User Stories

June 23, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

“Balancing discipline, good nutrition and karma as a way to a fulfilling life”: Pinaak

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Achieving a goal is a fairly exhilarating feeling, if you intend to flirt with the idea of giving up, you could well be throwing away something very beautiful….

Today, we have a story of an individual who has never learnt to say no or give up. As far as I know him, he has been pushing himself harder every time to achieve something more and new. He has been constantly setting the bar high for himself and keeps himself self-motivated to be able to do all the extreme things that he attempts. We are talking of barefoot runner and GOQii player Pinaak Pande.

An Investment Banker by profession, his true inner calling is running. Living in Pune but working in the US time zone has not stopped him from running daily. But, there is a history to how it all started for him as well. Prior to 2014, Pinaak was just another corporate guy who had excuses galore for not being fit. He weighed 89 kgs and his erratic work timings kept him away from healthy living and healthy eating habits. Then one day in 2014, he decided to join the Fitness class conducted by Reebok Running Squad. He attended the fitness for 2-3 sessions and these sessions would be conducted on weekends. Thereafter they gave each one a training plan which they had to follow. People were being trained to run 5km, 10 km and so on. Since then and now there has been no looking back for Pinaak.

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An active GOQii player since 2015, this June he attempted the 12-hour stadium run and here is how he trained for it?

Pinaak had made up his mind to take up this challenge in the month of January. After having done several 10 km, 21 km and 42 km run, he thought, he should attempt something crazy this year and looked at the running calendar and got to see this ultra and registered for it. He said to himself, “Now that you have registered, you have no choice but to train and train hard”. Given that he works in night shifts where typically, his day ends at about 4.30AM in the morning. By this time most of his energy is already drained out at work but, he already had one moto behind on his mind, ‘never give up’. He constantly kept saying to himself, “Pinnaak, you have registered for a crazy ultrarace so prepare, no giving up”.

His week’s mileage from January started increasing. 2 weeks intense training, 1-week low-intensity training. The high-intensity training weeks went up to 96kms for a weekly mileage and the low-intensity training weeks average was about 50kms as the weekly mileage.

“Believe me, I clocked over 800+kms to train for this since January, 5 days of running that included strength training and swimming (at times). Strength training is so important for the ultras,” Pinaak says. He adds, “The mental challenge was, going around the 400mtrs track for 12 damn hours. I wondered how. I ran all my runs solo, except for 5 long runs. Out of these 5 long runs, I got to pace 5 different groups (Good brownie Karma points you see) and help achieve their targets too. That kept me happy and going”.

Running solo is a challenge in itself and solo of 45+ kms will tell you what you are made of. At times Pinnak says he has gotten home post work drained at 6 AM in the morning but he never said a no to the run because he loves his runs. Pinaakk backed up his runs with quick swims to give him a quick recovery and he says, it played a major role on his recoveries. Pinaak had absolutely no recovery days in the plan but at times on Friday’s he forcefully put his body to rest.

“On the race day— I had jitters on the morning of the race. I must say, the food from Herbivore (Thank you, Bela, for the food) just before the race day, gave me that extra carbs to run those 12 long hours. I will rate the food here as superduper excellent. I finished the first 6 hours of running and I had clocked about 40 odd kms. Trust me, the weather was just so different from what I trained in. Humid as hell and it kept pouring at times. I told myself, I have 6 more hours and I have to survive this. I was focused and determined to complete this no matter what. We had the best food on the course and were taken care of like babies by the organizers. Finally, at the end of 12 hours, I clocked a 74.8kms (187 laps of the damn 400 mts track). Goqii has been the best support system too for this run”.

On his diet, while training Pinaak’s plate had clean stuff every single day except for few weekends. His diet included- Fruits and Sattu mixed in water (natural protein) being the breakfast so in good quantity. Very less rice for lunch, 3 chapatis and some dal or vegetable. Pre-dinner included-Protein (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, watermelon seeds, chicken at times) and then a dinner with 3 chapati and some vegetables.

On a lighter note- Pinaak adds: “After the race, I binged on some junk food for the next two or three days. These were like small sized pizzas by myself, 1 garlic bread. 4 bhaturas and chole for breakfast and pani puris. Pinaak however after 3 days of binge eating is back to clean eating since Thursday as he prepares for the next biggie.

Pinaak believes in balancing discipline, good nutrition and karma as a way to a fulfilling life.

June 16, 2018 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 to turning an ace marathoner in a years time has now made fitness & running a way of life. Let’s hear it from him how he achieved his goals.

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 wearables available on 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 fixed 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.

The plan was to go from fit to fitter

Today, Kamal’s overall fitness has 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 2, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

“I am now more focused and there is the much-needed clarity in my health”

SWAROOP AND HIS MOM AT BKC run 10k

From being lazy and waking up at 10.30 am in the morning to crushing finish lines at various runs across the city for the last two years, he has surpassed his goals-beyond what he even thought possible! He is today a GOQii Champion and leads the Powai Chapter of GOQii Active Sunday. His mother accompanies him on Active Sundays. Here is Swarup Choghale success story, in his own words.

I was very active till I was in college. I was into a lot of adventure activities and Taekwondo. I wanted to join the army. I applied and got through the test but I failed in medical. They said I had a defective nose that was not suitable for high altitudes. But, I went and got my nose operated and tried again but, I still did not make it as they said this problem could not be rectified through a surgery. I gave up the idea of joining the army. I went ahead to do my CA and after passing out got a regular job. Once into a regular job, everything took a back seat and it only worked and work.

I seemed to have reached a personally unacceptable plateau, which I couldn’t improve on without devoting too much time to fitness in an already hectic lifestyle.

I currently am a fund accountant with a Mumbai based Hedge Fund. I work in shifts and due to this hectic work schedule my sleep and food habits were completely haywire and had taken a toll on me. I had no form of activity as I would wake up not before 10.30 am in the morning and I used to be so tired that I would laze around for a bit and then have a brunch and again leave for work. This routine continued for few years.

I was aware that I had to get back to a fitness regime to turn things around for myself and see some positive results. Unfortunately, how to achieve the necessary levels of fitness in a structured and progressive manner was something I was struggling to understand. I naturally presumed this would require a personal trainer, lots of time and money.

Then one day sometime last year, I was browsing news channels and I happened to watch Vishal Gondal’s interview on NDTV where he was talking about himself and how GOQii started.

After seeing that interview I could relate to Vishal’s story as I was also in the same state where I had a regular job, bad food habits-I ate whatever and whenever and I had no form of exercise and I was putting on weight. I didn’t realize how much my overall fitness had steadily and declined over the past few years. Then I went on the net and read more about GOQii and tried to understand what is GOQii and how it works?

After reading the introductory material, it was apparent to me that this was exactly what I needed. I needed a band to track my fitness also a personal coach or trainer who could help me keep track of my fitness at all levels. It was also clearly obvious that this was not only radically different approach from anything I had come across before.

Soon after I came across an advertisement that said if you spend Rs 1.5 lakh on your SBI Credit Card you can get a free 6 months GOQii subscription. I was quite taken by GOQii and the benefits it could provide. So I got all my family and friends and told them if they wanted to buy anything they could give me cash and I would buy it on my SBI credit card and I managed to shop for Rs 1.5 lakh in a month and I got a free 6-month subscription in May 2015. My coach is Heta Kothari and my health goal when I signed was to get into better shape. Get better waistline and hips.

I went for my first GOQii Active Sunday to Sion Fort and really liked what we did and I completely got hooked on to it. I decided I will never miss an active Sunday. I also met many similar people like me at this event who in their middle age (mid-30s and early 40s and 50s) were trying to get into fitness.

Sundays have never been better Swarup training with Goqii at Active Sunday

Thereafter my first big event was to enrol for the 100 km Oxfam trail walk in November 2015. I completed the trail walk successfully. Soon after the trail walk I took to running and was consecutively running marathons. I took part in every run that came my way. I did my first 21 km than Half Marathon and prior to that the Powai Marathon 10 km run, followed by IFS BKC run.

Since getting on the GOQii platform the results have been nothing short of outstanding. Today, my day to day routine has drastically changed. I am part of a group called ‘you2can run’ so on alternate days I go for a run (6-7 km) and other days I go to the gym to work out. My workout lasts for about an hour daily. My coach has been guiding me very well.

On an average, I clock 10000 steps daily and on weekends I would easily do over 20,000 steps. I also have a trekking group with whom I go trekking on weekends.

Besides getting active, the biggest benefit that has come through because of GOQii is the impact it has had on my mental wellbeing. Today, I can handle any stressful situation very well. I am mentally better prepared now. For me, it has been a paradigm shift in my approach to fitness, nutrition, sleep etc. It’s something revolutionary that it completely changed my understanding of the subject.

On the nutrition front, I have been health conscious but did not know a whole lot of things. I did not know that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. I used to never have breakfast as I would always get up late. Now I make it a point to have breakfast daily. I got to know when to eat fruits and when not to. Have frequent but small meals. Never had salads but, now in mid-afternoon meals, I have salads.

Earlier, I would not have proper sleep because of which I would feel drowsy at work. Now that does not happen as I get at least 7 hours of sleep daily. Over the last one year of using GOQii, I have achieved my goals and also learnt a lot in the process. This year my goal is to run 21 km consistently and after that do a full marathon (42Km) and I am working towards that.

My journey has not been for too long, but certainly, GOQii has changed my attitude towards life. I have started enjoying this stage of middle age. With all the activities that I am doing, I am excited and positive. The change and the positive attitude is reflecting in my work and at home

The one person who has been happy and also inspired by me is my Mother. She is 65 years of age and she runs along with me. She has been participating in the 5 km runs and has also started going to the gym to work out.

What does coach Heta Kothari have to say about Swarup?

Swarup has been my player since May 2015. Right from the intro call I learnt that he is someone who loves exercising and the outdoors. On and off he had been into gym workouts, taekwondo and earlier was with NCC as well. His long-term goal is to run a full marathon and improve his fitness levels. We started with working on regularizing his exercise, making it smarter (interval training) rather than extensive and then graduated to a gym routine.

Alongside, his diet needed a few tweaks which we worked on one after the other; small changes like 1) Replacing proprietary drinks with healthier nuts 2) Regular breakfast (earlier he would skip this important meals, at times) 3) Portion control (cutting down on fried stuff particularly) 4) Trying to make him eat more variety 5) Clarifying his concepts of carbs (there were myths he associated with) 6) Adding a Pre workout meal to his schedule 7) Adequately increasing his protein intake 8) Adding fibre to his meals, multigrain, veggies, salads and fruits 9) Adding 2 healthy snacks to his meal schedule All these changes he has beautifully adapted to. With regards to workouts my challenge right from the beginning was never to push him towards exercising, rather it was (and still remains) to get him into a structured and a dedicated schedule. From the first week that he came on board, he has always made it to the ACTIVE SUNDAY events.

2 months ago he wrote to me, ”Sundays never felt better, a good workout, better breakfast and best sleep!”. Treks, outdoor camping, river rafting, waterfall rappelling….he has done it all while on board with GOQii. Several months later one Sunday I messaged him “Did you make it to the Active Sunday event today?” he wrote back “ It’s ingrained in my system now, thanks for the push”…that’s when I knew we have made a lifestyle change here. Post this he has been a part of The Powai Marathon 10 Km run, The Oxfam Trailwalker Event, and he has completed The Thane Hiranandani HALF MARATHON!!!

In his own words, “I am now more focused and there is the much-needed clarity in my health.

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May 12, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian 1 Comment

“I started a new life at 50 and I am thoroughly enjoying it”

100 Km accomplished.-Anitha with her team at Oxfam trailwalker

“I started a new life at 50 and I am thoroughly enjoying it.”

She is fun loving, friendly, extremely energetic and young at 51. Anitha Rao has been able to prove that small steps can have a big impact. She took to running at the age of 50 and says she is thoroughly enjoying it. In the last one year, she has been participating in few runs in the city on a regular basis. She also completed her first Oxfam Trail Walk last November in 39 hours. She shows no signs of slowing down. She says “Stay fit, Stay healthy’. She is now championing the ‘Active Sunday’ mission in Bengaluru. Let’s hear Anitha Rao’s journey to fitness.

I did my first half marathon (21 km) last year at the age of 50 when a friend suggested I could run. “I just loved it—the atmosphere, people cheering for you, and crossing the finish line after 2 hrs and 52 minutes felt so great. I was tired after that run the next day, but I loved the way I felt.”

It all began when I turned 50, I decided I was ready for a new challenge. Since I have always been an outdoor person I made it my goal to be fit and complete as many runs as possible. I have run so many runs such as the Standard Chartered Mumbai Half Marathon since Jan 2015. Thereafter, I have done a couple of runs such as the DNA I CAN, Pinkathon, ICT, Foot Steps 4 Good, Chembur Monsoon run and more recently Radio Mirchi Neon Run.

I was working in the Travel Industry, but due to my husband’s transferable job, and after the birth of my sons, I decided to enjoy motherhood. I became a homemaker and travel consultant working from home. My sons are now 24 and 18. I also realized I wanted to get back to doing some activities and get fit. I have always been sporty. I have been doing yoga and going swimming as well. I continue with the latter two even today.

But, I wanted to be more healthy and fit. Last year, I took up running seriously thanks to my friend Vijay Pillai, in my apartment building. I was not tracking my fitness and did not know what I was doing right or wrong.

Then, I met Bela Gupta through my dear friend Geeta Singh who gave me the GOQii band and explained its benefits to me and asked me to try it for three months. I got completely hooked on it. I liked the aspect of one to one coaching. I would put my problems across to my coach and she would have a solution and help work towards overcoming the issue.

Through GOQii, I also got to know a lot about diet and nutrition many of the things I was not aware of. At my age, I certainly do not want to compromise on my diet. Being a South Indian who cannot keep away from my sugary Filter Coffee. I have now given up sugar in my coffee. In November, I participated in the Oxfam 100 km trail walk and my team Go Spirited completed the challenge in 39 hours.We were 4 ladies Bela, Lubaina, Suranjana and me. But, Bela, unfortunately, had to drop out due to personal issues.

It’s amazing how by just walking and running one can keep themselves so fit. There are wonderful health benefits of putting one foot in front of the other. My family thinks that am going to the top (over doing it and asks me to slow down at times). But, I am comfortable doing as much as I am doing. I am happy with the change I have seen in myself. I have become healthier, fitter and my stamina has improved drastically. Today, I am confident to achieve what I set my goal on.

Daily, I clock 10000 or more steps and weekends it goes up easily up to 20,000 steps. I have been able to achieve all this because of the one to one coaching from GOQii. I have also benefited from the two webinars that GOQii’s master coach Luke Coutinho conducted. One of the webinars was on how to make the most of your coach? This gave me a clarity on how I can interact with my coach to get the maximum benefit out of coaching.

Coaching has benefited me on the nutrition front too. Now my concepts on diet are clear and I am conscious about what I am eating. I am basically a foodie and I exercise to eat. I have also understood the importance of sleep. I have always been a light sleeper but, now I sleep better. I get enough rest. Also, my concept of water is very clear. On an average now I am drinking 2 liters of water. I have no medical conditions, no cholesterol and no sugar.

I am regular at GOQii’s Active Sunday’s and this has given me an opportunity to meet so many people and make friends. My journey to fitness has also inspired a whole lot of my women friends around me. My friends in yoga are also keen on joining me for runs. I always feel that there are 100 reasons why you shouldn’t go out and go for a walk or run, but 1,000 reasons why you should, if you let go of the excuses, you will get it done. I would say have a goal and work towards it.

Without having something to work towards, you can’t plan or dream of what you’re going to accomplish. The goal doesn’t have to be huge, it can be to walk 10 km a week, but you need one to stay focused. The next outdoor activity I have just begun is trekking. I got interested in trekking after I did two practice treks for Oxfam Trail walk. Now I want to go regularly trekking as well.

Also, the concept of Karma has appealed to me a great deal. Every day I try to donate about 30-40 points so by the end of the month I have donated roughly 1000 points or so. Till date, I have donated 4596 Karma points. I just want to continue to be healthy and fit to be able to do continue with my runs, walks and other activities.

Crushing Finish lines Anitha with her Medals

What does Coach Gunjan Chadha have to say about Anitha?

Anitha is a true representation of an active and upbeat individual. An outdoor person who loves to work out every day. Her drive for fitness is her adrenalin. She has a set routine of walking, swimming and yoga. Always ready to participate in marathons that come across. In her GOQii journey with me, she wanted to shed some extra kilos, increase water intake and replace her snacking with some healthy options. So we enacted goals accordingly. The first was to maintain a daily water intake of 2 liters and above. Secondly, I gave her some healthy snacking options. The GOQii concept of logging your water and food intake supported her in achieving these goals. It gave her a confrontation and magnitude daily of her efforts. She was regular in doing that and took my suggestion and inputs very positively and she also put them in action. She also would often contribute KARMA points for various causes. I am proud to have such an aware and dedicated individual as my player.