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“I have achieved the impossible and that is a change of attitude towards health, happiness and fitness”

dis

“Fitness is not about being better than someone else… it’s about being better than you used to be.” – unknown
Impossible – can be broken down to I’m Possible – and this is the one thing that comes to mind when you see the progress Namitha, a GoQii player of a year has made. Once a salad dodger and a soup skipper who couldn’t care less about exercise, Namitha has seen a remarkable change in her life, having lost 24 kgs in the last 11 months.

This is her story –

“I have never been on the slim side of the scale. Right from childhood, as far as I can remember, I have been pleasantly plump and easy going. My love for food dominated my life style and I was very pleased with myself, despite hovering on the higher side of the 2 digit weight figure. My double pregnancies became a good reason to pacify myself for the increase in my weight.

Although I had tried dieting before, the weight always crept back! Further, I had issues like PCOD since 16/17 years and chronic ache in the heel.

Two years ago, work required me to move to Bangalore. My desk job, coupled with canteen food and a sedentary lifestyle increased my weight and lethargy more than ever. It was not till Februrary 2016, on my birthday, that I was confronted with the rudest shock! My weight had reached the 3 digit mark! This is when a friend of mine who had seen drastic results from being a goqii player recommended the Goqii band and encouraged me to become a player.
I was assigned Kiran, my coach for who I will be eternally grateful for. Kiran set very small targets for me in the beginning starting with the basic 10k steps. She was always available for me and I recall how much I have nagged her. Kiran’s patience and encouragement along with my perseverance has paid off.

I introduced dietary changes in my food – from slowly cutting down on the carbs (I am a rice lover!) and adding sprouts and salads, fruits and soups to my diet. I played with smaller portions. Now it amazes me to see people actually polishing off a whole plate of biryani and to think I used to do the same.

I loved the fact that Kiran was pushy but not drastically so; just the right amount of push that someone like me needed. She guided me and was so dedicated which further pushed me to do my best.

Today, I am a whole new person. I took part in the 5 kms marathon on March 29th this year and this is a person who hated walking, running was a far cry. My friends and family are proud and ecstatic with my achievements. In fact, my husband joins me for my morning jogs. I realised that I don’t feel as restless during physical exertion like i used to and my recovery rate is faster than before as well. The pain in my heel has close to vanished. In fact, just yesterday, I climbed up six floors of a building. These are things I would have never imagined I would do even in my wildest dreams.
For someone who only went to the limited plus size stores, today I proudly walk into regular stores and am thrilled to be able to choose from a variety. People who see me are shocked to see the remarkable change and I keep telling every one of the benefits of being a Goqii player.

The last one year has been a memorable journey, a momentous one actually. I have achieved the impossible and that is a change of attitude towards health, happiness and fitness!

What does Coach Kiran Madari have to say about her player Namita?

Namitha is an awesome person. As a coach I am really proud of her and her achievement. Namitha was very worried before starting on GOQii as she was on the heavier side weighing 114 kg with PCOD and she wanted to lose weight, be healthy and wanted to be a girl which she was before. She was very consistent in following my advice and worked very hard to achieve her goals. We have been together in this journey. Whenever she had challenges like guest coming, festivals, illness, she used to ask me for my support and followed whatever I told her and stayed on track.

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“Coach’s guidance and motivation along with my willpower has helped me achieve my goals to lead a better, fitter and healthy lifestyle”

Prashant Bhatia-solo

Prashant Bhatia, 36, is an IT Professional and was always active but, he was not at his optimum level of fitness. He was more of a weekend warrior and not too serious about a daily work out and moreover took things for granted. Until one day when he realised he was doing no good to himself and decided to rectify his habits and get serious about a good routine workout. The result of this change has been that he reduced about 10 kgs in about 8 months’ time and since then has maintained his weight, is active on a daily basis and eating and living healthy. Here is Prashant’s transformation story in his own words.

For a while, I was thinking of wanting to change the way I was physically and mentally. I was active but not consistent enough. Then I happened to read about GOQii on Amazon and the way they managed your health. I learnt that GOQii was more than just a fitness tracker. It did not just help in tracking your daily step count but also guide you on how to lead a good lifestyle.

I was quite impressed with what I read as I was looking for something like GOQii. I was looking for more guidance coming my way to improve the way I live. In September 2015, I went in for a 3-month subscription of GOQii. At this point in time, I weighed around 83 kgs. My weight more or less hovered around this level.

I chose Jyoti Kumawat as my coach. In our first intro call, she asked all about my daily routine, what I do, what I eat, when I eat etc and after that call, I realised so many things for changed drastically and changed for the better.
Just to give you a perspective, before I came on board GOQii, my day used to start with tea and biscuits as breakfast. Fried food at times. I never ate salads, milk or buttermilk. Fruits were nil from my diet All that has changed with me eating healthy food and being active on a daily basis.

I now take time out to go a daily walk or a jog. Lots of foods have been added to my daily diets such as Milk, dry fruits, salads and fruits. Fried items are deleted from my diet list and I have started having buttermilk as well. My urge for tea has also reduced and if I do crave for a tea then I have plain green tea.

These changes were implemented slowly and not all in one go. We proceeded one step at a time. My coach has done a fantastic job and I followed everything she said and hence this positive change in me. Initial 4-5 months I still hovered around my weight of 82-83 and then gradually as two months passed I started reducing and I have now lost around 10 kgs and I am maintaining my weight at 71-72 kgs.

One and half years since I am on GOQii and I can proudly say, I feel good about myself as my lifestyle has changed for the better and I am more healthy. I have been jogging or walking at least 8-10 km a day.

I then suddenly developed a knee issue (ACL Sprain) due to which I had to go in for treatment. I took complete rest for 3 weeks and did not train my legs. During this time my coach recommended that I start taking Curcumin extract which will reduce the inflammation. That helped me.

Overall, I feel awesome. I can definitely wear the jeans that I used to wear earlier because it would not fit and all. So I’m liking it. I can tuck my shirts in the jeans which I didn’t earlier as I was on the heavier side. I definitely feel better and lighter.

People around me too have seen the change and me. My colleagues especially have seen the change as I have stopped eating junk food, fried food etc. I have learnt a lot from my coach and I am thankful for that.

The reason today, I feel positive is that it’s not about just getting guidance from a coach but also that you yourself abide by what is being told to you. I had not followed what my coach told me I do not think I would have seen the positive results in me. I realised a lot of this has to do with your own self-motivation and willpower to change things for the better for yourself.

My goal when I bought the GOQii was to get into best shape physically, run a marathon and am I glad to say that I achieved both my goals within a year’s time of being on the GOQii platform. Six months ago I ran my first 10 km run and I was able to do this purely by walking and jogging daily and slowly building on that. I thought if I can do more in terms of maintaining my physique and my muscles by eating right, I think I will go long way. So going forward my intention is that.

What does Coach Jyoti Kumawat have to say about player Prashant Bhatia?

It feels so great when I roll back my eyes to the time when Prashant came on board, in September 2015. His health goal then was “Optimum fitness and Fat loss”. This was really a broad term as a goal….as he did not have a specific target in terms of his stamina, flexibility and eating habits. But, we started working on simpler habits like stretching and simple food habits like lemon warm water and as time passed he had a better view of his health goals. He started with 83 kg weight and within 6 months he lost 10 kgs weight and inches from his whole body and is now maintaining that 70 kg weight.

I remember I used to tell Prashant that “I will make sure you run marathon”, and he used to laugh it off. I motivated him and made sure he trained well and ate healthily. Today, I am so proud that he did participate in a 10 km marathon organised by one of the large sporting stores in Mumbai.

Prashant’s story started with simple changes in workout adding stretching and warm up pre workout and post workout cool down, then adding cardio, interval training to improve stamina and later on started with strengthening for stronger muscles. Giving different types of workouts- HIIT, Tabata, meditation for relaxation and yoga for flexibility has made him more dedicated towards his fitness and stamina. Starting from 3-5 kilometres walk, now he jogs around 7-10 kilometres daily. In addition to this he now also has pre and post-workout meals for better recovery and this has helped him gain better stamina.

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Did you know you can ‘drink’ your Vegetables’?

veggies

Do those leafy greens freak you out? Does eating 1 large cucumber, a bowl of spinach, 2 apples,2 carrots in one sitting seem like MISSION IMPOSSIBLE to you?  Hold on. Thanks to juicing, all of this can fit into one glass which can be gulped in less than 10 seconds. That’s not it; you are free to make it the way you want it to suit your palet. You can feel free to add any vegetable (carrot, tomato, cucumber, beetroot, spinach, bottle gourd, etc), fruit for flavour and sweetness (apple, pomegranate, orange, berries, papaya, melons and banana) and a few add ons like flaxseeds, chia seeds, mint, coriander, ginger, lemon juice, gooseberry.

Drinking just one freshly made vegetable juice each day is a reliable way of infusing your body with a wide variety of vitamins and minerals that can protect your body against pre-mature ageing and diseases. It’s the best bet for people who often tend to skip their breakfast due to a busy morning schedule.

It is a myth that the no.1 reason for juicing vegetable is weight loss. It’s just that juicing makes us so good that the weight loss is an added bonus! A major benefit of juicing regularly is that we stop craving for junk foods. Our body gets into the natural habit of declining processed sugar and opting for fruits/raw vegetables. We begin to crave for a glass of juice instead of a cup of joe!

Exploited in the right amount, juicing has many benefits on offer:

  1. Absorb all the nutrients – Cooking, frying and boiling the ingredients many-a-times leads to the destruction of a majority of the vital anti-oxidants and amino acids. Juicing helps prevent this loss and fortifies your dietary intake with a well rounded ingestion of all necessary nutrients.
  1. Eat as many vegetables that you have ever imagined – Let’s face it, on any regular day, we wouldn’t even dream of eating a bowl of boiled and sautéed spinach or broccoli; no matter how nutritious it’ll prove to be. But now, all we got to do is throw together all of the infamous leafy veggies into the blender, add in the juice of half a lemon for zing or an apple for sweetness, and we won’t even recognize the ‘rabbit food’ anymore.
  1. Make sure we don’t waste the fibre – After we have extracted the juice from the blender, don’t simply throw away the pulp. We can incorporate this leftover fiber into muffins, soups and gravies. Juicing does increase our anti-oxidant intake, but we lose out on natural fibers which aid digestion.  A completely juice-based diet will do more harm than good. It is meant to supplement our nutrition, not hamper it.
  1. Drink your juice right away – It is a very bad idea to juice large quantities at once and store it for consequent use. Under highly monitored conditions, vegetable juice can stay fresh for a maximum of 24 hours due to its unpasteurized nature. After this time span, the nutritional value declines steadily and the taste will also suffer. It is best consumed immediately.

Few things to keep in mind:

1.Make sure that we’ve removed all dirt or even bugs that may be hiding in the vegetables, particularly in the heads of broccoli, leaves of spinach or lettuce.

2.The key to making healthy vegetable juices is to make green vegetables the bulk of every serving. Green vegetables won’t spike your blood sugar and insulin level like fruits and sweet vegetables like carrots and red beets will. They can be healthy additions to our drinks, and they’ll definitely add sweetness and flavour.

3.In regards to the machinery required, our usual blender should do the trick just fine. However, if one is serious about juicing and wants to extract the best out of the ingredients – it would be beneficial to invest in a masticating Cold Press. The press slowly crushes the fruit or vegetable and prevents the application of heat as is the case in blades and blenders. Thus, ending up with healthier and highly-enriched juices, with preserved colour and nutrients. They are similar to the cold pressed juices available in the market.

A guide to build a perfect veggie juice:

Step A : Choose a base :

Water, coconut water, green tea, almond milk

Step B : Choose your veggies:

Spinach, broccoli, lettuce, celery, cucumber, carrots, beetroot

Step C : Choose a fruit :

Apple, grapes, melon, papaya, banana, peaches, kiwi, pineapple, pear

Step D : Optional add-ins :

Flaxseeds, chia seeds, ginger, gooseberry, lemon juice, honey, dates, almonds, nut butters,

Cinnamon, coconut oil, avocado, ice cubes.

Step E :

Blend and enjoy!

These is some serious life-sustaining stuff. So drink with gratitude and enjoy knowing that you’re taking great care of yourself.

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Healthy options to add in Milk

saffron-infusing

There is no denying that malt based drinks are a common ‘health food drinks’ in most houses today as has been for a few decades now. There are enticing ads claiming the benefits of these health drinks and how it is nutritious for your growing child. There are ads all over in News Papers, Magazines, TV and even online.

The other day, I was watching one such TV commercial that was promoting a malt based drink. The commercial in its usual enticing style of selling the product mentioned, the malt powder when added to milk – improves the quality of the milk. I kept wondering what is in that powder that helps them improve the nutritive value of Milk.

Out of curiosity to understand more, I went through couple of food labels of malt based milk drinks, I realised that most of these powders have a cereal base (any flour including wheat flour), soy, milk powder, loads of sugar, a flavouring agent like cocoa powder, and some vitamins and minerals.

These ads are so welcoming that most give in and buy the product. And, they don’t come cheap. They cost approximately Rs 300-Rs. 500 per kg. But, do we actually need to spend so much for just a cereal based powder with so much of sugar, colour and preservatives? And do they actually improve the quality of milk? How many of us know if these claims that have been made are true? Are these ‘health’ drinks truly healthy?

The ads claim that these health drinks helps absorb calcium from milk. Well, the truth is sugar hinders absorption of calcium and also depletes phosphorus. And, most of these powders contain loads of sugar.

The most common query I have come across while dealing with children, adolescence and a few adults too is they don’t like plain milk or are worried that whether plain milk would be sufficient. Hence, I have come up with few healthy options that will increase the nutritive value of milk and a few tasty options which make the milk taste better.

Healthy options

    1. Saffron: – Saffron milk is traditional milk in Indian families used only during special occasions, due to the high cost of saffron. The benefits of saffron are just as rich as the spice itself. It prevents cancer, helps in puberty in undernourished girls and helps grow healthy hair and skin. If this milk is had on a daily basis, it develops immunity, it prevents common cold and cough.

    1. Chestnut (Singhara) powder– The Potassium rich Chestnuts not only good for people with high blood pressure and heart patients but, are also very useful for pregnant women. They give a feeling of fullness hence also helps in weight loss. I enjoy adding chestnut powder during summer in my glass of milk as it gives cooling effect and prevents back pain.

    1. Turmeric: – Curcumin rich turmeric milk is one of the oldest and the best grandma’s recipes. It is the best home remedy for cold and cough. One cannot deny the benefits that turmeric milk gives as against antibiotic pills? In the west, Curcumin tablets have become a big craze and people are paying a bomb to buy and consume these tablets. On the other hand in India, turmeric is an integral ingredient in every kitchen. Let’s have yellow milk, to fight infections, body pains or just to feel fresh.

    1. Oats: – This fibre rich cereal is always suggested in my diets for people who just have milk for their breakfast. Adding on oats completes the meals by combining the good quality protein that is present in milk with high fibre carbohydrates. Adding a fruit or dry fruits to oats porridge is like a cherry on cake.

    1. Almonds and Pistachio powder: –Almond Milk (Badamdhoodh), just like saffron,also has traditional value to it. You also find these flavors in the market powders too. However, they come with lot of synthetic flavors. Instead, it takes just a few minutes to powder almonds and pistachios and the full packet of a kilo gets ready for a month’s use. The benefits of these dry fruits are known to most. They benefit people of all age group, from children to old age. The impact of it on brain and memory boosting makes it my favorite family drink.

Tasty options

  1. Dark cocoa: – Those who have been bought up with common chocolate flavoured milk find it a little tough to shift to other flavours. Hence, opting for a dark cocoa powder would be a healthy option. Dark Cocoa has a lot of antioxidants that boost cardio vascular health.

    1. Ragi – This one is my son’s favourite option as he always misunderstands it as chocolate milk. This calcium rich cereal is naturally a little sweet, and gives a perfect chocolate brown colour to the milk. Point to note- Use a small quantity (1 tsp. in 1 cup milk) of this flour as it is a thickening agent and the milk may get lumpy if used in a large quantity. Ragi porridge is a perfect drink for growing kids, pregnant women and elderly.

ragi

    1. Fruit– Milk can be an enjoyable drink at any time by preparing it as a milkshake. Those who find it boring to chew a fruit on daily basis can surely combine it with milk. For weight watchers, combine milk with fruits like watermelon, apple or kiwi whereas weight gainers can go for some high sugar fruits like mango, banana, figs etc.

    1. Dates: – Now this option is for sweet addicts who do not find any other options palatable because of lack of sweetness. They can freely use dates to sweeten their milk. This would be a very healthy post work out meal and filling snacks for young children.

You can also combine 2 options together, for eg:- A fruit/dry fruits and oats or pop in some flax seed powder in your singhara powder.

So if you find these options convenient for your daily milk dose, then dump those so called ‘Health Drink’ powders and “GO ALL NATURAL”.

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