GOQii

Blog

Search Results for: food

By 1 Comment

GOQii Stories of Positivity and Progression

Hemant Kejriwal, participated in an 8 km run in February 2015

Hemant Kejriwal, participated in an 8 km run in February 2015

Beginning this week you will read success stories of GOQii users in this space. These are stories of people who thought it would be impossible for them to give up old habits and embrace new habits for the better. When heard of their success stories we were encouraged to share these stories with a larger community who can get inspired by them to bring positivity in their lives.

Our first story is about Hemant Kejriwal who from leading a sedentary lifestyle is now an energetic and active young man within just 15 months. Let’s find out how he managed

From being highly inactive to running 8 kms a day

Hemant Kejriwal, a 39-year-old Start-up Entrepreneur from Mumbai had tried and failed many times to get energetic and active. “Till the time I was in school and college I was energetic and active. But, slowly as work life took over I started leading a sedentary lifestyle. Though, I had my flirtatious flings with the gyms. I would spend loads on membership but would never go regularly as I would be bored. Finally, I was warned by my wife to stop wasting money on gyms,” says Hemant.  “I knew I wanted to be energetic through the day but, I was unable to do so. I did not know how to get started with this,” he adds.

Hemant did what a lot of people do and vowed to get healthy and active in 2015. But, again he kept trying on his own. He would as a routine wake up at 4.30 am or 5 am and not step out of the house for a walk or run but sit down with his laptop and work. Then drive to his work place which was less than a kilometer (0.6 mile) from his house. “I knew I was leading an unhealthy life. I had put on a lot of weight, weighed 103 kgs and did not have enough energy to pull along through the day.”

During this time, he got to know from friends about GOQii. He decided to go in for a band that came with a personal coach. In Oct 2014 he signed up with GOQii and got a band and made a commitment. “My Goal was to be energetic through the day. For me feeling energetic was more important than looking good,” says Hemant.

Soon after I started interacting with my coach Hardika, I got on to the right track. I realised that ‘staying active’, above all else, was key. Within 4 months I had lost 9 kgs. The focus however was not so much on losing weight as much as it was getting fit overall – building strength, stamina, flexibility & agility.

And precisely that happened. From a XXL size shirt, Hemant within 4 months could start wearing a XL size shirt. From not walking even a kilometer or (0.6 mile) or (1000 steps) in an entire day, Hemant had soon got down to running 8 kms a day before even getting to work His best he says was being able to swim 2.5 km (50 laps) in one ago within 6 months of getting on to GOQii. “This was a huge milestone achieved by me after almost 20 years,” he asserts.

Talking about the changes he says: “I started by walking 5 km early in the morning (which gradually increased to 8 km) & adding another 3-4 km during the day. Then I focused on increasing my speed. And shifted to swimming in the summers,” Hemant says. Above all, his water consumption which was less than even a liter a day is consistently over 3 liters a day, now.

Being a health food enthusiast, there has been no significant dietary changes. But there were large gaps between meals & not enough protein. He corrected all of this, and his pre-post workout meals thanks to his coach.

For Hemant, the healthy lifestyle has helped his productivity at work and he says he has become a better husband and a better father.

Hemant sums it up by saying in the last 15 months since he got on to the GOQii ecosystem, he has had a more holistic wellbeing thanks to the active lifestyle he has been leading.

What does his Coach Hardika have to say?

Hemant has been a dedicated player over the last 15 months. Prior to getting on to the GOQii ecosystem he was highly inactive. Over a period we have been able to control these issues. I am happy that he could swim 50 laps at one go which was his goal.

Sporty and dedicated, Hemant has always been ready to take up any challenges that I have been giving. He has got very active. Within six months he was able to move from an XXL size to XL size shirt. I have sent him a GOQii Tshirt, a size smaller with a note: “I am happy with your progress and the way you are losing inches. I am sure you will need to change your wardrobe, so this is a contribution from my end which we will fit by end of this year”.  He is motivated to work towards leading a better and healthy lifestyle and we are going to rock it!

‘Want to get featured here? Click Here to tell us your story.’

By Leave a Comment

Healthy mini meals for your child

Every child is unique and each of them develops in their own way and in their own time. Parents play an important role in their child’s development. Young children learn all the time and mostly from their mum and dad. Parents are the role models for their children. Development refers to the changes that occur as a child grows and develops in relation to being physically healthy, mentally alert, and emotionally sound.

Balanced nutrition plays a vital role in nurturing your child to overall health and development. The right nutrition during childhood forms a strong foundation for the healthy future of your child.

The tiniest humans can create big challenges for their parents. Are you also one of them having hard times feeding your child?

Here are some yummy recipes to make your child’s mouth water packed with a bunch full of Nutrients.

1. Indian popcorn:

4095876953_0aef90be0c
Ingredients:
Phool Makhana/ Puffed fox nuts – 1 cup
Ghee: 1/2 Tbsp
Chaat Masala – 1/4 tsp
Pepper Powder – a pinch
Red chili powder – to taste
Black Salt – to taste

Method of preparation:

  1. Dry roast Phool Makhana/Puffed fox nuts till crisp
    2. Heat ghee in a pan, add red chili powder, pepper powder, chaat masala & black salt.
    3. Add Phool Makhana/Puffed fox nuts to it and mix well
    4. Serve as a healthy snack anytime

 2. Yummy Chapati Pizza!!

cabbage chapati

 

Ingredients:
Chapati – 1 no
Bell peppers, sweet corn, etc – 1/3 cup chopped (any vegetable)
Grated Cheese – 1/4 cup
Oil – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Garlic – 1Tbsp (finely chopped)
Onion – 1/2 cup (chopped)
Tomato puree – 1/2cup
Chilli Flakes – as required
Oregano – as required
Pepper powder – a pinch

Method of preparation:
Saute garlic and add onion in a pan, add tomato puree, pepper powder, chilli flakes and oregano and let it cook until the sauce is thick.
Spread the prepared sauce on chapatti. Top it with sauted capsicum, grated cheese and then cook in a covered pan for few minutes. Pizza is ready to serve with some chilli flakes and oregano sprinkled

3. Try healthy Oats Dosa!!

oats-dosa

Ingredients:

  • Quick Oats – ½ cup (ground)
    • Semolina (sooji) – ¼ cup
    • Rice flour – ¼ cup
    • Fresh curd – ½ cup
    • Water – 1 ½ cup
    • Onions – ¼ cup (finely chopped)
    • Ginger , green chilies, coriander leaves, curry leaves – 1 tsp each (finely chopped)
    • Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
    • Black pepper – ¼ tsp
    • Salt to taste
    • Oil for shallow frying

Method of preparation:

Mix all the ingredients (except oil) to make a thin batter of flowing consistency and keep it aside for 10 minutes. Take a ladle full of batter and make dosa drizzling some oil on non-stick pan. Serve hot with chutney.

4. Brownie phirni!!

461996-rice-phirni

 

Ingredients:

Ragi & Rice flour (mixed) – 1/4 cup
Milk – 2 cups
Grated jaggery -1.5-2 tbsp
Dates puree – 1.5 tbsp
Dry fruits for garnishing

Method of Preparation:
Boil milk, add Ragi and Rice flour by mixing well and simmer. As the mixture thickens a bit add jaggery and cook till jaggery dissolves. Cool it and then add dates puree to it mix well. Serve cold with dry fruits.

5. Hara Bhara Dosa:

IMG_3012

Ingredients:

Rice, Lentil, Spinach dry red chillies, ginger, cumin seeds, asafoetida (hing), salt with some water

Method of Preparation:

Grind soaked rice and lentil coarsely. Make a batter of the mixture with spinach, dry red chillies, ginger, cumin seeds, asafoetida (hing), salt with some water. Make dosas out of the batter by shallow frying. Serve hot with chutney.

6. Soya Sticks:

 

sku12361_1440582896

Mash boiled Soya bean and mix it with boiled vegetables, season it. Make a small ball of the mixture and put it around the ice-cream stick like a lolly-pop and Grill it.

7. Colourful Bhel:

bhel-puri-recipe.580

 

Mix cooked chick peas, chopped cucumber, pomegranate, sliced onions, chopped tomatoes and coriander. Add lemon juice, salt, pepper and mix well and serve on any baked vegetable.

Try these Lip smacking snacks for your child and make them Healthy. It’s really hard to find out creative snacks for your kids. But just follow the basic guidelines while preparing snacks for your children which will also help you stay creative:

  1. Healthy
  2. Homemade
  3. Low Sugar/ starch
  4. Simple

Just follow this simple tip and I am sure your kids will love the snacks prepared by you. Also you can make your child eat Rainbow.

Encourage your child to make balanced food choices and fill each day with plenty of colourful fruits and vegetables. The more colours your children consume the more varied the nutrients their bodies are receiving. Make it fun and colourful !

Try these, but don’t be afraid to experiments on your own. Wishing you and your kids, a healthy, productive and joyous health.

By Leave a Comment

Shake off the salt habit!

ImageGen

My food won’t taste good at all if I don’t add salt to it. Salt has become a habit to such an extent that we not only use it while cooking but add extra from the top too. We need salt for enhancing our fruits’ tastes too. Surprising isn’t it??

Salt namely Sodium chloride contains 40% of sodium in it. We add this salt to most of our foods/recipes and thus it is considered to be the major source of sodium to our body. Also the sodium we are talking about is not completely bad the way it’s being projected. Sodium also performs some important functions in our body like regulating the nerves and muscles, controlling the blood pressure and thus the sodium concentrations need to be carefully controlled by the body. Most of us consume far more sodium than what our body would actually need. This excess sodium causes the body to retain too much water in the blood vessels which causes a rise in the blood pressure thereby increasing the risk of heart disease, kidney disease and even stroke.

Our daily limit of sodium consumption per day is given as 2300 mg which is actually completed by 1 teaspoon of our table salt itself. Surprised?

Now give a thought to how much salt and thereby sodium are we consuming!!

So are you thinking that you don’t really consume that much of salt specially because you don’t sprinkle salt from top or not even add much to your daily food?

Research in fact shows that 75% of salt or more precisely sodium comes from the processed and preserved foods that we consume on a daily basis which we might not even consider to be really overly salty.

One vegetable wrap with loads of cheese, tomato sauce and mayonnaise in it can give you sodium for next 7 days. Thus, this is the extra sodium you consume in addition to any extra salt to your food at home.

Solution for this is not of course cutting all sodium/salt out of your diet but let’s try to strike a chord somewhere in the middle.

Here is a salt check and a few tips to help us to cut down our salt intake and thereby our sodium intake too.

  1. Cut down your all obviously salty foods like salted nuts, fried moong dal, farsan, chips, powders, cheese, pickles, sauces, dry fruits, dry fish etc.
  2. Look out for the hidden sources of sodium and salt. Baked items, breads, whole bread too, biscuits, breakfast cereals even if they are sweet, stir in masalas, table sauces, soup powders, tinned fruits, vegetables, canned juices, frozen patties, parathas, nuggets, sausages contain loads of sodium and should be restricted as much possible. It is not always sodium chloride but it can be other salts of sodium like citrate, sorbitrate, glutamate, benzoate, carbonate, bicarbonate etc. MSG or monosodium glutamate present in soya sauce, schezwan and chilli sauce – the main sauces in our Chinese version foods is again extremely salty a very high source of sodium.
  3. Try to google for the preservatives- the E- series- you will be surprised to see that almost many salts of sodium are used for your favorite foods.
  4. Buy fresh foods like vegetables, fruits, cereals, pulses and not their remix version.Try to obtain the goodness of cereal from the wholegrain s instead of breads and pastries. Natural foods contain far less sodium than the preserved ones. Start eating the fresh homemade food. Use healthy cooking methods.
  5. Instead of salt, use herbs, spices to season your cooking. Lime juice, tamarind, kokam, vinegar, garlic, black pepper, and cinnamon help to add the flavor. Try making different marinade and spicy rubs to add flavor to your foods instead of plain salt.
  6. Taste your food before adding the entire quantity of salt you plan to add.
  7. Take the salt off your dining table. If you have to always go and get your salt you tend not to bother to get it. You can cut down your salt by adding less to your food slowly day by day. Research suggests that if salt is decreased very slowly it is not even realized.

So finally next time if you forget to add salt in your vegetable, stop yourself from adding extra salt and instead try eating the vegetable just without salt. Initially you may find it difficult. But soon you may realize that what tastes now is the original taste of the vegetable and the spices or herbs that you have added to it. It might prove to be a pleasant surprise to your taste buds too. This effort needs to be taken from our side as we all are aware that excess salt consumption can act as a silent killer in the body.

 

By Leave a Comment

Fish In Pesto Sauce

fish in pesto sauce

 

FISH IN PESTO SAUCE- RAJ BHALLA

The star of the dish is the Pesto Sauce which made my hardcore Punjabi food loving mom say WOW! So, you can imagine how good it was! This sauce is full of strong flavor of different herbs and nuts, truly amazing and it is sharp.

Cooking time-15 mins

Serves- 2

Recipe ingredients

  • Fish Fillets, I used Singhara (Cat Fish).
  • Mixed dried herbs
  • Salt and Pepper.
  • 1-2 tablespoons oil to pan fry the fillets (olive)
  • Basil leaves.
  • Mint Leaves
  • 4-5 Garlic cloves
  • Walnuts (you may use Cashew nut)
  • Little Olive oil extra

Recipe preparation

  1. First, we will make the Pesto sauce and It is very simple.
  2. Mix Basil, mint leaves, garlic cloves, little olive oil, walnuts, little salt and pepper in a grinder.
  3. Grind it well but not to a coarse paste. You should grind it only to the level where you can feel the grains of walnut. It should have a nutty bite.
  4. Your Pesto Sauce is ready. Keep it aside.
  5. Now, season the fillets with salt, pepper and Mixed herbs.
  6. Heat oil in the pan. Though make sure oil is not too hot. We will cook it on medium heat else on high heat else fish will burn from outside and won’t cook from inside.
  7. Sear the fillets and cook for 5 -7 minutes from both sides. Do check how well your fish is done. It should be white and fibery from inside once cooked. If it’s pale or off white, its not cooked.
  8. Once done, using a spoon, smear the pesto Sauce on one side while the fish is in the pan. Let it cook for another 2 minutes for the fish to absorb some flavors of the sauce.
  9. Serve hot.

For more recipes please visit www.betterbutter.in

 

 

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme places people at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the […]