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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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Save Your Lungs!!!

effects of smog

Recently, a sporty 6-year-old girl in Delhi complaint to her mother saying, “Mom, I feel no breath”. Now, this is alarming and also sad for the people in the capital city who are confined inside the four walls of their home. People are being warned from stepping out for workouts, cycling and runs.

A new study by the most reputed medical journal-‘Lancet’ in 2015 indicated that India topped the list of countries with pollution-related deaths, with 2.51 million people dying prematurely in the country that year due to diseases linked to air, water and other forms of pollution. India also topped the list of deaths linked to polluted air (1.81 million) and water (0.64 million). One-quarter of the world’s population now breathes unsafe air, according to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI).

Is this a new phenomenon for the Delhi-ites? No, the situation hasn’t changed in the last two years. It has only gotten worse from what it was, people claim. Delhi is indeed declared the most pollutant city in the world by the World Health Organisation and the people of Delhi are facing a public health crisis. The relationship between filthy air and poor health is frightening. Delhi’s bad air is already causing a spike in the people with asthma and reduced lung function. There is evidence of a spectrum of health problems, ranging from allergies and respiratory conditions, malformations, growth restrictions, all of which is a result of pollution.

Given this scenario, how do you save your lungs?

Lung Detox is something that Luke Coutinho, M.D., and master coach at GOQii recommend.

Particulates. Over time small particulate matter might damage your lungs permanently, making breathing difficult and forcing your heart to work harder.

Lung Detox Plan

-Previous night – soak 1 tbsp fenugreek (Methi) seeds in half cup water

-Wake up to 250ml warm water with lemon and a dash of cayenne pepper

-Drink the fenugreek water and chew on the seeds.
-10 mins later – 2 cloves of garlic crushed and consume with 1 tbsp raw honey or Manuka honey
Steam Time
-Boil some water, put into a large bowl, add 5-10 drops of pure eucalyptus oil or 1 drop peppermint oil, cover your head with a towel and do steam inhalation for 5 mins. Gentle deep inhalations and slow exhalations.
-Breakfast as normal, but add 300 ml fresh carrot juice with 1 tsp pure cold pressed coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil.
-Magic Lung breathing exercise (check method below)
-Post breathing exercise prepare a litre of the following concoction and have one cup warm.
Magic Tea –

  • 1 inch piece ginger /1 tsp dried ginger powder, cinnamon stick, ½ tsp basil/tulsi (fresh/dry), 1 tsp oregano dry (or fresh leaves), 3 peppercorns, 2 crushed elaichi, (optional , 1 -2 cloves crushed garlic), 1/4th tsp fennel seeds, pinch of ajwain, 1/4th tsp jeera (cumin)
  • Boil for 10 mins and simmer, strain and sip warm ( can add pure honey or jaggery to sweeten)

Lunch

-30 mins post lunch – 250 ml lemon water with a dash of cayenne pepper
-2 hours later – 300 ml fresh carrot juice with 1 tsp pure cold pressed coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil plus an evening snack
-30 mins later: Magic breathing exercise followed by a cup of lung tea concoction.
-Light walk or yoga
-30 mins before dinner: 250 ml lemon water with cayenne pepper
-Dinner plus 300 ml carrot juice as above

-Post dinner: 30 mins – one more cup of lung tea
-1 hour before bed – steam with 5-10 drops of eucalyptus oil for 5 mins
-Castor oil pack or rub (details below) for 30 mins

-Before bed – magic lung breathing exercise, meditate, sleep

 Magic lung breathing cleanse

Take a standing position. Keep your arms at your sides and your feet slightly apart. Relax.

  1. Take a few deep breaths and exhale through the nose.
    3. Now breathe in through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth until you cannot exhale any more. But do not stop here, because there is still air remaining in your lungs.
    Some of the air remains in the lungs and is not replaced as we breathe. Now, force your diaphragm to exhale all the air from your lungs with wheezing. Several times exhale through the mouth with a “ho, ho, ho ho, ”

Until you feel there is no more air in the lungs. At this point, you will feel you have pulled in your belly toward the spine.

Through the nose, slowly inhale fresh, clean air in your empty lungs. Fill your lungs with air completely, and then hold your breath for 6 seconds, counting them slowly.

At this point, the oxygen has filled your lungs.

Again exhale through your mouth until there is no air left in your lungs and repeat the “ha…ha…” to expel the stale air out of the lungs.

Repeat the whole procedure as many times as you like. Besides purifying the lungs, this exercise has another benefit: your stomach will eventually become strong and toned skin will look radiant with a glow as you have helped remove excess carbon dioxide.

Here is small video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTbbua0iOSU&t=) by Luke Coutinho M.D,  where he explains all about what lungs are and how they function and finally how can we detox our lungs and keep it clean.

A timely video, when people across the country are suffering from air pollution around them.

 

 

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Burn fat with pool workouts-Part 1

water spinning 2

Today, to counter their stress filled lifestyle, people are shifting their focus to health and fitness. There are many fitness methods that one can adopt such as running, cycling swimming, yoga, aerobics etc. Most of these are popular among people who are taking to fitness or are already into fitness. However, there is a new form of exercise- Aquatic exercise and Aqua aerobics that is getting popular.

Aqua aerobics or exercise arrived almost over two decades ago but, it has gained popularity in India only 5-6 years ago. Aqua aerobics uses the buoyancy of water coupled with your own body weight as a training tool to build endurance and get into shape.

Aquatic exercise is a low impact exercise that takes the pressure off your bones, joints and muscles. Water offers natural resistance which helps to strengthen the muscles. It provides almost 14% more resistance than air, which means your muscles get more toned in water and there is almost no impact on the bones, joints and muscles.

Why Aqua exercise?

You weigh only 10% of your body weight when you are in the water. When a person weighing 100kg or who has arthritis in joints or cannot do any exercise while on land due to the gravitational pull, as he enters the water, the load is lifted off the joints and he can do exercise without any pain.

For elderly who have difficulty in walking, sitting and moving, this is the best way to work out and stay fit. And, the best part is you can do these exercises even if you don’t know how to swim.

Aquatic exercise has amazing benefits: Here is a list

  • It improves muscle endurance and strength. Pool water provides resistance which strengthens the muscles and boosts cardio intensity and improves flexibility.
  • Water exercise is good for people with joint injuries or infections or who have had a recent surgery –great way to stay fit and shorten recovery time and heal faster.
  • A pool workout gives better balance, agility and endurance.
  • Pool workouts are great fat burners. You can burn much higher level of calories in a shorter time in the pool. You can burn about 400-500calories in one hour.
  • Working out in the pool doesn’t feel like an arduous task, you enjoy doing it and thus there are higher chances that you will stick to this routine. Since aquatic exercise is a low impact exercise there is no age bar for it. Water is therapeutic and removes the pain. Water has a healing effect and can distress the body and mind too!
  • Water resistance is not only for muscles, in fact, water pressure actually works with your blood as well and enables good blood circulation decreasing blood pressure and keeps the heart also in good condition.
  • Aqua aerobics can satisfy that need to feel cool in warmer temperatures while still enabling us to exercise.

Aqua exercises have a great bonding effect as it can be done together and there are positive benefits to be derived from these workouts.

Precautions for the Pool Workout:

Before starting any pool exercise program, always check with your physician to make sure pool exercises are right for you.

Here are some tips to get you started:

  • Water shoes will help to provide traction on the pool floor.
  • Water level can be waist or chest high. This way your feet will have good contact with the pool floor and your leg muscles will be able to support some of your weight.
  • Use a Styrofoam noodle or floatation belt/vest to keep you afloat in deeper water.
  • Slower movements in the water will provide less resistance than faster movements.
  • You can use webbed water gloves, Styrofoam weights, inflated balls, or kickboards for increased resistance.
  • Never push your body through pain during any exercise.

Although you will not notice that you sweat with pool exercises, it is still important to drink plenty of water. Drink water before and after your water workout to avoid dehydration

In my next blog..I will share the various pool workouts and procedure to do it. Stay tuned!

 

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GOQii ‘India Fit’ 2017 reveals alarming facts

GOQii_India-Fit-Insight2017_iMAGE 1

1/3rd Indians over 30 years suffer from Lifestyle diseases 

  • 4% people are suffering from high cholesterol, followed by 7.7% with diabetes and 6.7% with thyroid
  • Improper nutrition, lack of sleep and stress are adding to the fitness woes of Indians
  • Kolkata is the unhealthiest city with 35.7% population suffering from at least one lifestyle diseases; Bangalore is the new fitness capital of India closely followed by Mumbai and Pune on second and third spot
  • Average step count of Indian increases from 6680 to 7746 steps

GOQii, the health and wellness ecosystem that is striving hard to get Indians to be fit and healthy and prevent illness, has recently released it’s India fit report which reveals some hard facts. As per the GOQii India Fit’ 2017, while, the average daily step count of an individual across India is 7746 steps, a steady increase over last year’s figure of 6800 step counts, it still does not match the recommended daily step count of 10,000 steps  by World Health Organization in order to lead a healthy lifestyle.

According to the report, Bengaluru and Much as moved ahead of Mumbai and is dubbed the most active city with a daily average step count of 7915. Bengaluru and Mumbai are followed by Pune. Younger population (below 35 years age bracket) in Bengaluru and Chennai is more active as compared to people in other cities.

GOQii_India-Fit Bengaluru new fitnessl capital

While it is overwhelming to note that people are walking and striving to be fit, the alarming fact is that chronic lifestyle diseases are a cause for concern in the current times and the epidemic is spreading like wildfire here in India. There have been disruptive lifestyle changes in the country over the past two decades mainly due to the rapidly evolving urban economy and the Indian Middle class.

GOQii_India-Fit- Sleep

Chronic diseases (eg, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer) and injuries are the leading causes of death and disability in India, and this is only likely to increase in their contribution to the burden of diseases over the next two decades. 

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As per the GOQii India Fit’ 2017 report, 33% of the Indian population above 30 years of age is suffering from one or more lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cardiac problems including high cholesterol, blood pressure, thyroid, and Cancer. Close to 9.4% people are suffering from high cholesterol followed by 7.7% suffering from diabetes and 6.76% people suffering from thyroid.

Based on data from over one lakh subscribers of GOQii both male and female from across 8 fitness conscious cities in India namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, the report states that since 2015 there is a consistent increase in lifestyle diseases. As per data, a major cause for concern is high cholesterol among individuals.

It is estimated that around 130 million may suffer from lifestyle diseases such as diabetes in the next few years.  Apart from these two diseases, the other prevalent chronic diseases are Cardiac ailments, hypertension, and high blood pressure. The risk factors for chronic diseases are highly prevalent among the Indian population.

Vishal Gondal, Founder, and CEO of GOQii says: “Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of chronic diseases due to the disruptive lifestyle changes in the country. Lack of exercise, erratic eating habits, increase in stress levels and poor sleep patterns are just some of the key reasons behind the increase of this epidemic’’.“

Data starting January 2016 through December 2016 was collected to determine the various fitness metrics (rest & activity) such as steps, food, water, sleep, etc. We have been very meticulous in collecting data and then deciphering it to be realistic so as to bring out near accurate results.

Another alarming fact is Kolkata has earned the tag of being the unhealthiest city in India. The majority of the population in Kolkata suffers from lifestyle diseases related to stress, cardiovascular ailments, and digestive disorders. Kolkata also tops the chart with the highest number of digestive disorders. Cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad have maximum cases of obesity amongst Indians. Although awareness around the use of medication amongst people has increased, their lifestyle is still the same as there is no one to tell them the benefits of lifestyle change.

GOQii_India-Fit-Insight Kolkata Unhealthy

GOQii India Fit’ 2017 report indicates that an average Indian sleeps for 6.72 hours every day which is less than a healthy average of 7-9 hours daily. Lack of proper sleep is a grave concern for 31.3% population. And with age, India is sleeping lesser by the day. This coupled with the lack of exercise and increase in stress is adding to the cause of falling health levels of Indians. People in the age group of 31-60 years are the most stressed people in the country.

Gender wise data reveals that men across category are focused on staying active with weight training, playing sports and running apart from adding more protein in pre and post workout meals to their diet. Women, on the other hand, are focused on weight management and eating healthy. Women also prefer dance, yoga, and aerobics as part of their daily exercise.

Overall, the report recognises the fact that Indians are trying to improve their lifestyle but a lot is yet to be done. Eating right and exercising regularly is the first step in the right direction. ‘’It is encouraging to see that young Indians are increasingly focusing more on preventive health and controlling illnesses as they age. I hope that through such initiatives, we are able to motivate more people to adopt a healthy lifestyle,’’ ConcludesGondal.

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