my knees cooperated, I realised I needed 2 hours daytime sleep to cope with 30-45 minutes of high-intensity workout. I decided to take the advice of the GOQii doctor, who asked me to check on Vitamins B12, D3 levels as I felt fatigued.

Thanks to two consultations with GOQii doctor Viral Thakkar, which I found very helpful, I realized that I needed to first address my vitamin deficiency levels to be ready for more intensive workouts.

I am encouraged to see friends who have participated in marathons, given I am able to do 10-12 km fast walk, I am now feeling motivated to someday run a marathon. Given, I am an older age group and not an athlete in my early years, I am hoping will be able to make a beginning someday soon.

The best part of GOQii is that it not only gets you fit but also socially responsible. The karma points that we earn to be active can be donated to various causes listed on GOQii’s karma platform. To date, I have donated approximately 10000 Karma points (~1000 points earned every month based on my activity).

Health is wealth. In the busy lives that we lead, health keeps becoming a distant dream and ailments keep getting added. GOQii is leveraging simple tips combined with human connect from its coaches to help people be healthy. Good health is important and it is easily accomplished by making fitness a part of daily routine and learning to live healthily.

What does coach Pooja Rao think of her player Renu Rajani

Renu is a very focused and a determined player. Despite not having coached her from day one of she getting on to the platform, the one factor I realized about her is that she is extremely hardworking and puts in a lot of efforts to achieve her goals.

The main challenge with Renu is that she has a lot of travelling in her schedule it may be domestic or international due to which being on track with her exercise and food is always a challenge, never the less she tries to make it up once she is back by setting new targets for herself.

The best thing about Renu is, she understands the portion control of her meal very well which is a challenge with all new players and once that is understood then controlling food becomes easy.

When it comes to exercise, she is open to trying out new things like cycling, yoga, HIIT, salsa-dancing and now new challenge is to participate in a Marathon.

Having a history of thyroid losing weight is always a bigger challenge and despite her lifestyle, she has still managed to drop 10 kg by working twice as hard as a normal individual.

At 50, she epitomizes the adage- “It’s never too late to begin “ completely.

December 14, 2017 By GOQii Editor Leave a Comment

“All it takes is to make small changes to achieve a healthy lifestyle”

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He was a late riser as he slept very late at night. However, he tried to remain active through the day, little did he know all that he was doing was wrong. He consumed little water, ate a lot three times a day. He weighed between 74-79 KG over 8 years and his waist was 36 inches. He had nothing to feel proud of his existence. He tried multiple options of getting fit and losing weight the right way but nothing worked. And, then a miracle happened 6 months ago which helped him move, eat right and sleep well and today he is 12 kgs less, runs marathons and feels completely happy and content with himself. Let’s here Vishal Choudhary’s story of transformation in his own words

I started my journey with GOQii in the month of June. At first, I was reluctant to buy the same as I was not sure if this will help me in any way. My life prior to GOQii was haywire with wrong sleep and eating habits. I would sleep late and wake up late and hence eat breakfast at 10 am followed by a heavy lunch and heavy dinner late at night. I would wait till I got hungry and then eat like there was no tomorrow. My water consumption was low at just 1 litre per day. I was 10 KG overweight at 78 kgs and was like that for 8 years or more. My waist size was 36. I use to feel happy wearing a 32 size (Lycra Jeans) thinking that my waist is still 32. I stopped wearing my favourite round neck t-shirt only because either it was loose on the shoulder or tight on the stomach.

I wanted to change myself and get healthy and fit but, did not know how to go about it. I tried multiple things like going to a gym, engaging in some kind of activity but nothing seemed to work for me. I remember my wife Deepika and me would sit together and prepare a plan for myself on what to eat and what not to, what activity should

I do and what not but, somehow, somewhere something was missing. I feel that somewhere something was missing. I would keep changing my routine and try all sorts of things. If one plan did not work I would shift to another.

For sure I knew I was not a lazy person but, I was doing something wrong which is why I was the way I was. Despite, indulging in activities my weight was the same. I did not understand what was going wrong and I had nobody to guide me on my health and fitness.

I got to know of GOQii from my colleague who was wearing one. He told me about the personal coach feature along with the band that tracks your activity and sleep. The feature of coach attracted me to GOQii and I decided to give it a shot. I selected Dimple as my coach and started using the device.

I use to get regular updates from the coach on what to eat and what not to. I also liked GOQii’s app features and how the coach can discuss with you on chat through your regular updates on the app.

After using the GOQii features sincerely for 2 months I personally started feeling the changes within me. Though there was not much difference in the weight but because of eating right and regular exercise, I started feeling better and energetic than before. I even convinced few of my friends to buy GOQii and get on the platform and we started having competitions among ourselves on step counts and what we are eating and what we are not.

After 4 months on GOQii, I enrolled myself for my first short run of 5 km and am I glad to say that there has been no looking back since that first run. I think this has been possible only because of the right guidance from my coach. The moment I realized there is someone to watch over you and guide you, I knew I wanted to be on GOQii platform. Personal coaching is one of the best things about GOQii. Before, I started chatting with my coach Dimple, I thought my food intake and whatever activity I was indulging in is good enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle but, after having a discussion with her I realized how small things matter a lot to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

In term of activity, she set up a goal to achieve 10K steps count every day. Best thing I liked about my coach is that she did not ask me to take up anything new. After knowing my interest in Tennis she asked me to pursue the same. Along with activity, she helped me understand the benefit of water and food intake.

Some of the things that I learnt from my coach

* Importance of snacks before activity

* Importance of having food within half an hour of completing the activity.

* Importance of water intake, Food intake and timing of the same

* Importance of running

* Importance of salad

After going through my daily routine Dimple made few changes in my meal pattern. We sat together and prepared a meal chart. I started following Dimple’s advice sincerely and slowly and steadily introduced changes in my daily routine. After few months even though there was not much difference in the weight, I somehow felt good from within. Above all, my coach kept me motivated through this period of my healthy transformation.

Today, I feel great about myself. I am 12 kgs lighter now. Now the number of selfies has increased from none to too many. Compliments are pouring in. I have motivated 10-12 of my friends to take the healthy path and they are also now a member of GOQii.

We are a group of friends and we try to have a healthy competition among ourselves. Some of my colleagues wanted a lifestyle change and I suggested GOQii to them and without explaining anything they blindly became the member of GOQii by saying I have seen changes in you and that is more than enough for me. Feels great, I remember seeing one of my colleague participating in the marathon and I thought to myself if he can do it why can’t I?

I ran my first 5k marathon 4 months after joining GOQii and slowly shifted to running 10km. It’s been more than a year with GOQii and as of today, I have run more than 12 marathons (two 5km and ten 10KM) with the best time of 1hr3min.

Last two marathon I ran non-stop. Done couple of 50km cycling and recently completed 100KM cyclathon and completed the same in 6 hr 55min. Also, because of the fitness and stamina, I was able to win both Singles and Doubles in Tennis tournament organized by the academy where I was practising. Recently I have been introduced to badminton and gradually doing great in that as well.

Last but, not the least I am also doing well for the society as I keep myself healthy. I donate my karma points earned to a good cause that is registered on the GOQii app. The concept of earning Karma points is a win-win for both the user as well as the charity. The more steps you do to keep yourself healthy, the more points you earn.

Coach Dimple’s Comments

When I had my first interaction with Vishal Choudhary. He mentioned he was looking for a weight loss journey as he was 10kgs overweight. He had tried everything but was finding it difficult to reduce. He had some really good health goals in mind to achieve but no right direction and he just needed that right push to achieve them. We decided to take small baby steps first to get to achieve his health goals. I explained to him why it was important to achieve those health goals and how we could work together towards achieving these…!

I initially set small goals for him such as increasing the fibre intake in the form of salads and fruits which help us to decrease the body fat combined with small walks. He took some time to regularize his daily routine but, yes he did it really well and his interests started showing up in the different form of exercises like long hours of walk, going for cycling and finally he started participating in short runs. This was one of the best things that had happened to him. Every run gives him different energy and makes him ready for the next challenge. I clearly remember his first run was a 5km one and slowly he has graduated to 10 km and participates in every single run that happens near the vicinity of his residence. The best thing about Vishal is, he never says ‘NO’ to ‘ANYTHING’ even when I decided to add an extra modification to his routine in terms of food or targets. He took up the challenge and decided not to put a full stop and keep at it.

I brought about dietary changes wherein I introduced him to the concept of pre and post workout meals, some healthy mid meals evening snack choices, different seeds benefits, apple cider vinegar, good protein and he has learned to keep the dinner meal light. Sometimes he does have a cheat meal day. With these wondrous dietary changes along with regular workout routine, there was no doubt that he could not reach his goals. Although his weight reduction took a while slowly and steadily that improved as well in a couple of months’ time. When that started happening automatically there was belly fat loss and finally, he lost all those extra fats from his body and he’s still motivated and working on his goals in a perfect way…!. He kept feeling better each day.

I only told him, “Do not wait until you’ve reached your goal to be proud of yourself. Be proud of every step you take toward reaching that goal.” Vishal proved this with his hard work

December 8, 2017 By GOQii Editor Leave a Comment

Let our family take care of yours

Rajnish and family

Introduces Health Food delivery, Online Pharmacy, Gym Partnerships, Genetic Testing, and Rewards program.

Rajnish and Reena Kansal, both in their mid-forties are a happy couple with two happy kids. They are a fit family that believes in healthy eating and being active daily to lead a happy life together. As a family, they exercise together and bond well. Based on this true experience and learning, GOQii has now introduced GOQii Family Care, a one-stop solution for all health concerns of your family. This new offering is part of GOQii’s Smart Preventive Health Care platform 3.0 ecosystem.

Preventive care services to maintain your health and prevent disease for you and your family is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy. GOQii family care is GOQii’s commitment to encouraging players as well as their family to make a permanent shift towards a healthier lifestyle. GOQii Family care connects, tracks and takes care of the family’s health with consultations by GOQii care team consisting of GOQii Coach, GOQii Doctors and GOQii health experts.

Family (2)

December 7th, 2017, marked a milestone in GOQii’s 3 year journey where the company apart from the Family health care plans also launched a suite of new offerings for its esteemed players in the area of gaming, e-marketplace, rewards and cash points and a sleek new slimmer tracker that will be available to all existing GOQii users at the beginning of 2018. These services will be available in India and will roll out to other countries through 2018.

The launch celebrations took place in Mumbai in the presence of the entire GOQii family that included GOQii staffers, coaches, players, partners and media among others. Many travelled from as far as Nadurbar and Lucknow to be a part of this celebrations.

let’s take a peek at the new offerings

Games4Good: Cognitive abilities can be maintained or improved by exercising the brain, the same way physical fitness is improved by exercising the body. GOQii Games4Good is a series of puzzle-based cognitive games built into the GOQii app that helps players exercise their mind and prevent brain disorders and improve their memory, cognitive powers and overall mental health.

GOQii Health Store: Is a GOQii curated health marketplace with a suit of a wide variety of products and services catering to individual’s needs and preferences. GOQii has entered into one of the most comprehensive strategic partnerships with various companies in the health and fitness categories such as healthy snacks, health food delivery brands, health supplements, online pharmacy, diagnostics, genetic testing, gym, and accessories. With these collaborations, GOQii is looking to provide its players with the convenience of getting customized products and services delivered to their home or office.

GOQii Cash: Rewards Program: Health is Wealth. To motivate its players to live a healthy lifestyle, GOQii will reward them with GOQii Cash- a virtual currency system for indulging in different activities such as completing daily targets, taking a doctor or expert consultation, uploading medical records, taking HRA (Health Risk Assessment) etc. GOQii is encouraging its players to be healthy and in return get wealthy. GOQii Cash can be used for redeeming various health products listed in GOQii store. Lastly, players can also use GOQii Cash to purchase various services and product in the GOQii Health marketplace.

GOQii 3.0, a slimmer and sleeker design tracker: GOQii will ring in the New Year with the launch of GOQii 3.0 tracker. The new tracker will be sleeker, slimmer with a multi-touch colour display with themes to suit one’s style and attire. The V3 tracker will also come with a new sensor with heart rate variability (HRV) and Presence Plus, a networking feature that GOQii launched at the recently concluded GES conference in Hyderabad. The new tracker will be available from January 2018. Existing GOQii players can upgrade to GOQii 3.0 tracker for an additional fee.

Pricing: GOQii Family health plans will start at Rs.1999/- onwards and portion of this will also be eligible for Tax Savings under Section 80D

November 26, 2017 By GOQii Editor 1 Comment

Let your skin glow this winter

winter-skincare1

It’s winter and you are increasingly worried about your skin? here are 8 tips to keep your skin healthy

Nobody likes their skin feeling and looking tight, dry and flaky. And, Winter does create these problems for the skin. Cold air, harsh winds and pumped-up indoor heat can increase facial tissue sensitivity and leave the skin.dry.

Human skin has multiple layers of ectodermal tissues and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and internal organs. It’s the largest organ in the human body.

Here are some tips which you can help you keep your skin as beautiful as they are and make it even better!!

HYDRATE: It would be a great idea to make sure that you have lots and lots of water to keep your cells alive. It indirectly will affect your skin to keep it amazingly glowing.
MOISTURIZE: Use the right moisturizer for your skin type and an oil-free skin serum underneath for additional hydration. For already dry skin using moisturizer with ingredients such as safflower oil, soyabean oil, sweet almond oil, carrot oil, shea butter, or evening primrose oil on a regular basis will help in correcting the lack of oil and hydration deep within the skin thus repairing it well to give you a moist, supple and smooth skin. Make sure that you moisturize your skin every often by applying good amount of oil like Coconut oil, Olive Oil, Mustard Oil, it can be applied even 10 or 15mins before bathing.
COVER UP: Avoid prolonged exposure to cold air, wear hat, scarfs, and gloves for your hands to avoid them. Slipping on a cotton glove over a moisturized hand will help a lot.
EAT RIGHT: Add more of Omega 3 fatty acids, and foods full of mono-unsaturated fats, fish, nuts, olive oil, flax seeds, sardines and avocados
INCLUDE MORE VIT C: Indulge more in Vitamin C and green leafy vegetables, these can help boost your body’s collagen, a protein that maintains skin and other connective tissues.
HANDLE WITH CARE: To prevent chapping parched hands, use wipe-off, soap-free cleansers and alcohol-free hand sanitizers.
RIGHT CLOTHING: If your skin does get irritated, wear breathable soft fabrics, just as cotton, instead of polyester or itchy woollens. Less fitting clothes will also prevent your skin from irritation due to perspiration and chaff.
Lastly, winter also brings with its reduction in the amount of sun exposure which is not good as sunlight is very important not only for the skin but for the whole body as well to produce Vitamin D and get enough calcium that way. So take enough of Vitamin D.