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“Whatever I choose to do, I do it to get out of my comfort zone”

Harpreet

She is extremely hard working and does not give up easily. She does not like doing anything out of the ordinary. She loves to get out of her comfort zone and challenge herself. She started trying herself at outdoor activities such as trekking just three years ago. Today, she is lighter and fit with loads of stamina and very comfortable in the outdoors. Now she is getting ready for her next big challenge- trekking to Everest Base Camp. Let’s hear Harpreet Gondal’s story in her own words.

It all started with me wanting to go to Hemkund Sahib- a holy place for the Sikhs which is at a fairly high altitude in Uttarakhand, so I started trekking in the Sahayadris and working out regularly to be able to make the holy trip. I started training with a personal trainer from January 2013.Unfortunately, the Uttarakhand landslide led me to cancel my plans and then came Oxfam Trailwalker in the picture. So, I focused my energy to prepare for the 100km trail walk with a bunch of girlfriends. We started trekking once every month and proudly called our group the “Trekkerinas”.

Ever since I started working out there has been no looking back. GOQii has helped me to further strengthen my resolve to exercise every day. Having successfully completed the trail walk only led me to believe that I could do more. Thereafter, I did two 10km runs and finally the 21km in January 2014. I got encouraged to do more and that’s when a bunch of us GOQii players decided to go do the Markha Valley Trek in Ladakh. It was our first time to Ladakh and high altitude trekking.

Though I completed the trek, I would not term it to be a success for me. But, it did teach me a lot about myself and my body. This is where my coach and the GOQii team (Anusha and KK) were very helpful. Just watching and listening to people like them made me believe that I should keep training and keep trying. This motivation and the sheer will to keep going and not let being a mom, wife, being overweight etc pull you down was all thanks to GOQii.

When I got on to GOQii sometime around early 2014, my health goal was to become fitter to be able to do all the adventure activities that I strived for. That’s been my sole goal. Of course, I want to shed the extra kilos but, being mentally and physically stronger has always been a bigger goal for me. I also wanted to make a permanent lifestyle change, I have oscillated enough with yo-yo diets and wanted to get over that phase. GOQii has helped me make a lifestyle change and now I feel far more comfortable with my body, my self-image, more peaceful and happy with the way I lead my life.

With GOQii, I have realized that you shouldn’t wait to shed that weight and then attempt the adventures you always wanted to do, there is no right time, just go ahead and start doing why you want, you will learn in the process but, of course, one must focus on training to their best capacity and capability.

GOQii has made me conscious about the correct food habits to adopt not just for myself but for my children as well. I am more aware and conscious of my physical well-being and I absolutely love the control I have on myself now.

As for EBC, I would say whatever I choose to do, I do it to get out of my comfort zone. I have been looking forward to this challenging trek. Going to the mountains for me is a ‘Soul Spa’.

What does Coach Hardika Vira have to say about Harpreet Gondal

Harpreet is extremely sincere and dedicated. Knows what she wants and tries her best to achieve it.We were working on her inch loss and she desired to become fitter and lighter so that she could trek easily. She has been truly dedicated to workouts from the start. Currently, she is working more on her endurance and strengthening exercises, – there’s a good combination of workouts to be done for a longer duration, low intense to improve stamina and endurance and strengthening exercises to help improve lower, upper body and core strength which is very important when you trek. But, not to forget about the rest period that is required for complete recovery of muscles.Nutrition wise – We ensured healthy balanced meals throughout the day. Concentrated on good pre and post workout meals.

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“I can run up to five to six kilometers today which I could never do before”

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He did have a proactive life in the past being in the development sector but, monotony sacked his lifestyle and health became an unimportant aspect to look after. His body repudiated any form of physical activity after a slip disk issue he had in the past and slowly fear dominated his mind with respect to carrying out any form of exercises. His body kept pulling him down with various other health issues but he decided not to give up. Take a look at what Amit has to say about his journey…

I have been working in the development sector for almost 17 years now and have had jobs that have kept me active but, as I have grown in my career path it’s become more sedentary, with minimal fieldwork involved.

Then came a point in my life around the year 2008 when I had a slip disk and with that came a drastic downswing in my physical activity due to which I gained a distinguished amount of fat especially in the abdomen and the face and eventually fear kept creeping up my body against any form of physical activity.

Moving on, I finally decided to do something about it because my stamina and immunity kept deteriorating, I kept falling ill with every change in season and unfortunately I also had sinusitis. So I summoned up all my courage and went and joined the gym. This was around October 2015.

What happened next? Well, I strained my back badly and two months after joining the gym a friend of mine introduced me to the concept of fitness bands. But, the band that he had was expensive so I did my own research and came across Goqii. When I studied the model and the product, I realised that it comes with coaching which in fact I found very interesting.

The coach concept with a fitness band was so enthralling, to have someone guide and motivate you all the time. You know that you can always count on someone out there who is constantly checking up on you. I immediately decided to discontinue my gym membership because I wasn’t getting the kind of support I needed in that environment.

I took GOQi in January 2016 and I got Saba Mirza as my coach. You won’t believe it but, I literally ensure that I am reading my step counts throughout the day and tend to remain as active as possible. My diet, exercises, and my movements are all tracked by her. The prime thing for me right now is the persistent encouragement that I receive from my coach. I know a lot about my body today and I would entirely give my coach the credit for this knowledge I have gained.

Before coming onto the GOQii platform I wanted to accomplish two health goals for myself:

1. Resolve my back problem for which I have started doing yoga exercises and,

2 to Lose weight

Since January 2016, I have successfully lost six kilos, my stamina and immunity have substantially increased and I am entirely positive about myself. There is so much optimism in me now.

As for my diet, in the past, I used to consume oily and junk food. I also sometimes indulge in over eating. All that has stopped now and my diet today has taken a complete shift. I am eating smaller meals frequently throughout the day.

I am a changed person today. The discipline in my life has changed me completely. I am more energetic and agile now and that is helping me complete all my work on time. So much so that the filing of all my important documents and personal papers which were pending for ages have finally found their right places. People around me have noticed the changes in me. They say that I am calmer and less anxious than before.

I can run up to five to six kilometres today which I could never do before and guess what? The salad is something I am going to eat for the rest of my life!

What does coach Saba Mirza have to say about Amit Gordon?

Amit and I started working on his health goals three months back and since then he has been doing well in every goal and every challenge that he sets for himself. His long-term goal is to get a fit and a trimmed body as well as a healthy mind. Our focus was to resolve his back issues, improve sleep quality, enrich the meals with various nutrients and increase the stamina and endurance for the workout. For this, we follow SMART goals and habits for him

  1. a) Incorporating interval training in his normal daily,
  2. b) Doing Yoga and Meditation daily in the morning,
  3. c) Drinking turmeric milk daily at bedtime
  4. d) Having a fruit before running

And right from day one, he is putting all his sincere efforts to be consistent in this targets. Along with that, I have thrown few challenges in his way such as the sugar-free challenge for five days with which he was so intrigued that he himself extended it to seven days. And most outstanding one was the 500 karma point challenge in 21 days which he with all his determination and vivaciousness, achieved within 12 days.

The uniqueness in working with him on his health goals is his yearning to learn new thing and his readiness to accept the new changes. For example, we have started working on increasing his immunity and to prevent the frequent muscle injury. To achieve this, I asked him to add a rich source of omega 3 fatty acid, either from a food source or in the form of supplements.

He took the suggestion and started on cod Liver capsules daily. As part of his journey, we are also working towards incorporating a healthy lifestyle for him. Within this goal weight loss has become a by-product. We are still working on making his life fitter and healthier than before and putting all our efforts to be consistent with these healthy habits and goals.

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Having a time commitment is important to achieve a health goal

What a feeling : Manish in blue relaxing with his 100 km oxfam trail walk team.

What a feeling : Manish in blue relaxing with his 100 km oxfam trail walk team.

He has always known life to be busy until one day when he realized that it was not worth being unhealthy. He was sick of being fat and always heard from people around him how he needed to lose weight for his own health but, that just made him more frustrated. He knew that for it to stick, he needed to be the one who decided to get healthier. Today, he easily walks 10 km, clocks on an average 7k to 8k steps daily and is walking the path of fitness. Here is Manish Karve’s experience in his own words.

I work for a managed analytics company. I used to manage operations and more often than not worked the night shift. My work got the best of me, spending a significant amount of time in office sitting in meetings or in front of a screen. Add to the inactive life I led, I had terrible eating habits. The net result of all this was that I was unhealthy with ailments like back aches and perennial cold and cough.

My family life was suffering considerably. The time I used to be at home I spent sleeping. I was overweight. Like most people, life carried on. I was eating wrong and never had the time or desire to exercise. I did try my hand at playing a sport, going to the gym for working out but nothing really worked for me as I was not able to do anything that brought about a lifestyle change in me. I was nearing 40 and I thought to myself what was I doing with myself? I was scared for my health.

Given thatI worked with data, I thought a wearable might be a good idea, I tried the Jawbone Up but, it was a standalone fitness tracker and that connect with people was not there. It just helped you track what you do. So I gave that up as well. Then I had a chance meeting with Vishal Gondal who happens to be my schoolmate. During this meet he mentioned to me about GOQii and sent me a link for the Beta.Six months after the beta testing started I got a GOQii band for myself to try it out. Best decision ever!

What appealed to me a lot about GOQii was the personal coaching. There are qualified nutritionist, dieticians and other specialists who can help you chalk your fitness and health goals the right way. Unlike all the other things I tried to do to get fit and healthy, GOQii did just one thing-it kept me engaged thanks to the coaching.

My coach NehaMorche has done a brilliant job. She became my coach when I was at the crossroads of an unhealthy lifestyle. She did not come up with dramatic goals to achieve. She asked me to take baby steps and go slow. She brought about simple changes in lifestyle and nutrition which has helped me a lot.

She also helped me be more active. As I started getting active on a daily basis, I started improving my diet. I began walking one km in the beginning. Initially, it was difficult but, I stayed that I was going to achieve my goal of losing weight and increasing my stamina.I increased my walking and then took to running as well. I initially remember thinking how hard clocking 10,000 steps would be. But, I sweat through it and eventually it got easier.

Today, I am regularly going for walks, cycling at times and I actually go to a gym with a personal trainer. I have been able to easily run 10kms now. I did the 10 km run at Thane in February. I finished that race in just about an hour and a half. What an achievement I thought. I was so fired up! Now, I can walk 10-11 km without a huff. Two years ago I could not have even imagined doing all these things that I am currently doing. I clock on an average 8k to 10k steps daily. For me, I have to look at the GOQii app and see what I have done in a day to keep myself motivated.

As my fitness levels increased I also brought about a change in my nutrition. My coach brought about simple changes. I was such a lover of junk food and especially chaat. But, she did not ask me to stop it but instead told me instead of having a Bhel why not go have SukhaBhel with lots of nuts etc which is healthy. She gave interesting tips on what snacks to carry and what not to eat. I have also significantly reduced my intake of Coffee and tea.

I would eat fruits whenever I want to and Neha helped me understand few realities about when and how to eat fruits. She threw open lots of challenges to me and also gave great tips. In terms of activities too we worked up strengthening core and leg muscles. I then participated in the 2014 Mumbai 100 Oxfam Trailwalk and completed it successfully. That further gave a boost that I could do it if I wanted to. Then I also did the Trailwalk again in 2015. Talk about being a glutton for punishment.

My wife has seen the positive change in me and is happy.   All in all I feel positive and another aspect of positivity is also being able to donate karma points. Till date I would have donated close to about 8k points. My plan is to continue living this healthy lifestyle. After all, there is lot of belly fat to lose.

Is what I did that amazing? I don’t think so. I think it’s something that anyone can do. It didn’t cost a lot of money, but one has to be disciplined and dedicate time. Having a time commitment is important to achieve a health goal. I made an effort to be disciplined, gave up junk food and guess what? It is all so worth. I realized my reason to get healthy was more than just a want. I realized that if I want to be healthy, I have to decide to do whatever it takes and make it an everyday, lifestyle change.

What does Coach Neha Morche have to say about Manish?

Manish and I initially started work on increasing activity levels to increase stamina and be energetic as a goal. He wanted this as his goal as he travels a lot on work and always has a busy routine to form an activity routine for himself. Considering this I suggested some easy exercises which can be performed in the hotel room as well. Then he participated in the 100 Km Oxfam Trail walk in December 2014. It is only after successfully completing the trail walk that he realized that he needs to work on his belly fats, exercises were suggested accordingly. He put in efforts to follow a routine. Eventually he began to do regular walks and slowly moved on to running. He also got regular with logging in food data and I was able to understand his pattern of meals and suggest balanced nutrition for him. Overall he managed to make lifestyle changes despite his busy schedule.

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“GOQii’s approach to fitness is very motivating,workable and enriching that I easily managed to trek to Everest Base Camp

Enroute to EBC_ Walking the long bridges

Enroute to EBC_ Walking the long bridges. Photo Courtesy – Roland Amon

He is a filmmaker and started his own production house. Since then Life has been hectic for this young lad. He does indulge in travelling and exploring. He realized that as he was not going to stay young, which needed him to be fitter both mentally and physically…..so here is what Ridhesh Sejpal did…… his story in his own words.

I am a filmmaker and the Co-founder of Wise Guy Ent, which is where I started my entrepreneurial journey. Having my own production company makes my schedules generally hectic. To add to that I also travel for work and otherwise. These aspects give me limited time to do any kind of workout.  Although, I would make it a point to wake up early and hit the gym as often as I can.

But, at times when I am shooting or travelling, I would miss out on my gym training. During work / shoots, my sleep pattern would go haywire. On the nutrition front, I had the My fitness pal app and I followed it religiously for 3 months and also lost about 9-10 kgs, but after that, I was just aware.

I realized that I am not going to stay younger and it was all the more important for me to get fitter both mentally and physically. I wanted to be active on a daily basis and hence started looking out for a fitness tracker that could track my fitness progress. I came across “GOQii”. I researched to find out it was an Indian brand. I liked the idea of a personalized coach, who would keep track of your fitness, nutrition and overall health. I decided to go for it and got my GOQii band in August 2015. My health goal when I got the GOQii band was fitness for Everest Base Camp (EBC). I wanted to be extremely fit for the EBC trek that I was doing in November 2015.

Ruksar, being my coach did not give me goals but habits to follow. Since I am a vegetarian, she gave me tips on how to increase my protein intake in my regular diet. Her suggestions were also all practically doable. Nothing was impossible.

I had never trekked earlier in my life, therefore, I did some research and there were 3 things I wanted to concentrate on – to increase lung capacity, concentrate on strengthening my leg muscles and build stamina. I also joined a Les Mills & Cross Fit training classes for 3 months and made it a point to go religiously. My trek to EBC was challenging, terrific and breathtaking all at the same time! No words or pictures can elucidate to what I saw, felt and experienced up there in the Khumbu valley in Nepal!

Mission Accompalished-Ridesh standing 2nd from right with his friends at EBC summit

Mission Accompalished – Ridesh standing 2nd from right with his friends at EBC summit. Photo Courtesy – Roland Amon

I want to sincerely thank my coach Ruksar with all one’s heart for being a superb coach throughout. Pushing me daily and sticking to the basics. She helped me complete the trek successfully. Thanks to her coaching and my efforts, my lungs could endure the lack of oxygen and my muscles could survive the physical torture pretty well.  We did it!

During the trek, I also kept her diet sheet in my mind. My Coach’s “GPRS” (G Stands for Grilled, P stands for Poached, R stands for Roasted and S stands for Steam) rule, stuck with me and. I consciously followed it while I ate and I still do.

My takeaway from this experience was the solutions and advice my coach gave me. They were all practical and something which I can follow routinely all throughout my life. I feel GOQii’s approach to fitness is very motivating and workable / enriching. I have been able to inspire my family and friends, to the extent that a few family members and friends have now got the band already. My next big goal for 2016 is to run the Marathon.

What does Coach Ruksar Nathani have to say about Ridesh?

His primary goal was to loose belly fat, be fit and stay healthy apart from fitness for EBC trek. He was doing well with his activities so we started working on his food habits, introduced mid-meals, warm lemon water and salads and also worked on stress by setting a goal for breathing exercise. Ridesh religiously followed all the short term goals and as a result, there was inch loss at belly and was happy about eating well and was fitter and healthier than before.

I was informed 15 days before his EBC so I did a little research and summarized everything for him which included:
1. Obstacles that he will be facing
2. Ways to tackle those
3. Daily food options to be eaten before the trek for proper nutrition as there was intense exercise going on for building stamina and strengthening.
4. Food sources high in chlorophyll and food to be avoided that will deplete oxygen.
5. Food to be carried during the trek.
6. Food options when and where to eat while on a trek.

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