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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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Set small goals that are easy to achieve

Relaxing: Hemant in a meditative mode

Relaxing with Meditation: Hemanth in a reflective mode

At 22 years old he led the most sedentary lifestyle. While sitting down all day may seem harmless, but, he was not surprised that it was having a negative impact on his health. Being aware of the problem and not knowing how to go about rectifying the problem… is the story of most people’s lives. However, Hemanth Kumar did not lose heart and found a way out to get motivated and get on his path to fitness. His story in his own words.

I am a mechanical engineer and I have been working in shifts. Shift work means sleep and food patterns are erratic. Further due to lack of any form of exercise or physical activity, I would always feel lethargic. So much so that I would not be interested in doing anything. As for my daily diet, I would have 3 heavy meals namely breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It was no surprise for me that sitting behind a desk, commuting or relaxing on the couch for too many hours a day can be harmful to my health, but what I was not aware of was the extent of havoc it is causing my body. I realized it while I was reading an article on health.

After I finished reading it I was scared for myself as I was young and could not take it lightly. I had to do something to change my lifestyle before my condition got worse. I also read that most health professionals recommend walking 10,000 steps a day (approximately 5 miles = 8 Km). It is the ideal goal to set for improving health and reducing the health risks caused by inactivity.

This statement got me thinking and I started researching on various sites like Amazon and the likes looking for a fitness tracker. I was wanting a health gadget that could get me on track. Something that could track my fitness and other aspects. And, I came across GOQii. I read several reviews and content on GOQii. I was convinced with what I read. The best part was that it came with expert advice from a coach. I was relieved that there will be somebody to monitor my progress. So I was not going to be alone on my path to a healthy lifestyle.

GOQii is also about getting people to change their lifestyles without doing anything drastic. Changes are brought about purely through new healthy habit formation and letting go of your old unhealthy habits. I bought my GOQii band on December 25th and Dr. Afsha Shaikh is my coach.

I discussed my lifestyle with my coach and we zeroed in on my health goal. My first health goal was to get into a regular exercise regime, daily target to clock 13k steps and an increase my intake of protein which I lacked.

My coach got me into regular exercising. She also altered my diet. Instead of having three heavy meals a day. I started having small and frequent meals. I have also started including fruits in my diet which were missing earlier. Many of what my coach added to my diet were something I was aware of but never got around to having them. My water intake was also poor prior to GOQii and now I drink 2.5 litres of water daily without fail.

I have learnt a lot by being on the GOQii platform. While researching on health and fitness I remember reading “traditional thought suggests that having a healthy diet and getting aerobic exercise will offset the effects of time spent being sedentary. Even if you exercise for 30 minutes a day, you may not be able to counteract the effects brought on by the lack of activity throughout the rest of your day. Rather, the solution seems to be less sitting and more moving overall”.

That is exactly what my coach got me to do. She got me to start moving. My coach helped me set small goals and also guided me on how to achieve it. Today, I feel good about myself and more energetic. I am also fitter than before.

What does Coach Dr. Afsha Shaikh have to say about player Hemanth Kumar?

Hemanth Kumar had a long term goal to lose fat, extra inches, and weight. We had set some small term goals to increase fiber intake and I must say he was one of my dedicated players who has been following his goals seriously. Also, he has been very good with maintaining his step count which has reflects his enthusiasm in doing some good physical activity. On the days he could not complete his step count, he would make up for the loss over the weekend.  Initially, we had decided on exercising in the morning then when he got on the night shift he could not do morning exercises and therefore, we decided we would do exercises as and when possible. This decision suited him appropriately and he became more regular with his exercise.

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Rickets: Types, symptoms and treatments

It’s natural that most mothers want their child to grow and be normal and in this process keenly observe every little change that occurs in their child. I am a mother too and therefore I felt the need to write a blog on the issue commonly faced by children –Rickets

It is a deficiency of Vit D, calcium or phosphorus also known as Osteomalacia. It involves softening and weakening of bones in children due to deficiency of Vit D. The softening occurs due to loss of Calcium in the skeleton as a result of which bones become flexible and gradually are moulded by forces such as bearing weight, that are exerted on them thus leading to deformities of the body structure.

There are various types of rickets:

  1. Nutritional Rickets- Due to dietary deficiency of calcium, Vit D. You can correct it with including good sources of Calcium, Vit D, phosphorus.

Sources of Vit D include sunlight, fatty fish, milk, mushrooms

Sources of Calcium include Milk and products, gingelly seeds, Ragi, tofu, soy milk, figs, rajgeera (Amaranth seeds), Almonds, figs etc.

Sources of phosphorus include milk and products, ricebran, pulses and legumes, rajgeera(amaranth seeds), pumpkin seeds, colocasia leaves, gingelly seeds, carrot , bajra, maize etc.

  1. Hypophosphatemic Rickets- As the name suggests this particular form of Rickets is caused due to low levels of phosphate. Bones become painfully soft and pliable. It is caused by a genetic dominant X-linked defect in the ability for the kidneys to control the amount of phosphate excreted in urine. It is not caused by Vit D Deficiency. Children suffering from this type of Ricket show obvious symptoms by the time they are 1 year of age. Treatment is generally through nutritional supplementation of phosphate and active form of Vit D.
  2. Renal Rickets- Caused by a number of kidney disorders. Persons suffering from kidney disorder have decreased ability to regulate amounts of electrolytes lost in urine which includes electrolytes like calcium and phosphate. Thus, these individuals develop symptoms similar to those of rickets

Treatment includes correcting the leading cause of renal disorder

Symptoms include

  1. Bone pain/tenderness
  2. Dental deformity
  3. Delayed formation of teeth
  4. Decreased muscle strength
  5. Impaired growth
  6. Short stature
  7. Skeletal deformities- bow legs
  8. rachitic rosary(rib cage abnormalities)
  9. Tetany i.e. involuntary muscle contraction) or seizures in severe cases

Treatment/ Prevention:

For Nutritional Deficiency Rickets

  1. Correcting nutritional deficiencies by incorporating more of Calcium, phosphorus and Vit D 3 sources
  2. New mothers have to be advised Vit D supplementation to their new borns as breast milk is low in Vit D especially with regards to low birth weight infants
  3. Gradual administration of oral doses of Vit D after consulting a doctor

For hypophosphatemic rickets and kidney/renal Rickets

Need to consult doctors and get the underlying cause corrected.

1) Skeletal deformities- bow legs

ricketsbone

2) rachitic rosary(rib cage abnormalities)

ricket

 

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Secrets of Muscle Building

 

Muscle-Building-Dietfood-and-exercies

Most people whom I have come across in gyms want to only build muscles. But, after certain period of time the body stops giving results. In short, there is absolutely no improvement or change in the muscles and the body is just the same. In fact most end up losing muscle mass and seeing these results one gets de-motivated and stops going to the gym.

One needs to overcome such situations. I strongly believe in the statement, ‘losers never win and winners never quit’. So don’t give up and ahead with the following muscle building strategies

  • Scientific Workout Routine for Weight Training:

Scientific workout routine is very essential for muscle building. It should be a good combination of primary muscle group as well as secondary muscle group. Here, I would like to give the example of shoulder workout followed by the triceps workout. Every compound movement for the shoulder exercise, the triceps are working. So apply this formula to other muscle groups as well such as the back and biceps, chest and triceps.

 

  • Always start exercise with compound movement and end with isolation movement: In compound movement more than 1 joint are involved where as in isolation movement only a single joint is involved. We can start with the chest exercise with press movement and end with fly movement. In press movement, the muscles of the chest, shoulders and triceps are involved. The fly is the isolation movement here we target only the chest muscles.

 

  • Never neglect Cardio and Stretching

Cardiovascular exercise is very essential for muscle building. It helps to recover the muscle tissues. It helps to provide maximum oxygenated blood during the exercise. Instead of neglecting the cardio go for the no impact cardio exercise like elliptical or cycling. Good static stretches after workout will ensures the recovery of your muscles in the shortest possible time.

 

  • Nutrition

Balanced nutrition is very essential for muscle building. It’s applicable to one and all and not only to those who want to build the muscle. Try to consume healthy meals in regular intervals of 2 to 3 hours. Nutrition involves regular intake of breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, Pre workout meals and post workout meals and other meals.

 

  • Rest and recovery

Good rest and recovery ensures you good fat loss and muscle building .Muscles are growing during the rest and recovery .Whichever muscle and tissues utilised in a day get repaired during sleep and rest .

 

All the above guidelines will help you the maximum muscle growth.

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