User Stories

September 1, 2017 By Anusha Subramanian 15 Comments

“#FitBy40: To lose 40 KGS by the time I turn 40”

He led a sedentary lifestyle for several years until one day he realized that he had crossed the barrier of being unhealthy. Here is Arjun Narayan’s inspirational story in his own words.

I couldn’t believe my ears when the guy at the Levi’s store said, “Sir, a 32” size jeans would be perfect for you”. I was shocked because I always wore a 44” jeans until recently!

My normal day would start pretty late. If early, I would begin my day at 8 AM or even 9 AM depending on how late I slept the previous night. I had absolutely no grip on my meals, the greasier and tastier the meal – the higher the chances that I would go for it. I led sedentary lifestyle and walked less than 2,000 steps a day. Dinner times would be erratic and could be as bad as 2 AM. Beer cans would get opened for the smallest event that called for a celebration. All in all, it was as bad as it could get. I also stated that I probably get a zero for a quiz about nutrition or what protein was, what carbohydrates are as my knowledge on this was absolute zilch.

Before a doctor could ask me to get the situation under control regarding my health, I wanted to take charge. Another thing that kept bothering me was, I could never purchase a ready to wear trouser from the market as most brands did not cater to a 44” waist size.

I decided to hire a personal gym trainer. My story was similar to many out there who join the gym to lose weight. I was regular at the gym for a period of three months, but I did not shed a single gram of weight.

When I analysed to check what was I doing wrong– I realised, despite working out in the gym there was absolutely no discipline on my diet. While, I was battling the dilemma on how to rectify the situation, I bumped into these two statements in an article – ‘Weight Loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise’ and ‘Abs are made in the kitchen’. These statements made me think about this entire weight loss program in a different way”. Now, I knew that I had to get a personal coach who can advise me on diet and be by my side if I wanted this weight loss exercise to get anywhere”.

I had been following Vishal Gondal on Twitter for about 2 years and I knew about GOQii. What made GOQii interesting was the ‘services’ component to the business in addition to the product. I never evaluated any other option as I knew it had to be GOQii. Any other band would not solve the problem as I would have the data – but the bigger concern was not knowing what to do with the data.

In Jan 2016, I took up GOQii and came up with a project for myself #FitBy40 and the goal of the project was to lose 40 KGS by the time I turn 40 (which is this month). By the 9^th month – 5th September to be precise, I had lost 36 KGS! I started my GOQii journey at 115.1 KGS and by September I was at 79 KGS.

Today, diet and exercising is my pet topic. I get up at 5:30 AM and on bad days it is not later than 7:15 AM.

I attribute my success to my GOQii coach Kruti Jain. While, I have been extremely sincere and diligent about the entire process, she is the one who gave me the direction.

In the beginning she started advising me on what kind of a meal would be ideal for me, and it gradually started building from there. As I started seeing the results, I was motivated to push harder.

Now I can hold fitness sessions for an hour to a group of people and tell them how they can get a grip on stuff and the best part is that it is practical and doable. A year ago, I would have felt that this would be impossible to achieve – but trust me it is very doable. Today, people come up to me and say that I am an inspiration to them and it feels so good and if I have to look back, I don’t think I could have achieved any of this without Kruti’s assistance.

A normal day in my life ‘today’ looks like this:

My day starts with 2 hours of tennis / an hour in the gym and then I go for a swim in the evenings or for a walk. A newly opened restaurant in town doesn’t excite me anymore. What excites me is going for a run on the treadmill and running for 45 minutes or playing tennis for 2 hours. What excites me even more is going to a readymade garment store and trying out new trousers as my waist size is now down to 32″ from 44″. The last I had worn a 32″ jeans was probably in 1999 or so or maybe even earlier.

What does Coach,Kruti Jain have to say about her player Arjun Narayan?

Arjun came on board with a goal of bringing his weight down to 70 kgs (ideal body weight). He further specified the goal by saying that he would like to get to a 2 digit weight, i.e, 99 kgs within 5-6 weeks (about 10 kg loss)

Achieving such a goal would’ve required drastic dietary modifications and intense workouts. I explained to him the challenges expected on this path and tried convincing him to choose a rather easier and sustainable path of correcting the lifestyle which will automatically lead him to his health goal. He did agree to this but, only in words (for the sake of it).

As a coach, I helped him understand the nature and the nutritive quality of different foods, the trick of balancing meals, healthy snacking, and the impact of foods or lack of food / nutrients on our behaviour and food choices (cravings). These are just a few points to mention but our discussions went beyond the basics.

On the workout front, he chose his activities on his own as doing something of your interest is what keeps you going. I only helped him change and modify the workouts when his body got used to these activities.

According to me, what helped in this case was the player’s strong determination to get to his goal. He was religious in monitoring his progress and kept revising his plans and targets. Not only that, if the progress wasn’t as expected for a particular week, he had me reason it out & find out the limiting factors.

If I asked him to slow down (workouts) or to not be so strict on the diet front (to avoid its negative impact on his health), he would try to understand the “Why?” in detail and argue if not convinced. You just couldn’t stop or slow him down because he could only see the goal and the distance in between them.

Lifestyle before I came on board as his coach:

Diet: He was already following a low fat, high protein diet which was helping him lose weight.

Workout: 1- 1.5 hr of Tennis/ walking everyday

How I helped?

Tried educating him about the negative impact of such diets on health (only proteins or only salads for meals)
Improve satiety quotient of the meals by adding fibre and complex carbs
Balance meals (right proportions of carbs, proteins, fibre& micro- nutrients)
Snacking on nutrient dense foods to avoid deficiencies
Satisfy taste buds without guilt (indulgence on a weekly basis, but in controlled portions)
Deal with cravings and avoiding them
Change the workout at the right time or modify them so that the rate of weight loss does not fall (combination of workouts like swimming/ tennis/ walking/ gym cardio).

These changes helped him sustain the diet and lose weight at such a rate (1.5 kgs/ week)

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August 23, 2017 By Anusha Subramanian 3 Comments

From Crawling to completing a Half Marathon, all within 12 months

Since October 2014, Kamal from leading a very unhealthy lifestyle now walks 12k steps on weekdays and 20k steps on weekends, runs the half marathon and has lost 12 kgs. He’s reached his goal…How?

Kamal Karnatak is a busy CIO of an Indian MNC. He lives in New Delhi and works in Gurgaon. His office is a neat 43 km away and he travels by car for almost 2 hrs (One Side) -5 days a week. Just as he is passionate about his work, he is also passionate about leading a healthy lifestyle and has become a great inspiration and motivation to many of his friends to follow the same. His day starts at 5.30 am and he is out for a 6 km run at 6 am on alternate days and on weekends he runs 10 km. The days he is not running he resorts to strength training. Here is how he did it?

“I was aware of my shortcomings and kept trying to get fit. I tried several other wearable available in the market until I tried GOQii. I knew about it and decided to give it a try. I found that GOQii is entirely different from other so-called fitness bands, while other tracks various body parameters, GOQii band connects you to complete health ecosystem with real people. I got on to GOQii ecosystem in Oct 2014 and since then the one big change I have brought to my life is getting a proper routine. I exercise every day and eat five meals a day (mindful eating).”

When Kamal started using GOQii, he did not have any fix routine for exercise. His daily routine was to travel 43 km to work in a car for 2 hrs from New Delhi to Gurgaon to and fro. Lack of any exercise, incorrect nutrition had caused indigestion and bloating. To add to these, his total cholesterol was as high as 270 and BP were 90/130 much above the normal. With the right intention to want to get healthier and fitter, he would exercise only when he had the time. He found that his normal steps per day were 3000-4000 and during weekends it used to be only 2000-3000. “I was always under the impression that I do not have enough time to exercise.”

After he got on to GOQii he was given a target of at least 10K steps per day and that for him was a difficult task to achieve. So he added walking to his routine. Soon after 8 months of being on the GOQii platform; on a daily basis he was achieving nearly 12K steps per day and that count went up to 25-30k during weekends. “My coaches helped me to achieve that over a period of time and it was such a gradual process for me that now it has become a lifestyle,” asserts Kamal.

He Crawled to Walk-Run 42 min to a Half Marathon

After two months of using GOQii and achieving his targets (Steps, Water, and Sleep) on a daily basis he was still not losing weight. So his coach asked him to start 1 min run and 2 min walk routine for 21 min. She also asked him to plan to participate in a 6K run within a year’s time, which Kamal says he laughingly ignored. “I still remember that on the cold morning of December’14 when I ran, I could barely run only for 42 seconds at a stretch on the first day and after that routine of nearly 20 min I was quite exhausted. My foot muscles were soaring with pain and I thought that I may not be able to walk the next day. I shared the same with my coach and she said that do this for next 3 days and everything would be fine,” he says.

And surely it was all ok and after 8 months he could run for 42 min continuously. In November 2015, he completed his first half marathon (21.1 KM) in 2hrs 34 min. Now he is sure that if he continued to follow his regime he would surely be able to run 42 KM marathon by this year. While his goal was to lose weight, he achieved that as well and lost some 12 kg by now. The best part is that his other issues of high cholesterol and high BP also normalized. Running he says was never part of his goal but it happened and he is glad it did.

Plan was to go from fit to fitter

Today, Kamal’s overall fitness have improved. “With the help of my coaches, I made many permanent lifestyle changes. I also realized that health is not a project as it does not have any end date, it’s a continuous process and with the right kind of motivation anything can be achieved. I, who always used to complain that I do not have enough time for exercise, now always look for exercises/walking/running excuses,” says Kamal. “My journey continues with GOQii and I feel that it would help me to become a fitter person,” he adds.

What does Coach Kruti Jain have to say?

Kamal is a focused & a determined player. His journey has always been progressive. He wasn’t very consistent with his activities (due to other priorities) earlier. But, when he joined GOQii, it looked as if he has promised himself to not fail this time.

In spite of many hurdles, he would manage to get back to the regime. He started off with the goal of losing some weight because of which he was directed towards running.

From a simple goal of weight loss, his goal changed to running a half marathon by the end of the year and he did it. Clearly emerged a winner. He is one such player who keeps his coach on her toes. His interest & obedience makes you feel responsible & you want to help him in every possible way.

June 13, 2017 By Anusha Subramanian 2 Comments

Going beyond Barriers with Divyanshu Ganatra

Late August Last year he tread upon the road unseen. He rode 550 kilometres from Manali to Khardung La along with his sighted captain Gagan Grover to become the first tandem cycling pair with a blind rider to achieve a feat like that! He is doing this same ride again this year but with 8 more blind individuals and 4 amputees and one quadriplegic and few sighted riders. He is raising funds for the same through a crowd sourcing platform.

https://gocrowdera.com/in/ngo/M2K2017/Adventures-Beyond-Barriers-1459

“This is a chance for cyclists to discover new perspectives while simultaneously spreading the message of inclusiveness and accessibility,” Says Divyanshu to Vishal Gondal, in the newly launched ‘Beneath the Force-The Vishal Gondal Show’.

Divyanshu, is somebody for the last two decades, ever since he turned blind one morning has been fighting attitudinal barriers on a day to basis. No matter how educated, well read and a great orator that he is, his resume never finds takers.

“There is a shame and stigma associated with disability,” says Divyanshu. There are 200 million disabled people that is close to 15% of the population. “We are the largest invisible minority community,” he adds.

According to Divyanshu, blindness is not his disability. Disability is in people’s mind and it is a social construct. He says that his biggest handicap is because the world is not designed for persons with disability and not designed the way it should be wherein there is equal opportunities for all. Today, the able bodied people are decided what a person with disability can do and not do.

“People in my community want to do new things. They want to experience outdoor adventure sports but, unfortunately nobody has presented them that opportunity. Most do not want to empower us. They want us to remain the way we are. Therefore, ABBF was started to provide that opportunity to one and all,” says Divyanshu.

Divyanshu’s message to persons of disability and the others out there is ‘believe in yourself and don’t let the world decide for you. Imagine possibility for yourself’.

Going forward Divyanshu wants to get away from the city and stay amidst the mountains and grow his own food, keep continuing to work for the betterment of his community and want to see the end of special schools.

Listen here :-

https://soundcloud.com/vishal-gondal-show-beneaththeforce/episode-2-going-beyond-barriers-with-divyanshu-ganatra

June 2, 2017 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

‘Finding Your Everest with Kuntal Joisher’

“Mountain Climbing is my life and Veganism defines me. However, Veganism supersedes Everest”, says Kuntal Joisher in a conversation with Vishal Gondal on his newly launched podcast ‘Vishal Gondal Show’- Beneath the Force.

From quitting his plush MNC IT job, reducing from 110 kg to 80 kgs to climbing some of the toughest mountains in just a span of 8 years, Kuntal, a Gujarati from Ghatkopar (a Mumbai suburb) stood on top of the world on May 19^th, 2016 at 9:30 am as the first vegan.

Prior to Kuntal, there have been many non-vegetarians and vegetarians who have summited the highest peak in the world, but when Kuntal started his journey to scale the Everest it was unheard of that a vegan could climb as well. It was a natural scepticism as most climbers and especially those climbing 8000 meters peak are recommended meat and dairy rich foods. For a Vegan being on plant-based foods requires that much more hard training than a traditional climber it was concluded.

However, Kuntal has dispelled all myths. With no altitude sickness and fit throughout his 60 days climb, he has shown and inspired the world that mountaineering can be done on healthy wholefoods vegan diet. For Kuntal its ethical reasons to be Vegan and not any health reasons to go Vegan. He says that Vegan food is not bad as everyone things. “Nor am I an extreme Vegan,” he says. But, he is so much of a Vegan that his Mountaineering Gear is 80% Vegan as well.

“My diet has never been an issue. I’ve been part of over ten serious Himalayan climbing expeditions, and I’ve never had any problems being a vegan, even on this last attempt to climb Everest,” says Kuntal.

Kuntal in his in-depth conversation on‘Beneath the Force’ show talked about everything from his life, to his profession to how he decided to climb mountains and about a few life hacks that he uses to help himself.

Before climbing Everest, he scaled many incredible mountains in India and Nepal. Just to names some important ones he has climbed Mt Elbrus in Russia (one of the peaks of the Seven Summits) and Mt Manaslu, another 8000 mt peak in Nepal and is the 8^th highest peak in the world. Kuntal is the only second Indian civilian after Arjun Vajpai to have scaled Manaslu.

On his achievement in Mountaineering and conquering Everest the third time around Kuntal says, “I have conquered my fear of height. Before climbing Everest I actually had the fear of heights.” “If you win in your mind, you win over your fears”.

According to Kuntal, mountaineering is a combination of training and experience. One cannot leave anything to luck. One has to push themselves physically to get that mental edge. He admits and says, “While mountaineering is a risky sport and that I do take risks by climbing mountains but, I would in the same breath say that I am a very risk averse climber. In my 8 years of climbing career, I have trained so much and also gained considerable experience to be able to understand what is going wrong and take the right decisions”. He says, ‘getting up on a mountain is optional but climbing down alive is mandatory”. Most climbers get up and then become complacent. Most accidents in the mountains take place while climbing down.

But, training for Everest was not easy. Kuntal emotionally detached himself from his family to be able to focus on his goal.

When asked both being vegan and being a mountaineer are two extreme things and isn’t it like being insane. To this Kuntalchuckles and replies, “Not at all. However, he adds, “I get my insanity from my dad. But, unfortunately, today, my dad cannot understand any of these insane things I do as he suffers from Dementia (LBD) for the last 15 years. Kuntal is working towards creating awareness about this disease in his own ways by climbing mountains. Kuntal says his dad also did some crazy things and went out of his way to do new things. His father used to farm earthworms.

One of Kuntal’s life hacks that helped him survive on his way up to Everest was ‘Oreo’ biscuits. Whoever knew that Oreo that people hog on is a vegan biscuit? Once at a high altitude above 26000 ft beyond the death zone and from camp 3 to camp 4 to summit and back to camp 2, Joisher ate only two Oreo biscuits he says. Towards, the summit, Joisher had Unived’s vegan energy gels. These gels contain electrolytes and carbohydrates that are instantly released into the blood. “They kept me going,” saysKuntal.

Some of the clear learning from this interview which all of us can take with us –

Be focused towards your goal
Prioritise what is more important for you. Select a few things to do and give your 500% to it.
Training and Experience are very important for climbing and leave nothing to chance.

About the Vishal Gondal Show-Beneath the Force

The show encapsulates the lives of successful and inspirational people. The in-depth profile is the show staple — a nuanced look at a personality on a bi-monthly basis, revealing the person’s workout regimen, their struggles, their habits, thoughts on their latest project and, if we’re lucky, some as yet unrevealed factoid to file away in our collective unconscious. Whether we want to be like them, be with them, or just find out what it feels like to try on a different persona for a while, ‘beneath the force ‘we’ll always be drawn to Q&As about other people’s lives.If you want to get your fix of stories about fascinating lives but tired of staring at screens or loathe the paper pileup of discarded monthlies, listen to this podcast.

Listen to Episode 1 – Find your Everest with KuntalJoisher by The Vishal Gondal Show – #BeneathTheForce #np on #SoundCloud

https://soundcloud.com/vishal-gondal-show-beneaththeforce/vgs-episode-1-find-your-everest-with-kuntal-joisher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ2Sm2lDodg&utm_source=GOQii-Youtube&utm_medium=SMM&utm_campaign=GOQii-Youtube-Podcast-Kuntal-Joisher&utm_term=Podcast&utm_content=Kuntal-Joisher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hoiv9nMCF4