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Diet & Exercise: How Timanna Gudi Battled Diabetes

Timanna GudiAccess to medication is easy! We live in a day and age where even a sneeze can be seen as a good enough reason to swallow a pill. The number of those pills only increase with time as health deteriorates. The more pills you swallow, the more you realize that they aren’t working. Without intervention, without data or without trying, you never realize that a pill is not the answer, it is your lifestyle! In the face of adversity, change is imperative. Here’s how 49 yr old Timanna Gudi made a positive U-turn!

Hailing from Hubli, Karnataka, this mechanical engineer by qualification worked with an MNC as a managing director. His job responsibilities and efforts placed immense stress on his wellbeing. Realizing this, he knew he had to quit. He did so 5 years back and started his own business. However, this did not change anything and his health problems continued.

Battling Diabetes

In 2008, Timanna Gudi was diagnosed with Diabetes. This was just one part of his struggle. Along with diabetes, he had to face hypertension and high cholesterol as well! He was immediately put on medication and with every visit to the doctor, his dosage only seemed to increase. He would have to get tests and visit the doctor every 3 months while his doctor only increased the number of medicines. With no concrete solution in sight, Timanna was only confused.

Making Lifestyle Modifications to Fight Diabetes

He happened to come across a talk by B M Hedge, Dean of Manipal Medical College and a renowned doctor. He said that people shouldn’t be visiting doctors for lifestyle diseases like diabetes and cholesterol. The medicines they need are available in their kitchens. Of course, medical assistance is required in case of an emergency but it must be supplemented by a healthy lifestyle. This got Timanna thinking…

He had lost his Dad and his elder sister to diabetes in spite of them being on heavy medications like him. He told himself that if his condition is a disorder, there should be a way to bring it in order! This very thought became the turning point which would pivot his life to balance and wellbeing.

He came to Pune  in 2011 and joined a therapy called Freedom from Diabetes. He managed to get rid of all his medicines in a matter of 40 days through diet control and some light exercise. From then on, he began advocating his approach to everyone who was affected by the same medical condition as his. He gave them hope that they too could change!

Joining GOQii and Being the Force

In 2018, he bought some equipment to perform exercises at home. He followed YouTube channels and performed his routine accordingly. However, he ended up with a frozen shoulder due to an incorrect position. This kept him from exercising for about 8-9 months.

In March 2019, a friend introduced him to GOQii. He was intrigued with the idea of coaches demonstrating exercises LIVE on the app. The GOQii app solved two of his needs i.e. exercise and nutrition. He was getting expert advice from topics relating to a healthy diet, lifestyle, meditation and so on. He saw GOQii as an opportunity to get back into routine!

He joined during the India Steps Challenge and began competing, clocking in 6000 steps a day. He initially started with basic walking and increased his target to 12,000 steps after he invited a few of his friends. Due to walking too much, he began losing a lot of weight and was underweight by 7kg. He was asked to stop walking and jogging completely. To keep the momentum of his physical activity going, he began strength training in order to build muscle mass.

He is a regular on GOQii Play. He watches Coach Tufail Qureshi, Coach Alistrair Fernandes and Coach Shweta Kariya, following the workout routines demonstrated by them on a daily basis. As his work requires him to travel often, he carries a resistance band in his luggage as suggested by Play Coaches. He feels that a resistance band is a handy equipment that can be used to target any body part!

Being lactose intolerant, he shifted to a vegan diet. This essentially means that he avoids milk, curd and cheese. He avoids processed foods like bread, biscuits, etc. He begins his day with a glass of green smoothie which is a wholesome blend of raw Spinach (Palak) or any other leafy vegetable coupled with Betel leaf, Pudina (Mint), Tulsi (Holy Basil), Curry Leaves, Cinnamon Powder, Black Pepper and one fruit along with soaked nuts and seeds.

He follows this up with 45mins to an hour of exercise. His breakfast is more protein-based which includes a dal-based Cheela or sprouts and salad. In between meals, he grabs a spoonful of any seeds or a cup of green tea. His Lunch includes a Roti, one bowl each of dal, vegetable and raw salad. He also drinks Apple Cider Vinegar, which he believes has helped in keeping his body more alkaline. His family mostly uses cold pressed virgin coconut oil instead of refined oil.

Opting For Natural Methods Instead of Medicines

Timanna Gudi reiterates that commitment is absolutely necessary. There is no way you can cheat or give in to temptations. He strongly believes that Diabetes is a medical condition which should be eradicated from India.

He says, “The medicines never stop and you just keep losing your vital organs to it slowly. However, everybody is different and not all solutions suit everyone. You need to go test and try before settling down with what suits you.”

He in fact, also got rid of his Acute Bronchitis, something which he suffered from since childhood which required him to use inhalers. He did so by practicing Pranayama (You too can reap the benefits of this wonderful practice. Here are 6 Variations of Pranayama and their Benefits)

In the course of his time fighting diabetes, he has also helped his younger brother reduce his sugar levels. He feels it is his duty to share the knowledge he has gained from his experience combating lifestyle disorders.

Timanna feels GOQii is a fantastic platform with lot of resources that can benefit anyone and everyone. He regularly shops on the GOQii Health Store and advocates the fact that you get good options at competitive rates.

We wish Timanna Gudi the best for his journey. If this story inspired you or if you are fighting your own uphill battle against a lifestyle disease, share your thoughts in the comments below! To help you manage diabetes effectively, reach out to our experts by subscribing for GOQii’s Diabetes Care Program here: https://store.goqii.com/diabetescare

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Losing 22kg at 80 with GOQii! Col Ravi Minocha User Journey

Col. Ravi Minocha

As we age, we are often unable to do the things we could before. Mobility issues as a result of old age often become an excuse for older adults to not get active. But we’re here to tell you that age is just a number if you have the will, determination and proper guidance towards living an active and healthy lifestyle. Don’t believe us? Let our player, Retired Army Col Ravi Minocha, tell you how he lost weight and beat his mobility issues with sheer willpower and the right guidance from GOQii! Recently, he spoke to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal. You can watch their conversation here: 

Life Before GOQii 

“I was very active as an army officer. I was in the unit of Core of Electronics as a mechanical engineer. I retired from the army in 1994,” he says. “I always had a tendency to put on weight. After retirement, I joined the private sector and worked there for 10 years. In 2004, I stopped working and had developed arthritis issues in the knee due to which my mobility reduced.

Doctors suggested surgery as a solution, other than that, it was to pop some painkillers and go in for physiotherapy. I did not want to take pain killers and by now, my mobility had reduced a great deal. I could barely walk for 10 minutes. I reached a stage where I was shy of standing on a weighing scale as I had reached the weight of 99kg and had a waistline of about 48-49 inches. In June 2017, on my birthday, my daughter Latika gifted me a GOQii Tracker and what intrigued me was the coaching aspect.” 

Making Steady Lifestyle Changes 

Initially, Col Ravi Minocha struggled with losing weight and his son told him that he had to do something about controlling his weight. That’s when his health goal became to reduce weight. His ideal weight, as per his age and height was supposed to be around 76-77kg. 

After getting onboard the GOQii Ecosystem, Col Ravi Minocha dedicatedly followed all the instructions given to him by his GOQii Coach. “My coach has been very accommodating,” he says. “She has only been motivating, never once discouraging. As for my bad habit of eating unhealthy, she directed me well towards healthy eating. We started small. I followed everything that my coach said religiously. I started enjoying the interactions with my coach. My coach had a lot to work on, including my unhealthy eating habits, my weight and also my mobility issues. So we started slowly.” 

Within 3 months of being on GOQii, he started feeling the change and slowly his GOQii Coach revised the step count to 10K daily. His mobility issues persisted slightly even then but he realized it was getting better. The Coach also changed his eating habits by reducing his carb and sweets intake. He began eating millets, millet rotis – 8-10 meals in a week with millets, including salads. Controlled diet and exercises helped him improve his weight and with weight loss, his mobility improved. 

Col Ravi Minocha Sees The Results of a Healthy Lifestyle 

In 3 years, Col Ravi Minocha lost 22kg and his weight had reduced from 99kg to 77kg. His waist size has reduced from 49 inches to 38 inches now. Currently, he is working towards maintaining this weight which is ideal for his age and height. On an average, he completes around 12-13k steps. 

In May, he took around 270km steps, which is equivalent to almost 7 marathons. He was quite chuffed looking at the data. He says that, “The GOQii App is very good and getting feedback is a very good thing.” Col Ravi Minocha has been renewing his subscription year after year and is extremely happy and thankful to his coach. 

His daughter Latika stays in Singapore and is very happy to see her dad doing very well. She had gifted him a GOQii after her husband’s friend Jyotirmoy Saha, who also happens to be Vishal Gondal’s friend, suggested GOQii. She says, “What appealed to my dad was the personal coaching. We are all so proud of our dad and what he has achieved at his age. We all marvel at his will power and determination.  Even now, he calls and says how many steps he has completed. He has become a great influencer for all of us, including my mom.”

What Does His Coach Falguni Bhojak Have To Say? 

For Col Ravi Minocha, the goal we were working on was reducing his weight and tummy fat. But the main concern was his knee discomfort due to OA, because of which he had mobility issues. Due to his Arthritis issues, his mobility was restricted and he was not able to walk at a stretch for more than 10-15 minutes.

Then we started working on knee discomfort as in, started anti-inflammatory food, started knee exercises, walking with short breaks in between. I also looked into his diet and asked him to log his food every day so I could know what he was eating and how we could bring about changes in that. He started having lukewarm lemon water, more fruits and salads as well as green veggies. We introduced Millets in his diet and he started having millet roti and millet dosa.

He was so consistent and disciplined in updating logs from the time he joined! Even when he travelled to visit his daughter in Singapore, he kept updating his logs and kept updating me about his habits. Gradually, his mobility became better and he was completing 7-8 k steps by going to walk 2 times a day. Gradually we increased the time and now he can walk for an hour without breaks and discomfort.

He had some constipation problems in between, so we started including soaked black raisins to his diet and that helped. When his hemoglobin had shot down, we began including iron-rich food to ensure he remained healthy.

Col. Minocha is consistent with his habits and follows whatever is told to him. He is extremely disciplined in following his routine. Consistency and discipline have helped him achieve his health goals. Infact, on 29 June, he updated me that his weight is now down to 76.5kg.

As you can see from Col Ravi Minocha’s journey, it is never too late to make a positive shift to a healthier lifestyle. What’s stopping you? Subscribe for personalized coaching now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr  

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

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Discipline Is The Key To A Healthier Lifestyle – Birendra Verma User Journey

Birendra Verma

One of the key pillars to achieving your goals is discipline. You may have the best coach, the best nutritionist or even someone motivating you at every step but without discipline and consistency, reaching your health goal will be close to impossible. That’s the thing about setting goals and having plans, they never work unless you do. If you maintain discipline, no goal is out of reach at any given age. Don’t believe us? Here’s the journey of our player Birendra Verma who made a positive lifestyle change by maintaining a disciplined lifestyle! 

Life Before GOQii  

Birendra Verma is a 60 year old working professional from Mumbai. Before joining GOQii, he never indulged in any physical activity. He led what most of us consider a pretty normal life revolving around work and home. He suffered from Diabetes for the last 10 years and in 2016, he weighed around 103kg. It was in 2016 itself that one of his two daughters decided to gift him a GOQii for Father’s Day, changing his life and health forever!

Making The Shift With GOQii

Upon signing up, Birendra Verma didn’t get any specific diet plan but there were a few modifications made to his lifestyle. His GOQii Coach, who at the time was Coach Kusum introduced him to Zumba – something he follows regularly even today. Later, when his Coach changed to Coach Shraddha, she suggested he walk daily. His current step count ranges from 10k-15k daily. Later, his new GOQii Coach Naina Sudarshan introduced him to breathing exercises, surya namaskar and planks. He initially began with 30 seconds and can now hold a plank for up to 2 minutes.

He says that as a disciplined person, it wasn’t too difficult for him to follow the instructions given to him by his Coaches. They helped him with his diet, understood his enthusiasm, provided him with regular exercises and motivated him every step of the way. 

Thanks to the changes introduced by his coaches, within a year of joining GOQii, he had lost 20kgs and currently, as of 2021, he weighs 83kg. He credits this weight loss to his Coach’s suggestion to walk at least 10k steps a day and his own discipline in following through. 

What Does Birendra Verma Think About GOQii? 

He says that Coach Naina and Coach Shraddha helped him a lot in his journey with GOQii. Coach Naina pushed him a lot to achieve his goals and encouraged him with regular exercises as well as breathing exercises. Coach Shaddha reviewed his regular health checkups and took measures to help him maintain his health. 

What Does His GOQii Coach Have To Say About His Journey?

Coach Naina says, “Having a player who is well aware of his own health is always motivating for me as a coach. Birendra Verma is one such player who is very disciplined, dedicated, and maintains consistency with whatever habits that were suggested by me for his health. Going through health conditions like diabetes and hypertension can be challenging as a busy working professional. A person will be at higher risk of getting frequent infections and inflammation with diabetes. Birendra has learnt to manage how to handle such situations without too much dependency on medications these days. His balanced diet, regular physical activities, good sleep routine and mainly knowing how to manage stress have helped him a lot. He is one of the most active and energetic players in his age group that I have seen so far. I am glad to be working with him as a coach to motivate him and guide him every day to maintain his health.”

Are you looking for a Coach like Naina Sudarshan to guide and motivate you? Sign up for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr  

For more inspiring user journeys, check out Healthy Reads. 

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“I Will Be With GOQii Lifelong!” – Rabin Talukdar On His Health Journey

Rabin TalukdarWe’ve always advocated that making small, manageable lifestyle changes can lead to good health in the long run. Multiple health issues often stem from unhealthy eating habits, lack of physical activity and sleep. Managing these effectively can help you a lot! Here’s an interesting journey of our Player Rabin Talukdar who managed several lifestyle diseases by making a positive lifestyle change. 

Life Before GOQii 

Currently at the age of 40, Rabin Talukdar resides in Assam. He says that his health issues began organizing a Durga Puja celebration during 2019. His meal timings were off and he found himself munching on unhealthy food all the time. His stress was high and he began experiencing a burning sensation in his chest, dizziness and lack of sleep. Soon after, he consulted with a doctor for multiple issues like hyperacidity, fatty liver and high blood pressure. His doctor said that along with medication, lifestyle modification is what will give him faster relief and suggested he join GOQii.

Making a Lifestyle Change 

Rabin Talukdar began his journey under the guidance of Coach Trupti Pandya and shared all his reports with her. After carefully examining his reports, she assured him that he can start off with small changes such as detox water, avoiding maida and other processed foods while eating more vegetables in the form of salads and curries. He started with ACV for 3 months which also helped him reduce weight. He began walking on the treadmill for 20 mins along with yoga and pranayama for 20 mins a day. He now finds himself involuntarily setting aside time for physical activity everyday no matter how busy his work schedule is. 

Recovering from COVID-19 

In 2020, he was infected with COVID-19 and was admitted for 10 days. Though he experienced no major symptoms, he felt extremely weak and his BP was fluctuating. He returned home and still felt too weak to move around the house. He says his coach helped him a lot with diet tips on how to recover slowly and regain his strength. She asked him to include nuts, dates, peanut butter, add multigrain and millets in his meals. She even made him consume turmeric milk which was something he had always detested. She also sent him inspirational messages everyday which helped him stay positive. His coach guided him through every step like when to start walking, how much to walk in a day and constantly advised him not to strain himself and rest as much as possible. 

As a result of all the above lifestyle changes, Rabin’s acidity is completely under control and he doesn’t have to take medicines anymore. His weight has also reduced by 4kg in the last one year. He says, “Thanks to GOQii, I stopped all medicines. I am so happy with my coach that I have renewed my subscription for another 12 months. I will be with GOQii lifelong. In fact, the whole of India needs GOQii, especially during this time when people are getting infected and dying all around. Only a healthy body can fight these infections and my GOQii Coach helped me realize that.” 

What Does Coach Trupti Have To Say About Rabin Talukdar 

Player Rabin has always been very determined towards his health goal, which was to target weight loss in a healthier way and control his medical conditions. He had high BP: 140-90, Fatty liver: Grade 1, borderline high Creatinine: 2 & LOW (BUN) urea: 14, Low Vit. D: 5, dizziness while working out, gastric trouble, and severe acidity with chest burning sensation. He was taking 3 tablets a day. His stress levels were high due to his concern regarding his medical condition and disturbed quality of sleep with only 2 hrs sound sleep. He was 5kg overweight. 

His sincerity, determination, dedication, and consistency helped him achieve his goals in a healthy manner and till March 2021, his overall medical condition is resolved and his medication has stopped as well. 

His Vit. D is 24 now, BP is 120- 80, borderline creatinine to 1.3mg/dL normal range and urea issues now 17. The previous issue for fatty liver is resolved completely. He only takes Vit. E tablet and his liver ranges are normal. He lost 4kg and 1 inch waist size with zero gastric trouble and his stress levels are under control with 7 hrs sound sleep now. Energy levels have improved 80% and no dizziness after workouts! 

He honestly updated and acknowledged me about his condition and progress logs from time to time… and the result is a big victory in a short span of time.

Does Rabin’s story inspire you to make a lifestyle change? Then download the GOQii App and subscribe to personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu  

To read more inspirational stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

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From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

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