GOQii

Blog

By 1 Comment

Sangeeta Jajodia goes from a Simple Housewife to a Super Woman!

Sangeeta Jajodia

They say being a housewife is a full time job, and quite rightly so. As one among many, 52 year old Sangeeta Jajodia from Mumbai, led a very busy life. Her routine revolved around tending to the needs and demands of her grown up children, cooking, cleaning and regular household chores. During her free time, she watched TV or browsed through her mobile – this is how she summed up her life before GOQii.

Apart from her daily chores and normal walks which were required, she never indulged in any physical activity. She had no restrictions on food, she would sleep late and wake up early to prepare food for her kids. All of this led to acidity, cholesterol, fatty liver and weight gain. She says that she had never been underweight nor obese.

In 2017, after a family wedding when browsing through the pics, she realized that she had gradually put on a lot of weight. She decided that she needs to lose weight. Not knowing where to start, she decided walking was the one thing she could do. Seeing her interest, her son gifted her a GOQii and with it, a key to a new life which began taking shape from January 2018.

Life after GOQii

Initially, Sangeeta Jajodia was very reluctant to follow her GOQii Coach’s instructions – even simple things such as adding a salad and fruits to her diet – something she hadn’t done before. Slowly, she began adding salads to her dinner and her lunch as well. Now, she includes them daily.

Apart from adding salads to her diet, some of the changes included:

  • Adding fruits in between her main meals to avoid the long gap she used to have before.
  • She had to exercise portion control while eating her meals.
  • Drinking 2 cups of green tea and cinnamon water before going to bed
  • Eat dinner by 8 PM
  • Regularize eating and sleep timings
  • Apple detox twice a week which includes adding a few pieces of apple and cinnamon powder to a jug full of water, leaving it overnight and consuming that water throughout the day. On these days, she avoids grains and dairy products
  • 1 hour walk every day and does basic home workouts shared by her GOQii Coach
  • She takes her 10k step target seriously and walks even if she’s on vacation.

Sangeeta Jajodia Makes the Shift!

After implementing all of the small lifestyle modifications suggested by her GOQii Coach, Sangeeta Jajodia witnessed a lot of positive changes in her life. To begin with, her weight had reduced from 82kg to 73kg within a year of joining GOQii. Furthermore, her acidity was gone completely. Her cholesterol and fatty liver levels are in the normal range. Apart from this, she has participated in 4 5k runs and 1 8k run last year.

What Does Sangeeta Think About Her GOQii Coach?

Sangeeta completely trusts her GOQii Coach and follows her instructions and guidance diligently. Her coach follows up with her every day and reprimands her if she doesn’t follow a habit or cheats on her diet. What Sangeeta likes the most is that if she is in a difficult situation, her GOQii Coach modifies her habits – for instance, when Sangeeta’s mother-in-law was sick and she was stressed, her GOQii Coach asked her to start with breathing exercises and meditation which really helped her out during that time. Constant suggestions and a customized solution like this is what appeals to Sangeeta the most!

Like Sangeeta Jajodia, do you want to make a positive lifestyle change as well? Download the GOQii App and subscribe to our service now!

For more inspiring user journeys, read here: https://goqii.com/blog/category/user-stories/

#BeTheForce

By 4 Comments

Shreejit Nandkumar Reaches His Health Goal With Determination and Consistency!

Shreejit NandkumarLosing weight or getting fit isn’t just about hitting the gym regularly or having a fitness regime. Pumping iron by itself cannot guarantee sustainable weight loss. It needs to be supplemented with a proper diet as well. One of our players, Shreejit Nandkumar, learned this little fact that changed his life forever. 

 A 47 year old working professional based out of Mumbai, Shreejit Nandkumar received the GOQii tracker through his former company, Schneider Electric, around 6 years back. Initially, he did not find the time or inclination to follow his Coach’s instructions due to his hectic work schedule but he followed a fitness regime religiously. His diet however, was not balanced at all as it included a lot of sugar intake, alcohol and large portions on a daily basis. In spite of not missing a day in the gym, his weight didn’t seem to reduce. He weighed around 100kg till lockdown in March 2020. 

Lockdown – A Blessing In Disguise? 

When the pandemic hit hard, the work from home routine and being confined indoors came as a blessing in disguise for Shreejit Nandkumar, who now found the time to interact with his coach regularly. With gyms shutting down, his weight training was heavily compromised. He began cycling early morning which turned out to be an enjoyable experience. He now cycles for 2 hours, covering 50km every day. With gyms open now, he does his weight training in the evenings. 

Balancing Nutrition With Exercise 

For Shreejit Nandkumar, a major shift has been his diet and calorie consumption. He begins his day with warm water mixed with honey and lemon. Then some nuts followed by a high protein breakfast. He is advised to keep his dinner light. His alcohol consumption has been reduced from every week to once in 4-6 months. Desserts and sweet intake is almost nil. Thanks to these minor modifications in his diet, he was able to reduce his weight to 85kg, body fat percentage is 15.7% from 24% and visceral fat is within healthy range. 

He says that his daily interaction with his GOQii Coach, Unnati Cheddha, and her guidance has helped him see fitness from a new perspective. He has come to realize that meal timings, pattern and portion size have to be in sync with exercise. He says, “Every small thing matters and it’s  important to try and be fit every day. It’s a continuous journey which has no detours and stops!” 

What Does Coach Unnati Cheddha Have To Say About Shreejit Nandkumar 

Shreejit Nandkumar has always been very determined towards his health goal – which was to  lose weight. Weight loss was also targeted in a healthier way. Body analysis was done to keep a check on his body fat percentage and muscle mass.

He is very passionate about exercising. He will never miss his workouts. Before lockdown, he used to go to the gym regularly, which came to a pause. But this did not stop his passion towards achieving  his health goal. He continued his activities with the same motivation and dedication. He was not able to do weight training exercises due to space constraint, so he chose the outdoor option of cycling. This was quite refreshing for him. He still doesn’t miss a single day and feels incomplete without it. Besides physical activity, Shreejit has been very particular with his food habits, maintaining low fat, high protein, moderate carb diet with good water consumption. He also takes adequate rest/sleep hours to recover and rejuvenate. Shreejit started his weight training as soon as the gyms opened in Mumbai.

Changes observed

  • Weight loss: 100kg to 85kg
  • Waist inches: 40“ to 32”
  • Body fat percent: 20.5% to 15.5%

Shreejit’s sincerity, determination, dedication and consistency helped him achieve his goals in a healthy manner. We hope this story inspires you to make a positive and healthy lifestyle change as well! Head over to the GOQii App or our website to begin your journey today! For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

Want to share your story with us? Fill this form and we’ll reach out to you.

#BeTheForce 

By Leave a Comment

Chandan Tiwari Makes A Positive Lifestyle Shift!

chandan tiwari

Life is full of unexpected twists and turns and as you age those twists and turns keep getting narrower. But as long as you are determined to pull through, nothing can stop you. And sometimes all you need is a helping hand. The story of our player Chandan Tiwari is one such example. 

Life Before GOQii 

Now 28 years of age, Chandan Tiwari used to be quite active in sports during his youth. He represented his school and college in cricket. He was lean, fit and weighed 74kg. However, once he began working in 2016, his life got caught up in the twists and turns of a working individual and he found himself working for 14-15 hours a day backed by lack of sleep, unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity. In 3 years, he gained 22kg and also suffered bouts of depression with his confidence being at an all time low. He says he is not sure whether depression led to all the unhealthy eating and weight gain or was it the other way round. He faced frequent health issues like cold and fever, stomach issues and skin allergy. He was diagnosed with fatty liver too during one of the medical tests conducted in 2018. 

Enter GOQii 

Chandan was introduced to GOQii by his brother who is also an active user and had undergone a transformation due to lifestyle changes introduced by the coach. He joined GOQii in August 2019 and his life took another turn – this time for the better. 

The first thing his GOQii Coach did was explain the importance of a slow and consistent approach to fat loss rather than changing his lifestyle completely. So he started slowly. The changes introduced by his coach included: 

  • No outside food on weekdays 
  • Lemon water early in the morning on an empty stomach’
  • ACV before lunch
  • 30 min of walking everyday
  • Reduce consumption of sweets

Later, his GOQii Coach also introduced habits such as: 

  • Focusing on eating and chewing food slowly as he was used to finishing his meals quickly
  • Eating fruits and raw vegetables
  • Less oil in cooking and more boiled food
  • Start with a run for 1 or 2 km and then slowly increase it to 5 km

Chandan Tiwari Takes The Positive Turn! 

In 2 months flat, Chandan was able to lose 10kg. This motivated him to be more dedicated. He says it was initially difficult to abstain from his normal eating habits as all the sweet cravings were hard to control but he pulled through. He proudly says he has not touched sweets in the last 5 months. 

The other changes he experienced include: 

  • 2-3 days of run and 3-4 days of bodyweight exercises at home by following YouTube or GOQii Play Coaches. The bodyweight training has helped him achieve lean muscle. 
  • He participated in a 10k run last year and now wants to do a 21 km marathon. 
  • His sleep has improved as he avoids late night TV or his phone. Goes to bed at 11PM as compared to 2-3AM before. 
  • Has incorporated meditation and breathing exercises to his routine which keep him calm although work pressure has not reduced, he is able to manage his work and prioritize fitness. 

Thanks to all these changes, he now weighs 74.5kg. His fatty liver condition is completely cured. His thyroid is under control although he is still on medication. Right now, he feels more positive, confident and energetic even after 11 hours of work. Apart from interacting with his coach on a regular basis, he has been regularly buying products from the GOQii Health Store. 

In his words, he was almost obsessed with his transformation and wanted to get back in shape at any cost. He said, “It’s not just the physical transformation but my mental transformation which I am happy about. I now feel totally in control of myself and stronger to handle everything.” His family is overwhelmed with his transformation and wish to thank GOQii for their support and help.

Do you want to make a positive shift too? Well, download the GOQii app and subscribe now! To read more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

By 1 Comment

Always Look At The Big Picture – Mukul Bhartiya User Journey

Mukul Bhartiya

We often treat health as a one off objective but what happens once we achieve our goal? Do we fall back to our previous habits? While keeping health goals, it is important to always look at the big picture. While losing weight is a good target, being healthy should always be a lifelong goal! This is something our player Mukul Bhartiya understood during his journey with GOQii. Let’s look at his journey in his own words. 

Finding GOQii 

I started my journey with GOQii around two and half years back and my purchase decision was a result of meeting Vishal Gondal in 2012 at IIT, Mumbai where he was one of the speakers. I was looking for a fitness band and while researching, I came across GOQii. I immediately jumped in without having a clear idea of what I will do with it. Unfortunately, after just a month or so of purchase, I became very busy with work, having very little time to spend on my health. There was a disconnect with the coach and the 3rd coach assigned to me was a tough task master with his own ideas of fitness and health. So I decided to quit the journey.   

I am a Black Belt in Shito Ryu Karate Do, but left practicing it around five years back due to personal issues. I kept myself active for a couple of years but after that, I became lazy, spending lots of time on social media, following twitter trends, validating my view point through anonymous writer’s rants.  This time, around four months back when I looked at one of my pictures, it gave me a clear idea that I needed immediate help. I was weighing 84kg. Around 10 years back when I signed up for a weight loss program, though I lost 11kg, it was at the cost of my health. This time I needed certified people guiding me, so I went for GOQii! 

Mukul Bhartiya Begins His Journey Again 

My coach Ms. Falguni Bhojak is a patient and understanding coach and mentor. She asked me about my routine and my health objectives. She encouraged me to speak more about my health objectives, challenges and limitations and it resulted in a personalized health template for me. I years back. I wanted to lose weight fast, but she drilled down a few things in my mind, like “not everyday will be the same, I need to  focus on the bigger picture and not allow failures to bother me”. We set a target of 1.5-2kg weight loss per month and made it a one year project. She also said that though weight loss is my immediate target, good health should be my lifelong target.  

Ms. Bhojak’s first and foremost interest was to pull me out of laziness and make me active. She told me, “Mukul, can you start with half an hour of low intensity activity?” and guided me with the same. Now, what was “half an hour activity” around three and half months back, is “more than three hours activity” ranging from moderate to high intensity. In three and half months, I have lost 12.5kg. I am walking around 14-15km per day, spending around 30 minutes on martial arts, 20 minutes on yoga and eating healthy. Even on a bad day, I walk more than ten kilometers.    

What Were Some Key Learnings? 

  • Start always matters, even if it is small: I started with around 15 minutes of lazy activity and now I keep thinking how can I incorporate exercise in every activity. 
  • There should be a bigger picture than the big picture: My coach’s question made me think what will I do after losing 20 kg? I have created a bigger picture for that and it has made my big picture look like a journey than just an end result. 
  • Break the big picture into smaller pixels: Big picture may look daunting and many people back away, so break it down into smaller targets. Achievement of targets work as a reward mechanism for efforts we are putting in. 
  • Stay consistent: Not everyday will be your best day. If you have a bad day, work hard the next day and make it better than your best day. 
  • Everything needs time: You can’t make things happen by the snap of your fingers. Every result is the outcome of many actions you take on a daily basis to make it good.
  • Have someone who can critically analyze your actions but will be considerate and a helping mentor. Ms. Bhojak encourages me to ask questions, list out my challenges, immediately points out my deviations and keeps exercise routines which interest me. 

There are options in the GOQii Arena where players can share their achievements, their story and their now-then photos and people share their achievements daily. Then there are “active month” challenges where participants can see their points, badges and ranks. There are some feature stories of achievers as well. There are many like me who either learnt or re-learnt something during their journey with GOQii. If everyone shares their stories, their journey, challenges, pain, achievements and guides each other from their experiences, moderated by experts, it can create a Facebook of “Health and Healthy Community”. 

What Does Coach Falguni Have To Say About Mukul Bhartiya? 

Mukul joined with a goal of losing 20kg of weight. He was doing meditation but workout or physical activity was missing due to the lockdown. We started with 30 minutes of workout. Moving ahead, as he was a trained Martial arts karate player and enjoyed doing it, we started with Martial arts as his exercise along with 20k steps. 

He was following healthy eating and early dinner, but portion control was needed. So, we started working on it. He was quite determined and with his consistent efforts and hard work, we were able to see a loss of around 14.7kgs in 4 months. 

The best quality of Mukul is that he is a very active GOQii Player who keeps updating his routine on the app and also discusses his challenges and progress with me on a regular basis – which is very essential in achieving any goal. 

Does the journey of Mukul Bhartiya inspire you to begin yours? Head over to the GOQii App or our website to begin your journey today! For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

What’s Your Excuse?

In a world filled with excuses, Shubham’s story stands as a testament to the power of perseverance, passion, and an unwavering commitment to one’s dreams. His journey is a reminder that circumstances may create hurdles, but they can never define the limits of one’s potential. In the bustling suburbs of Mumbai, amidst the challenges of […]

Prioritizing Health: Kuntal Goswami’s Post-Pandemic Pursuit of Wellness

The COVID-19 pandemic served as a wake-up call for individuals to recognize the significance of their health and well-being. It prompted people to adopt healthier lifestyles, prioritize self-care, and be proactive in taking preventive measures to protect themselves and others. This is true for our player Kuntal Goswami, who, after the coronavirus hit India, realized […]

Reducing HbA1c from 7.2 to 6.1 | Ram Sharma Health Story

There’s nothing sweet about diabetes and we’re all well aware about that. Factors such as a poor diet, obesity, lack of exercise, improper sleeping patterns, stress and advancing age can cause diabetes. While it might seem overwhelming, diabetes is not an insurmountable affair. With proper self-care, guidance and a few lifestyle modifications, you can manage […]