Coaching Archives

March 16, 2019 By GOQii 1 Comment

“I started a new life at 50 and I am thoroughly enjoying it” – Anitha Rao

100 Km accomplished. – Anitha with her team at Oxfam trailwalker

She is fun loving, friendly, extremely energetic and young at 52. Anitha Rao has been able to prove that small steps can have a big impact. She took to running at the age of 50 and says she is thoroughly enjoying it. In the last one year, she has been participating in a few runs in the city on a regular basis. She also completed her first Oxfam Trail Walk last November in 39 hours and shows no signs of slowing down. “Stay fit, Stay healthy”, is what she says. Now, she is championing the GOQii Active Sunday mission in Bengaluru. Let’s read about Anitha Rao and her journey to fitness in her own words.

I did my first half marathon (21 km) last year at the age of 50 when a friend suggested I should run. Just loved it! The atmosphere, people cheering for you, and crossing the finish line after 2 hrs and 52 minutes felt so great. I was tired after that run the next day, but loved the way I felt.

It all began when I turned 50, I decided I was ready for a new challenge. Since I have always been an outdoor person, I made it my goal to be fit and complete as many runs as possible. I have run so many runs such as the Standard Chartered Mumbai Half Marathon since Jan 2015. Thereafter, I have done a couple of runs such as the DNA I CAN, Pinkathon, ICT, Foot Steps 4 Good, Chembur Monsoon run and more recently Radio Mirchi Neon Run.

I was working in the Travel Industry but due to my husband’s transferable job, and after the birth of my sons, I decided to enjoy motherhood. I became a homemaker and travel consultant working from home. My sons are now 24 and 18. I also realized I wanted to get back to doing some activities and get fit as I have always been sporty. Yoga and Swimming are a part of my regular activities even today.

But, I wanted to be more healthy and fit. Last year, I took up running seriously thanks to my friend Vijay Pillai, in my apartment building. I was not tracking my fitness and did not know what I was doing right or wrong.

How Did She Find GOQii?

I met Bela Gupta through my dear friend Geeta Singh. She gave me the GOQii band and explained its benefits to me. She asked me to try it for three months. I got completely hooked on it. The one to one coaching aspect appealed to me. I would put my problems across to my coach and she would have a solution to work towards overcoming the issue.

Through GOQii, I also got to know a lot about diet and nutrition. There were many things I was not aware of. At my age, I certainly do not want to compromise on my diet. Being a South Indian who cannot keep away from sugary Filter Coffee, I have now given up sugar in my coffee. In November, I participated in the Oxfam 100 km Trail Walk, and my team Go Spirited, completed the challenge in 39 hours.We were 4 ladies – Bela, Lubaina, Suranjana and me. But, Bela, unfortunately had to drop out due to personal issues.

It’s amazing how just walking and running can keep one so fit. There are wonderful health benefits of putting one foot in front of the other. My family thinks that am going to the top (over doing it and asks me to slow down at times). But, I am comfortable doing as much as I am doing. I am happy with the change I have seen in myself. I have become healthier, fitter and my stamina has improved drastically. Today, I am confident to achieve what I set my goal on.

Daily, I clock 10,000 or more steps and weekends it easily goes up to 20,000 steps. I have been able to achieve all this because of the one to one coaching from GOQii. I have also benefited from the two webinars that GOQii’s master coach Luke Coutinho conducted. One of the webinars was on ‘How to Make The Most of Your Coach’. This gave me clarity on how I can interact with my coach to get the maximum benefit out of coaching.

Coaching has benefited me on the nutrition front too. Now my concepts on diet are clear and I am conscious about what I am eating. I am basically a foodie and I exercise to eat. Though I have always been a light sleeper, I sleep better now. You can say I have understood the importance of sleep. I get enough rest. Also, my concept of water is very clear. On an average I now drink 2 liters of water. I have no medical conditions, no cholesterol and no sugar.

I am a regular at GOQii Active Sunday and this has given me an opportunity to meet so many people and make so many new friends. My journey to fitness has also inspired a whole lot of my women friends. My friends in yoga are also keen on joining me for runs. I always feel that there are 100 reasons why you shouldn’t go for a walk or run but a 1,000 reasons why you should. If you let go of the excuses, you will get it done. I would say, have a goal and work towards it!

Without having something to work towards, you can’t plan or dream of what you’re going to accomplish. The goal doesn’t have to be huge. It can be to walk 10 km a week but you need one to stay focused.

For my next outdoor activity, I have just begun trekking. I got interested in trekking after I did two practice treks for Oxfam Trailwalk. Now I want to trek regularly as well!

Also, the concept of Karma has appealed to me a great deal. Everyday I try to donate about 30-40 points. By the end of the month, I have donated roughly 1000 points or so. I just want to continue to be healthy and fit to be able to continue with my runs, walks and other activities.

Crushing Finish lines Anitha with her Medals

Crushing Finish lines! Anitha’s medals

What does Anitha Rao’s Coach Have to Say About Her?

Anitha Rao is a true representation of an active and upbeat individual. An outdoor person who loves to workout every day. Her drive for fitness is her adrenaline. She has a set routine of walking, swimming and yoga. Always ready to participate in marathons that come across.

In her GOQii journey with me, she wanted to shed some extra kilos, increase water intake and replace her snacking with some healthy options. So we enacted goals accordingly. The first was to maintain a daily water intake of 2 liters and above. Secondly, I gave her some healthy snacking options. The GOQii concept of logging your water and food intake supported her in achieving these goals. It gave her a confrontation and magnitude daily of her efforts.

She was regular in doing that and took my suggestion and inputs very positively while putting them in to action. She would often contribute KARMA points for various causes. I am proud to have such an aware and dedicated individual as my player.

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October 17, 2016 By Leah Burkhart 3 Comments

What is Coaching, Anyway?

GOQii’s mission is to provide global access to health professionals who can help you to reach your best health potential. To do that, GOQii has cultivated a community of health coaches to help you on your journey towards better health habits and (by extension) a better quality of life.

Just one thing, though….

What is a health coach?

Is it, like…a guy who is going to blow a whistle at me and tell me what to do throughout the day?

Nope.

Oh…so it’s someone who is just going to tell me what to eat and when?

Not….exactly…no.

Well – what the heck is a health coach, then?

Coaching is a relatively new vocation so far as vocations go. A purist working in an organization like the International Coaching Federation would say that coaching is:“A professional who will partner with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”

Huh?

Basically…using this definition – a coach is intended to facilitate a relationship whereby YOU make the decisions about what goals YOU want to commit to. The coach is there to help ask the right questions to help you land on the appropriate goal. The coach is there to provide insights about the patterns he/she notices about what you are doing now. Finally, the coach is there to provide accountability for you by checking in on you regularly and asking about the goals you set in motion.

They use skills like Motivational Interviewing (an evidence based approach that helps people navigate confusion and ambivalence about changes they want to make in life) as well as visualization exercises and Socratic questioning.

So..then…what is a health coach?

A Health Coach is someone who integrates the skills and techniques of coaching (motivational interviewing, socratic questioning, etc.) alongside health education (giving you information that you may not know in order to help you make habit changes that are appropriate for the kinds of results you want to have).

Your GOQii coach is a health coach. They are trained health professionals who are qualified to give you information if you need it. BUT -the philosophy we follow, here, at GOQii is as follows:

Most people actually already know what to do – the challenge is in implementing it. They really just need accountability
Health isn’t about revamping your entire nutrition plan or following complex exercise routines all at once. It’s about making sustainable changes over time that turn into life-long habits and evolve into robust health in the long-term.
YOU know what you need better than anyone. Our job as your coach isn’t so much to tell you what to do as it is to help you unlock your own potential.
Yes – occasionally, you really do need some information. You might have read an article about health that confused you. You might not be sure about the next best step. If that is the case – we can and will help you by providing options for first steps – but at the end of the day, YOU are in charge. YOU decide.

So What Will Your First Coaching Call Look Like?

First, your coach will ask you what your long-term BIG PICTURE goal looks like.
- What do you want to see change in the next year?
- What kinds of people do you envision spending your time with?
- What kinds of actions do you want to be doing?
- EXAMPLE: “I want to be able to run a marathon by the end of the year.” or “I want to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year.”
Second, your coach will ask you your
- What will that change get you that you don’t have now?
- What is motivating you to make that change?
- EXAMPLE: “I used to love I felt empowered by it. And lately, I haven’t felt very empowered. I want to feel that way again.” Or “I want to lose some weight so that my knees don’t hurt as much. I am struggling to keep up with my little 3-year old. I want to be able to play and run and hide and seek right along with her. I feel like my current weight is making that challenging for me because exercise is causing me physical pain.”
Third, your coach will get you to identify a check-point to try and commit to in the next month.
- In the next month, what would indicate to you that you were moving in the right direction?
- How far do you want to try and be toward that long term goal by the end of the month?
- EXAMPLE: “I want to be able to run at least 2 miles without stopping.” Or – “I would really like to have lost at least a couple of pounds by the end of the month.”
Fourth, your coach will help you to take that goal and frame it into actions. It’s one thing to say you want to run a marathon. But that takes practice. Sure you might want to lose weight. But both of those things are Now you need to figure out which actions you want to take to get you there!
- What is a specific action that you can take between now and next week that will move you toward your monthly check-point?
- How will you monitor your progress on that?
- How might you arrange your environment to optimize your success?
- Who will you recruit as your support for that goal?
- How will you reward yourself every time you engage in this behavior?
- EXAMPLE: “I will make a commitment to run 20 minutes per day at least twice this week. I’m not sure, yet, how long I can go without stopping. But I will run/walk both times and push myself as far as I am comfortable. To monitor my progress, I’ll check in with the GOQii app and check it off on the list when I have completed my task. In order to assure that I run….I will put my running clothes out the night before so that I do it first thing in the morning. I’ll keep my GOQii coach for support, and I will reward myself after my run by allowing myself a download of a song on my music device or will download a new audiobook every time I complete the weekly goal.
Fifth – your coach will wind up the conversation by summarizing what you have committed to. He or she will ask if you have any questions or are in need of any resources. Perhaps you are looking for some workout videos that are free. Or maybe you are looking for a quick and easy breakfast recipe that you might look at after your run. Whatever the case, your coach can help point you in the right direction and hold you accountable. And after wrapping up, your coach will set a follow-up appointment with you for the following month.
Finally – your coach will follow up with you every day during the week via text to make sure you have all that you need. If you have questions along the way, you can reach out. If you feel like you’re struggling to find the motivation, your coach can help you identify what will get you back in the game.

Make no mistake – You are always the one in the driver’s seat. But your coach is there to be your copilot along the way. Your coach will help guide you along your journey and hold you accountable to the habits you want to put in place in order to get to the destination you ultimately want to get to.

Good luck – and Be The Force!