GOQii

Blog

Search Results for: nutrition

By 14 Comments

How to lead a Healthy Lifestyle?

Healthy Lifestyle
Living a healthy lifestyle is easy…hmm…really? I am afraid it is not. I have been asked this question an umpteen times and my answer has always remained that one should strive to change their routine or habits to maintain physical and mental health, both of which works simultaneously.

Seldom have we found people doing this. Healthy habits are not taken care of by majority of people. Considering the fast paced techno savvy lives that we all lead money is something that everybody is chasing and in the process forget to take care of themselves and their health.

To lead a healthy life one should eat healthy, exercise regularly, drink lots of water daily and reduce stress.

Here are a few healthy habits that can be practiced in our day to day life with no extra efforts irrespective of what age or gender you are.

In order to live a healthy lifestyle one should have a balance. Here is how you can get a balance in your life:

(i) Exercise for at least 45 mins five times a week

(ii) Consume 2.5 to 3  litres of water daily

(iii) Eat 6 -7 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner will remain main meals and mid- morning, mid-afternoon, mid-evening will remain small meals).

(iv)  Choose lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, nuts.

(v)   Choose foods that are low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars; look at the labels  because the first listed items on the labels.

(vi)  Control portion sizes; eat the smallest portion that can satisfy hunger and then stop eating.

(vii)  Snacks are OK in moderation and should consist of items like fruit, whole grains, or nuts to satisfy hunger,

(viii) Turn the TV off and get 7-8 hours of sleep everyday

(ix)  Follow a food pyramid which is –keep an eye on your portion size,

(x)   include fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily diet

Physical Wellness (For The Body)

  • Good Nutrition, Eating Right
  • Getting Physically Fit, Beneficial Exercise
  • Adequate Rest
  • Stress Management

It is said that ‘a sound mind is in a sound body’. This old adage is true and I am sure most of you will agree with me.

In order to live a mentally healthy lifestyle it is important to have control on our minds and emotions. It’s just not enough to have a positive attitude, mindful eating is equally important.

Do not let stress take over your life. Try to follow your dreams or engage in some kind of a hobby that relaxes you and relieves you of your stress. Try and avoid junk food as much as you can because that satisfies only your taste buds not your system’s hunger. Our body receives zero nutrients from it.

Emotional Wellness (For The Mind)

  • Positive Thoughts and Viewpoints
  • Positive Self-Image
  • Give and receive
  • Forgive
  • Love
  • Laugh
  • Inner calmness
  • Be outgoing

God gifted us super system it’s BODY so let’s nurture it by promising ourselves to sustain it by inculcating good habits.

By 1 Comment

What is Food Faddism – Crash Dieting?

Crash Diet

Food faddism is gaining lot of importance in today’s culture, influenced more from western culture. What do you mean by food faddism or in other words ‘Crash Dieting’? It means, temporary way to lose weight in a quick manner for a short duration!

As a nutritionist, I have come across many people longing for such diets, and when asked the reason why do they want to go in for such diets, they don’t have any specific reasoning. Like one individual who I was consulting came to me saying she just finds these crash diets quiet interesting and so out of curiosity, she just wants to give it a try! Another said, she has to surprise her hubby on his birthday by slimming down. Likewise, another said, she has to shed   five kilos in a span of ten days and get in shape, as her wedding is due soon.

I personally got intrigued to find out more about these crash diets and why do people indulge in them. In the yester years doctors recommended these diets to their patients from a therapeutic point of view to lose weight People are also influenced by the fact that some well-known celebrities have tried such diets and have succeeded and thus today these diets have become a trend.

Research indicates that these diets are very traditional by origin and dates back to eighteenth century. But, lately has gained lot of attention as people are getting worried about their so called ‘health’.

So what are these fad diets? There are plenty of them and one new one comes up every day such as cabbage soup diet, blood group diet, grape fruit diet, acai berry diet, Mediterranean diet and so on. I would like to take you through few of the popular ones

General Motor diet: It is commonly known as GM diet. One always thought GM diet was a diet where you ate genetically modified fruits and vegetables. But, no GM diet is a weight loss management plan developed by the General Motors Corporation to help keep their employees stay in shape. It is supposed to be followed for seven days. The pattern of the diet (Indianized version)  is listed below:

  • Day 1. All fruits. All kinds of fruit may be consumed except for bananas. 10-12 glasses of water should be consumed throughout the day.
  • Day 2. All vegetables. All sorts of vegetables may be consumed during the second day. Potatoes may be served during breakfast to boost energy levels
  • Day 3. Mixture of fruits and vegetables. A mix of fruits and vegetables may be consumed on Day 3, together with 10-12 glasses of water. Bananas are still not allowed in this day.
  • Day 4. Banana and milk. Skim milk and banana, together with the GM wonder soup or any type of vegetable soup may be served on this day.
  • Day 5. Brown rice, curd and tomatoes. Soybean curd or 1 cup of brown rice may be used as a substitute for beef, or a cup of cottage cheese
  • Day 6. Brown rice and vegetables. On Day 6, brown rice or other beef substitute will be matched with vegetables, but potatoes are still restricted. It is best to consume cottage cheese and soybean curd in vegetable bowls.
  • Day 7. Brown rice, vegetables and fruits. Two cups of brown rice may be consumed together with unlimited servings of vegetables and fruits. Fruit juice may also be taken along with 8-10 glasses of water.

 

  1. 1.       Atkin’s Diet: This diet was discovered by Robert Atkins to resolve his own issue of being overweight. It is a very low carbohydrate diet and high protein diet. the first phase ‘induction’ which  includes only 20gms of carbohydrates followed by other phase ‘on going weight loss’ wherein you can incorporate slowly add more vegetables, and you can include seeds, nuts, legumes, berries and other fruit, wine and other low-carb alcohol, and whole grains.
  2. 2.      South beach diet: The South Beach Diet is a diet plan designed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston and dietician Marie Almon. Although the original purpose of the diet was to prevent heart disease in Dr. Agatston’s own patients in the early 2000s, this diet focuses on eating right amount of carbohydrate and fats. It has three phases, you eat normal portion sizes in Phase 1, but all carbohydrate is restricted. This is the strictest phase in the diet and will last for two weeks. It emphasizes lean meats, such as chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish. Low-Glycemic-index vegetables are allowed as well as low-fat cheese, nuts, eggs. In Phase 2, some of the banned foods are slowly introduced. You should remain on it until you lost your desired amount of weight. Phase 3 is for maintenance and should be followed for life.
  3. 3.      Weight watchers diet: Weight Watchers International is an international company based in the United States that offers various products and services to assist weight loss and maintenance. It was founded by Jean Nidetch. The core philosophy behind Weight Watchers programs is to use a science-driven approach to help participants lose weight by forming helpful habits, eating smarter, getting more exercise and providing support.

I quiet fail to understand why people follow such diets blindly and believe in the figures that pop up on weighing scale? I have never understood this obsession to lose weight especially losing two to three kilos in short duration. They get happy seeing their weight reducing. But, what about gaining those back? When you are dieting, you are almost starving your body; also it does not get enough nutrients which the body requires. The first thing that the body loses while dieting is muscles and water (which are two most crucial elements for maintaining body metabolism). Muscles and water are easy to lose and that’s the reason why you lose weight.

The fat in the body which is the culprit stays behind and is very difficult to lose! The moment they come back to the normal routine (stop dieting) they gain extra fat than what they already   had which can be dangerous in the long term. Most really don’t care about the after effects that these crash diets can cause so long as they see their see their weight going down!

Being a professional nutritionist, I would never recommend such fad diets. I recommend that one should balance their lifestyle with proper nutrition and physical activity.

By 5 Comments

Fasting and Natural Detox

Fasting-and-Natural-Detox

What is fasting? According to me, it’s taking your body into starvation mode. Why do people fast? Fasting, in the various forms that people have observed throughout history, has been known to have a beneficial effect on health. However in a religious context, it is primarily a technique for seeking proximity to God and the divinity.

We are aware that every religion practices fasting in one form or another. For instance, Muslims follow Ramadan wherein they eat before sunrise and break the fast after sunset. Jains follows different patterns wherein some may eat only one meal per day, or some eat two meals, some don’t eat through the entire day and some fast for longer days (30 days)! Christians, follow lent wherein they abstain from eating red meat/fish/eggs/wine and fast for an entire day on Easter!! Being a nutritionist, I would not recommend fasting at all. Eating is a normal part of human existence and abstaining from eating is disruption in the very human rhythm of life.

What exactly happens during fasting and why would I not recommend it? As I just explained, when your body is in the starvation mode, initially some kilos would shed in terms of water and muscle mass, which will make you feel happy. But, the moment you start eating or come back to routine from that starvation mode, the weight would bounce back instantly. In fact you end up gaining more weight that you lost during fasting. The logic is it lowers your basal metabolic rate (BMR) (you tend to expend few calories) which in turn leads to gaining weight!

I would say eat to lose! I always recommend that one should eat at timely intervals to maintain the BMR. The basic idea is, higher your BMR, higher the chances of shedding kilos-provided you eat healthy stuff.

Fasting-and-Natural-Detox

Now let’s talk of detoxification, what exactly does detoxification mean? It means flushing out the toxins from your body which also relieves you from bloating, indigestion. It makes you lighter and energetic. Basically, it helps to rejuvenate self. People generally misconceive the idea of drinking lukewarm water with lime/ginger with weight loss! It’s a sheer myth. It would help in detoxifying your system more than helping you lose weight. If this was true, majority of the world’s population would have been slimmer!

There are many detox diets like, diuretic diet, fat flush diet, and clean diet and so on. If you ask me it’s unnecessary to go in for such diets when you can detoxify the body naturally. There are several ways to detoxify the system:

  1. Keep yourself well hydrated
  2. Avoid processed/junk food
  3. Avoid alcohol
  4. Get good sleep
  5. Eat lot of fibres
  6. Get indulged in good amount of activity

To sum it up; indulge in healthy eating which would make your life worth living! Stay fit and live a better life without welcoming any medical problems.

By Leave a Comment

Cook for a Smile

Chef Vikas Khanna brings together India Inc., CEOs to cook for a good cause.

One seldom gets a chance to watch top head honchos of India Inc., cook for a good cause. And when you do get a chance to be a part of such an event then you can consider yourself lucky. I was lucky to be a part of one such event on Sunday-May 18, 2014 at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai.

Smile Foundation’s ‘Cook for a Smile’ with chef Vikas Khanna was one of the most interesting charity events I have come across in a long time. Most often the charity events are bollywood and fashion centric with celebrities hogging the limelight more than the people for whom the charity or fund raising event is being done. Here truly, the lesser privileged kids were the stars and some of them got the opportunity to showcase their culinary skills by partnering with the CEOs.

I have always come across this debate of corporate people not doing enough for the lesser privileged or not supporting NGOs working towards good causes. The question is always how much is enough? But, the Sunday afternoon’s event reminded me that busy and well to do people occupying powerful positions in big businesses are also human beings who care as much about society as the rest of us.

Smile Foundation’s ‘Cook for a Smile’ event proved that, for one Sunday morning at least, big business and charity can come together to make some extra ordinary gestures. And who other than Vikas Khanna, the brand ambassador of Smile Foundation and who also runs his own foundation that is working towards the cause of World Hunger could have thought of an interesting idea like this. An extremely down to earth human being who is always smiling, Khanna, follows in the path of John D Rockefeller’s words who said “With every success comes big responsibility”. He says if one has achieved a successful position in life then one should try to make small contributions towards the lesser privileged in any which way they can.

And that’s precisely what the Sunday afternoon even did. It brought together 12 head honchos from India, to prepare their favourite recipe with the sole mission of supporting Smile Foundation’s ‘Nutrition for Better Literacy’. Each of these CEOs was joined by a junior master chef from Smile Foundation who acted as sous-chefs.  The CEOs who participated proved that they do have culinary skills apart from their exemplary boardroom skills.

It’s sad that while on one hand Indian cuisine is going global on the other hand malnutrition in India is at its peak. 3 out of 10 children in India have stunted growth. Therefore, Khanna is working towards providing nutrition to 5000 children this year. He says it’s a small beginning for a cause that is so close to his heart.

Off late the Indian economy is going through tough times and being philanthropic at such times is a tough call to take.  But, this caricature makes the decision of so many of these leading men and women of large corporations to take time out on a Sunday afternoon and cook food for those lesser privileged and raise funds is awe inspiring.

Among the CEOs who participated in this charity event was Vishal Gondal of GOQii Inc., who cooked ‘Ethyopian Spicy Chicken’ served with steamed rice along with his partner junior chef Shivam. Known to always take risks this time around too cooking Ethyopian Style Chicken was a big risk and secondly, it was something that aligns with Vishal’s idea of Karma or doing good. Vishal through GOQii has been supporting various causes of OXFAM.

Cook for a Smile

Ethyopian Spicy Chicken by Chef Vishal Gondal for Cook for a Smile

Vishal or for that matter none of the CEOs has ever cooked in front of such large audiences. For most it’s an interest which has never been pursued.  Both Vishal and his partner Shivam really enjoyed their cooking and won the runner up prize for their efforts. All the head honchos be it the young Arjun Bafna, MD of Seven Islands Harley-Davidson, Archana Kochhar, Founder and CEO of Archana Couture, Mohit Jain, regional director of Kitchen Aid, Arun Chatterje, VP-Depository Receipts BNY Mellon India to name a few, their goals were the same to make a difference in every which way that they can and this event was only a small gesture from their side to do good. They believe that they have achieved and reached the positions that they are in today, its only thanks to the people around them, their employees, society and they feel that if being in responsible positions they are able to help the lesser privileged then there cannot be anything better.

Most CEOs are understood to be associated with some cause either through their own organisations CSR activities or at a personal level. Like for instance Archana Kochhar is associated with Beti Foundation that work towards stopping Girl Child Foeticide, Smile Foundation and Project Crayons. Similarly, Arjun Bafna through the Bafna Group and Tata Motors support girl child education.

For Smile Foundation, this idea of Cook for a Smile was a unique idea. According to Vikram Singh Verma, COO of Smile Foundation, “One in every three malnourished children in the world is from India.  The consequences are long term and it prevents children’s overall growth, learning ability, going to school and a chance to come out of the vicious cycle of poverty for yet another generation. This also prevents the country’s growth”. Given this back drop and to bring about some real and permanent change in the lives of the most deserving children across India, this event was conceptualised and brought together like minded individuals like Vikas Khanna long with the Hyatt team and corporate leaders  for the ‘Cook for a Smile’ initiative.

Each of the 12 CEOs has contributed a decent sum towards this cause to Smile Foundation. Kitchen Aid also auctioned one of their products-Stand Mixer autographed by Chef Vikas Khanna. The Stand Mixer auction helped Kitchen Aid one of the sponsors of the event raise Rs 46,000 for Smile Foundation.

I think initiatives such as ‘CEO Cook for a Smile’ put the spotlight on the issue of malnutrition in this country whilst also raising money for this cause and providing as many as 5000 children education and nutrition for a year. Perhaps more importantly, though, the sight of wealthy business people and children working together for a good cause as an inspirational reminder of what can be achieved when all members of society contribute to achieve a common good.

Who better than successful business people can be better motivators as they themselves are motivated by compassion as any of us are. But big business – just like the government, charities, and ourselves as individuals – can and should do more to support causes such as this and push to eliminate malnutrition in this country. This kind of an effort will go a long way to help many children lead a decent life .

cook for a smile

From left to right: DR RAMEN GOEL, Ex-President, All India Association for Advanced Research on Obesity, MANOJ CHACKO, CEO, Kuoni Business Travel, Kuoni India, TEJBIR SINGH SAWHNEY, CEO, Hindustan Colas Ltd. MOHIT JAIN, Regional Director, Asia Pacific, Kitchen Aid, YASMIN POONEGAR, Director of Corporate Communications, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts – Southwest Asia Ltd. HERMANN GROSSBICHLER- EXECUTIVE CHEF, GRAND HYATT MUMBAI, ARCHANA KOCHHAR, Chef VIKAS KHANNA, NITYANAND SHETTY, Managing Director, Essen Vision Software Ltd. DAVID MANSFIELD, Area Director & General Manager, Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, SHRAVAN KUMAR, CEO, Children Film Society India ARUN CHATTERJEE, – Depositary Receipts BNY Mellon India VISHAL GONDAL, Founder and CEO, GOQii Inc. ARJUN BAFNA, Managing Director, Seven Islands Harley-Davidson

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 […]