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“I needed to be health conscious and not be on the sidelines of life”

Before & After-Natarjan

He works in the marketing department of a News Media organization and claims he has had a near sedentary lifestyle with spurts of fitness on and off. He weighed 88 kgs and was on the verge of being classified as overweight and also bordering on being diabetic. That’s when he realized he needed to be health conscious and not be on the sidelines of life….Here is Natarajan Viswanathan’s story in his own words.

I never had a fitness regime in my life. I would once in a while feel that I think I need to lose weight and I would spring into action following an exercise regime. I would remain focused, taking my resolution to lose weight seriously but soon lose interest and again go back to being laid back. I took up a gym membership for 3 years but barely hit the gym religiously, hardly making any difference to my weight or the fitness factor. Friends and family made fun of me for not being able to hold on to any fitness regime.

In December 2014, I went for a full body check-up. All the tests were normal but, I was told by the doctor that I was bordering on diabetes. I have a family history of diabetes. What the doctor said then scared me and that is when I got serious about reducing my weight and getting fit.

One evening we had a college reunion and there I got introduced to GOQii by a friend of mine. He explained how it works and what it can do for me. This discussion got me interested. But, he did have a word of caution when he said that just wearing it will not reduce your weight but one needs to make efforts to get active and reduce weight. Things just don’t happen.

Before: 

Pre-Diabetic:

  • Doctor advised reducing weight.
  • Had lost 14 kgs weight earlier but now weight had plateaued with no loss despite efforts.
  • Wants to walk 6 km per day

My journey with GOQii started in April 2015 and got Komilla Pareekh as my coach. They say that every journey needs motivation and direction. The band provided the much-needed motivation and the coach gave me the right direction. Many a time you want to do it but you either do not know how to go about it or you are plain lazy. I chose Komilla as my coach because she is a nutritionist and for my journey to a fitter life, I knew I should eat well and right.

When I got on to GOQii my health goal was to become fitter and reduce my weight. I wanted to fit into a pair of jeans I had got out of for a long long time.

I worked towards it along with my coach and am I glad to say that I have achieved my health goals. I have reduced considerably from 88 kgs I am down to 74 kgs.

My pre-diabetic condition is under control and I run 10 km now four days a week and my bigger goal is to run the Marathon in 2017.   

After:

  • Improved nutrition by focusing on high fibre, high protein and small frequent meals.
  • Introduced millets in the diet. Cut down fruits at night, added a salad to meals.
  • Worked on knees and back exercises.
  • Morning walks After Surpassed 6km goal. Starting jogging now. Weight loss and inch loss.

The good news is that I got into the pair of jeans that I wanted to get into for a long time.

Personally, how do I feel now? I feel fantastic. I have become more presentable. I never had confidence or communication issues but, I will not deny that now after having made these changes to life, my first impression in business meetings is good.

All these changes in me have also been noticed by my near and dear ones. I have been a great influencer to people around me and also got 4 others to register on GOQii.  I will certainly continue with GOQii and be motivated to be healthy and active.Another super initiative is the Karma point initiative. You can earn points and donate them to a cause you believe in. It gets you connected to your social quotient. So I have donated 4000 points to the education cause and for the Chennai floods. Great initiative. Keep it going.

What does Coach Komilla have to say about Natarajan?

When Natarajan joined GOQii, he had plateaued on his weight, despite having lost 14 kgs in past due to his will and determination. Being a borderline diabetic, he was advised by his doctor to lose a couple of more kgs to avoid medication. Also, he was nurturing a dream of walking 6 km in a single stance and to participate in a Marathon. The journey was not easy, but surelya challenging one full of hurdles- knee pain, back pain, time constraint, sweet craving, Mumbai rains …..but, he never lost the focus. Today, he runs not walks 10 km in a single stance and has lost weight and inches to settle on his healthy weight. The biggest strength of our relationshipand working was mutual trust and belief. Natarajan truthfully discussed all the challenges faced by him in working towards our goals and kept firm belief in his coach. That is the secret of our success!

 

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“I have worked really hard with my coach to achieve my health goals and in the process learnt a lot”

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He is based in Cochin and has been active at a very minimal level. Activity was restricted to doing just some warm up exercises. Until one day he realized he needs to get more active and regular with his physical exercises. Being active on a regular basis was the only way he could reduce his belly fat and overall weight. Here is Vipin Thrissur’s story in his own words …

I work in a broking firm and my job involves lots of travel. Due to this constant travelling, I could never focus on having a daily routine. I was under the impression that routines never work if you are going to be on the move constantly.

You name it and I had all the issues. I did warm up exercises but never had an exercise regime. The only thing I did in the name of the exercise was to climb stairs instead of taking the elevator. I also did not have enough water through the day, there was a lack of sleep leave alone having quality sleep and last I did not have proper nutrition.

Before:

  • Being a South Indian, his Rice intake was more
  • He also had a lot of red meat
  • Less activity only stair climbing to compensate

One day as I was browsing the net for a fitness tracker and reading about fitness and nutrition, pop came a message about GOQii. I got intrigued and started reading about GOQii and tried to learn as much about it through the net. Then I contacted GOQii and got to know more. I was fairly convinced and decided to try it out. It was in Oct 2014 that I got on to GOQii platform and I am glad that I am still continuing with GOQii and my coach Sneha.

My health goal when I got on to the platform was fat and weight reduction.  It’s been one and half years with GOQii and I must say I am thoroughly enjoying my journey with GOQii. In so many months as I have worked hard along with my coach to achieve my health goals I have also learnt a lot about nutrition, exercising, why sleep is important and what is quality sleep etc. One always took all these things for granted.

Have I achieved my health goals? Oh yes, I have.

After :

  • Reduced rice intake slowly but steadily
  • Now red meat is replaced with chicken & fish
  • Started the 7 min workout along with Stair climbing
  • Tummy has reduced and has been getting compliments from his newly wedded wife

From being a person with very minimal activity and more excuses now I do at least 8000 steps a day. My exercise routine is still not up to the mark but, I am working on it.

My water intake has improved. I drink 2 liters of water daily without fail. My nutrition has also improved drastically. My fast food intake has stopped and I have also stopped aerated drinks. Thanks to the constant motivation push from my coach I have been able to bring about all these changes. My belly fat has also reduced considerably but it keeps fluctuating because I am not able to exercise regularly. But we are working towards overcoming this. The other positives are also that I am into meditation and that is considerably helping in relieving stress.

Overall I am positive about GOQii and my coach experience. The best part is that I am also being able to do some good in the society. I have been a blood donor and every three months I regularly donate blood but now I am also able to donate my Karma points. So far I have donated 3000 points to various causes.

What does coach Sneha Chikhale have to say about Vipin?

It’s been more than a year now, Vipin is a part of GOQii family. His goal was nothing but to lose few kilos and stay healthy. He was not someone who had a past history of health issues but, has always pursued a goal of staying fit and shed few kilos. Our journey started on a regular note and it became interesting as we proceeded further.

As he hailed from the southern region of India, cutting down on rice was a big challenge for   him, being absolute rice eater to now moderate rice eater is one of the healthy lifestyle change we made in this ongoing journey which has also helped him lose fat. The inclusion of mid meals has also made an impact on his overall eating patterns.

There was a time, when he has lost a band and till the time he did not get a new one, we continued our coaching for a certain period without the band because he was totally motivated. Losing the band had not deterred him from losing his motivation.

The best aspects about Vipin is that he has been a very active GOQii player, who maintains a regular connect with me on the app. This kind of connection between the coach and the player is very important for achieving the health goals. We are currently working with his sleep and stress patterns. I am sure, that like the other goals, he will be achieving these as well!

 

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Salty Facts

Most of us are of the opinion is too much salt is not good for our health after all salt is nothing but Sodium Chloride. Salt is processed from salt mines or by the evaporation of seawater. Salt is also present in foodstuff like meats, vegetables, fruits in small quantity.

Salt is used for various purposes, the most common of which is adding flavour to foods. Salt is also used as a food preservative, because bacteria have trouble growing in a salt-rich environment.

It is added to processed foods like canned foods, salted foods, and pickled foods, snack foods where it functions as both a preservative and flavouring. The main sources of salt in the diet, apart from traces of sodium found in excess in foods such as breads, cereal products, meat products, and milk and dairy products like Cheese.  In addition, salt is also used as a preservative; texture aid, binder, colordeveloper, and for fermentation Control.

Health effects

Table salt 6 g serving (1 teaspoon) contains about 2,300 mg of sodium. Sodium serves a vital purpose in the human body

* It helps brain nerves and muscles to create electric impulses

* It balances fluid in cells

The World Health Organization recommends that all adults should consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium which is contained in 5 g of salt per day. Guidelines by the United States in 2010 recommended that people with hypertension should limit consumption to no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day.

The body has natural mechanism for storing water and ions (Na+) sodium and potassium ( K+ ) just as excess calories gets stored as fat in the body. Thus, it constantly maintains sodium level in cells.

Salt substitutes

Here are few salt substitutes specially to make food palatable for low salt meals.

Spices,herbs,ginger powder, lot of onion and garlic in cooking or garlic and onion powder,vinegars,lemon juice,Kokum,tamarind paste, mango powder, sour yogurt, dried thyme leaves,paprika,celery seeds, white pepper, dry mustard, dried lemon peel, ground black pepper etc. 

Types of Salt:

Salt while is one of the most important ingredients for cooking, not all salts are created equal and there are many types to choose from. We have Himalayan Pink Salt, Kosher Salt, Sea Salt to name a few and then we have the very old plain refined table salt. Not only do all these various salts differ in their taste and texture but, they also have differences in minerals and sodium content.

Let us take a look at the few of these salts and their benefits

  • Refined Salt (Regular Table Salt)

The most commonly used salt. It is highly refined to remove most of the impurities and trace minerals. It has 97% of sodium chloride or even higher. This type of salt is always added with Iodine.

  • Sea Salt

Sea salt is made by evaporating seawater. Like table salt, it is mostly just sodium chloride.However, it also has some traces of minerals such as potassium, iron and zinc depending on the place of harvesting and the way of processing.The darker the sea salt, the higher its concentration of impurities. Sea salt is often less ground than regular refined salt has a different taste than the regular table salt. It has a very potent “flavor burst” than refined salt.

  • Himalayan Pink Salt

Himalayan Pink salt contains traces of iron oxide which gives it the pink color.These salts are covered by lava and surrounded by ice hence remains untouched. These salts are also away from pollution. It does contain small amounts of calcium, iron, sulphate, potassium and magnesium, and slightly lower amounts of sodium than regular salt.

  • Kosher Salt

Kosher salt has a flaky structure that makes it easy to spread on top of your food. There is very little difference compared to regular salt and it has added iodine.

  • Epsom salt

It is also called as Magnesium sulphate salt which contains Magnesium, sulphur and Oxygen compounds. It is used both internally and externally. It is commonly used in bath salts and in beauty products. Internally it is used as saline laxative which is given intravenously.

The above mentioned salts can be replaced with your regular table salt for cooking for its various benefits that it has.

 

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With brave wings she flies: Celebrating Womanhood

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Ruta Satam

She is a symbol of indomitable courage and power and the most beautiful creation of human kind whose mere absence is the loss of fragrance of life, she is the one who bears, rears and nurtures the life of all.

Today, the day of March 8th we celebrate womanhood to mark the International Women’s Day also known as International Working Women’s Day across the world in order to focus the achievements and contributions of the women in the society.

This is not a new phenomenon. Since the 1900s we have been celebrating womanhood in order to bring about a positive change towards gender equality and demanding equal rights for woman. There are several inspiring stories about women in India who have transformed their lives from just being Home makers to Change makers.

Today, we take you through some of these inspiring stories of women who have made an immense contribution towards helping other people in the society.

Pratima Devi: For most she might come across as a mere rag picker but, Pratima Devi is more than just a rag picker. She is a foster mother to 300 stray dogs. She does not care even if she gets a meal to eat but, she makes sure that these dogs do not hungry. You seldom find such individuals who are ready to forgo their own meal for a dog. She has been applauded for her great work and was awarded the Godfrey Philips Bravery Award for Social Bravery.
Priti Patkar: One always looks down upon sex workers as if they are some kind of a disease. However, Priti Patkar thought differently. She considered them one amongst us and decided to help them. She started an NGO-Prerna that has been doing pioneering work in the red light area of Mumbai. Looking at the plight of the kids of these sex workers she started the world’s first-night care center for children of these women.
Kalavati Devi: Then you have Kalavati Devi, a local resident of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh who thought about Swach Bharat and stop of open defecation in villages way before the PM Narendra Modi started the’ Swach Bharat’ movement. This 50-year-old woman helped in building   toilets across all slums and lower income neighbourhoods in her city. She went from house-to-house speaking to families and conducted joint meetings with the community to convince them to back her plan. The result of her efforts has paid in the form of funds pouring and getting support from the municipal corporation to build 50 seat toilets for approximately 700 families across the slums of Kanpur.
Chetna Gala: When we talk about women empowerment we only look at working women in corporate and the urban cities. Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities. Let me take you through the women entrepreneurs of Mahaswad, Satara. They are part of Mann Deshi Udyogini, a ‘B-school’ for rural women. Mann Deshi Udyogini is not your average B-school and its students are most unlike typical management students. They are goatherds, vegetable vendors, roadside tea sellers, daily-wage labourers and homemakers, among other things. The classrooms are also unusual. The goat herding course, for instance, is taught in the fields. Mann Deshi Udyogini was founded by social activist Chetna Gala Sinha in 2006 with the support of HSBC Bank. The business school is run by Chetna’s Mann Deshi foundation. She works for social change in some of the poorest and most drought-stricken areas of rural India.
Andrea Thumshirn: Finally, social work in India is not the prerogative of the Indian’s alone. We also have several foreign nationals who have visited the country once and decided to stay back and help the under privileged in their own little way. Andrea Thumshirn, a German premier league hockey player is one such foreign national who came to India as a tour operator. But, things changed for her when she visited a remote village in Rajasthan and decided to stay there and teach hockey to rural kids. She brings the same passion and love for the game to India and trains kids to play hockey in Garh Himmat Singh village in Rajasthan through her NGO called Hockey Village India

Good in work and all her deeds,
She does everything without any greed.
Her aims for life are very high,
She always has a vision in her sparkling eye.
She always believes in hard work and perseverance,
Her heart is filled with endurance.
She loves to help;
She loves to share,
A lot of pain she has to bare.
she has an ability to choose good,
so lets all of us Celebrate Womanhood!

Amelia Cruise

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