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8 Simple Health Tips You Can Follow At Work

8 Simple & Healthy Tips For Office WorkersIn the present day, our lifestyles have changed drastically. It’s not just our lifestyle but our working style as well. Being glued to a laptop or a system without moving for hours has become the current trend. We work for nearly 10-12 hours seated on a chair with minimal movement for lunch or to get fresh.

While this sedentary lifestyle is important to earn a livelihood, it comes at the cost of many health issues such as neck pain, back ache, eye problems and digestion issues from irregular eating habits, to name a few. Let’s not forget the part stress plays in our lives. The effects of being seated with no activity affects not only our physical health but our mental health as well. When at home, most people are either irregular with their workouts or do not have a fitness regime at all. Not being active at work and at home can be detrimental to your well-being.

This is certainly not a good way to lead a life. One should take some time out for themselves and give a thought to maintaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Introducing even a little bit of workout or walking in your daily routine can make a world of a difference. Some physical activity and slight changes in your working pattern and eating habits can help you stay healthy. Try following these 8 simple health tips while you work!

8 Simple Health Tips You Can Follow At Work 

Bring about a slight change in your lifestyle by doing these 8 simple health tips:

  1. Include a walk in between while traveling to work and back.
  2. Use the stairs instead of an elevator
  3. Sit with your back straight, in an erect position while seated on a chair. Try this technique to correct your posture while seated: https://goqii.com/blog/how-to-correct-your-posture-at-work/
  4. Get up after every couple of hours to stretch your back, arms and legs
  5. Keep a bottle of water at your desk and drink it frequently. Don’t forget that you need to drink at least 3l of water a day. You can also set reminders through the GOQii App
  6. Keep a few snacks, fruits or dry fruits on your desk so you can munch on them when hungry
  7. Keep the brightness of your system low and maintain a decent distance away from the screen
  8. Do not overeat when stressed. If you have begun a fitness regime, your appetite is likely to increase. If weight loss or maintaining a certain weight is one of your goals, you should stick to your diet and not eat more than required by your body. Avoid junk food especially.

In addition, you can add a freehand workout session of 15 minutes which you can perform either at work or at home. 5 basic but effective exercises like jumping jacks, squats, push ups, crunches and planks will do wonders. Do two sets of each of these exercises with 15-20 repetitions each. This will not only improve your health but stamina levels as well, helping you concentrate better as well as relieve you of stress or any other aches and pains caused by a sedentary lifestyle.

Following these simple health tips won’t affect your routine and they are easy to squeeze into your schedule as well. Try them out and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

For more tips such as this, check out Healthy Reads or ask an expert by subscribing for personalised health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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Healthy Snacks You Can Eat At Work

healthy eating at work

Does work keep you so engrossed that you forget to eat your meals on time? Have tight deadlines derailed your eating habits? Health and diet are our last priority while climbing the professional ladder. Is there a way to eat healthy at work? Do smaller meals work? Is it advisable to carry healthy snacks?

While it is a highly debatable topic whether one should eat smaller meals or 3 square meals a day, both have their share of pros and cons. I would advise you to choose the best of both worlds by opting for healthy snacks whenever possible.

Here is a List of a Few Healthy Snacks You Can Eat At Work:

  1. Nuts and Dry Fruits: You can carry a trail mix of Almonds, Walnuts, Cashew Nuts, Pistachios, Figs, Dried Apricot, Dates, Raisins, etc. Fox Nuts [makhana] is considered as a superfood that is loaded with fiber. You can also add some Roasted Grams and a handful of Peanuts to it. Try these protein packed flavored Makhana from the GOQii Health Store.
  2. Energy Bars: Protein Bars, Granola Bars, and Health Bars all provide a good amount of nutrition. The convenience of carrying and eating one during office hours is unparalleled. These bars are a great way to pump up your protein levels as well. Try these Choco Almond Protein Bars from the GOQii Health Store.
  3. Sprouts: help in reducing cholesterol and blood pressure. They prevent anaemia and aid digestion, making it a great choice for healthy snacking! Don’t just stick to Mung Sprouts, you can also add variations like Chickpeas, Black Gram, Red Kidney Beans, Soya Beans, etc. The chances of foodborne illnesses greatly diminish with homemade sprouts.
  4. Fruits: are often ignored and are not included in one’s daily diet. Having them as mid meals can do wonders for your health. Grab locally grown or seasonal fruits and welcome all those healthy vitamins and minerals into your body!
  5. Sweet Potato: Another healthy and delicious snack is eating boiled or roasted Sweet Potatoes. Being high in dietary fiber, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, it should be consumed more frequently. A dash of Date and Jaggery Chutney will make it super healthy and yummier!
  6. Sweet Corn: Have them boiled, steamed or roasted. Sweet Corn provides flavonoid and carotene which help fight free radicals. Besides this, it is rich in vitamin B, vitamin C and vitamin E.
  7. Smoothies: are an excellent way to incorporate fruits and nuts in one go. Whip up 2-3 fruits along with nuts and seeds. You can add some milk or coconut water to make it in a smooth consistency. Try making an Apple, Banana, Grape and Date Smoothie. It is absolutely delicious!
  8. Diet Snacks: The market is flooded with healthy diet food like Diet Puffed Rice, Diet Khakharas, high protein biscuits, etc. But choose wisely because Diet Puffed Rice with liberal amounts of Sev won’t serve the purpose.

While mid-meal snacks are important, you need to take care of the portions you eat. Although carrying nutritious mid-meal snacks require time and effort, having it ready with you helps avoid the other unhealthy alternatives and the guilt that accompanies them.

We hope this article helps you! Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on healthy eating and nutrition, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalised health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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Top 5 Effective Indoor Workouts For Weight Loss During Monsoon

Easy and Effective Indoor Workouts For Weight Loss

Visiting the gym, going for a yoga or zumba class can be quite challenging when there’s a heavy downpour and you want to get a good workout. And it is easy to feel stumped when your options are limited. But don’t let this minor setback stop you! It’s not worth it to put on all the weight you worked so hard to lose. Here are some easy and effective indoor workouts for weight loss you can do anywhere!  

5 Easy and Effective Indoor Workouts For Weight Loss

1. Walking/Running: There’s nothing better than running outdoors – the fresh air and all but what do you do when there’s a heavy downpour? There are many ways, in fact, it is easier if you have a treadmill. If you don’t, try spot jogging and taking frequent breaks in between your work from home schedule to walk around the house and unwind.

2. Jump Rope: Do you want that sleek, slender body? Jump Rope is your answer! It is one of the most underrated yet effective workouts. If you’re new to this, start with a 2-5 min warm up, then do the traditional rope skipping with 30-50 reps. Then, you can run up and down your building stairs, do the rope again for 30-50 reps and end with a cool down. It is high intensity, low cost, doesn’t consume time and is still one of the most effective workouts for weight loss. If you want to invest in a good jump rope, try the GOQii Smart Skip.

3. High Intensity Interval Training: As the name suggests, it is periods of High Intensity exercises coupled with Low Intensity exercises/rest. The aim for HIIT workout is to target 80% of VO2 Max (Max Oxygen Consumption) for maximum results.

Your typical HIIT session can be: 

  • Warm Up
  • Lunges for 1-2mins at a stretch
  • Walk/Jog in place for 30secs
  • Pushup for 1-2mins
  • Walk/Jog in place for 30secs
  • Squats for 1-2mins
  • Walk/Jog in place for 30secs
  • Abdominal Crunches for 1-2mins
  • Walk/Jog for 30secs
  • Cool down

You can add more exercises and modify the exercises as per your fitness levels.

4. Weight Training: Yes, this might be impossible since most of us don’t have dumbbells and other gym equipment at home but that shouldn’t pose much of a problem. You can still use your daily household equipment as weights. For instance, water bottles filled with water as dumbbells or a bucket of water for your deadlifts. In fact, you can also use your own bodyweight. The key idea here is to undergo a process called Hypertrophy of the muscles, wherein the body increases the size of the muscles and reduces the fat around it. Weight training helps in burning fat 24×7 as opposed to burning fat only during the workout. A beginner can start with 20 reps + 3 sets of deadlifts, squats, lunges, bicep curls, etc.

5. Boot Camp: This is one of the most intense and effective workouts which alternate between aerobic activities of sprinting/running along with strength exercises and drills. It simultaneously works on your endurance and strength. 

You can start a typical routine as: 

  • Warm up
  • 1 min each of Push ups, Lunges, Pull ups, Crunches, Buttkickers, spot jog
  • Repeat the exercises 
  • Cool down.

To make things easier for you, you can join a GOQii Pro class within the GOQii App where you’ll be guided by fitness experts in a live, interactive session of your choice. More so, you can also get tips, guidance and motivation from a certified GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalised health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

We hope this indoor workouts for weight loss help you choose your workouts and lose weight. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more tips on fitness and health, check out Healthy Reads. 

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Yogesh Shah Manages Multiple Illnesses & Gets Healthy With GOQii

Yogesh Shah

Often, managing just one condition can be an insurmountable task. Imagine working your whole life, while your physical, mental and emotional health just spiral downward, while the number of pills you take keep increasing. Our Player Yogesh Shah was in such a predicament where he was dealing with multiple illnesses but managed to overcome them with help from his GOQii Coach Deepali Sharma. Here’s how Yogesh Shah wrote his own Health Story. 

Dealing With Multiple Illnesses 

Based in Ahmedabad’s Mani Nagar, Yogesh Shah is a 63 year old retired Government Employee. He said that he had a hectic schedule. “There were times when I would work from 7am to 11pm, never even having the sun’s rays hitting my body for years,” he said. 

Erratic work hours led to bad eating habits, disturbed sleep and high levels of acidity as he consumed a lot of tea. Yogesh Shah told us that this was his routine for 36 years of his work life. While he was extremely dedicated and diligent towards his work, it took a toll on his health. He suffered from multiple issues which included weight gain, diabetes, hypertension, disturbed lipid profile, chronic stress, bipolar disorder, gastric trouble, anxiety (8-10 attacks a month), palpitations and cervical pain due to a surgery he had 4 years back. 

Till 2021, he used to pop 18 tablets daily. Around Dec 2020, he was consuming 26 tablets which included medication for COVID. Despite the issues, he was positive and did not let his conditions damper his way of life.

“I realized I was not doing the right things and that this was taking a toll on my health but, I did not do anything about it,” says Yogesh Shah. The health issues started around 1992 and aggravated in 10 years. His family was worried and felt helpless about not knowing what they could do to help him.

Making A Positive Shift 

He wanted to get better, reduce weight and control his illnesses but was not sure how to go about it. Then, just before retirement, he got to know about GOQii from two young women in his office. They motivated him to go for it. Yogesh Shah purchased GOQII from Amazon in Oct 2021. Initially, he found it difficult to decipher and understand GOQii but, slowly and steadily he was able to understand how the platform works.  

He followed all the instructions given to him by his Coach Deepali Sharma. She introduced small changes which had a big impact. Over the course of time, he has been able to improve his health and control his illnesses. He says, “Initially I could not understand my coach but then slowly, I started understanding. Some of the changes she brought about made quite a difference.”  

His daily routine begins with praying, then gardening in his little kitchen garden. He follows this up with morning meditation for which he follows Coach Rounak Gajjar on GOQii Play. He also follows Coach Sheetal Tewari and Coack Bhumika Unniyal for yoga, meditation and pranayama. 

Currently, he walks about 15km on most days whereas before, he would feel breathless even after 1km. On the International Day of Yoga on June 21, he walked 21km. He says that he now wants to participate in the GOQii Trail Challenge 2022. 

“Coach Deepali has given me a lot of habits and I follow them religiously. Hence, I have been able to make a change!” he says.

What Are The Results Of Yogesh Shah’s Efforts? 

“Nothing will work unless you do. You need to work hard to achieve your goal. This is something which my Player Yogesh Shah has proven with flying colours,” says Coach Deepali Sharma. “Initially, he had multiple issues like weight gain, uncontrolled sugar levels, disturbed lipid profile, chronic stress, bipolar disorder, gastric trouble, anxiety and palpitations.

He used to feel tired after a kilometer walk and now, he is on 21km, which is equivalent to a half marathon. His HbA1c came down from 8% to 6% with almost controlled Fasting blood sugar. Episodes of anxiety dropped drastically from 10-12 episodes to almost nil now. Symptoms like shivering, headache, restlessness are completely out of our book, which were quite prominent before,” she says.

“It’s not stress that kills us but it is our reaction to it and Mr. Yogesh was outstanding in cultivating that positivity with intrinsic motivation. Stress was affecting his sleep a lot. With hard work and determination, he is now out of his anxiety medicines. We worked on setting a sleep-wake cycle as well and relaxation exercises also helped us a lot. I have seen an incredible improvement in his sleep from 2-3 hrs to an average of 5-6 hrs as of now. He is a person with a clear vision and that’s the reason we lost good weight. He is 71.25kg (latest) which was  82 kg when we started. This was achieved by keeping post sunset meals light, adding healthy snacks and carb control,” says Coach Deepali Sharma. 

As of now, Yogesh Shah’s medication has been reduced to 13 pills. You can view Yogesh’s entire journey as he speaks to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal on an episode of GOQii Health Stories.

Do you suffer from similar conditions? Did this story inspire you to make a lifestyle change? Then reach out to a GOQii Coach and subscribe for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring Health Stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

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