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“With my coach’s efforts and my determination, I have been able to quit smoking after 29 years”

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At some point in time, we have all come across people who smoke. You also know how often they make resolutions to quit smoking and never end up keeping up with it. Quitting smoking can be a long and hard process. But, staying tobacco-free is the longest and most important part of it. Every day you must decide not to smoke today. One needs to create new habits such as drink lots of water, eat well and sleep well. Now that is exactly what S Balakrishnan (name changed to protect identity) who quit smoking after 29 years of smoking. Let’s hear from him what exactly did he do and how he did it…

I have not been a fitness freak or had a regular fitness regime. But, I would go for my morning walks daily. I never missed it and that was my only exercise towards being health conscious. As for my job it largely involves sitting at my desk but it is stressful. It’s the stress that was an excuse for me to increase my smoking along with being a habitual smoker since my college days. Smoking led me to acidity and lack of sleep as well.

The turning point in my life came when around 5 months ago, I attended a program organised by my company. At the programme, they gave out a fitness tracker–GOQii to create awareness of health and fitness among us employees and we were also told that the tracker is accompanied by a coach who will help us decipher the data tracked and give us tips on health and nutrition and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Initial one month I procrastinated on wearing the band. Then I decided let me try it out. My coach Sweta Karia has helped me a lot in my lifestyle change. My first health goal was to quit my smoking and reduce my acidity.

And I am glad to say that I have been able to stop my smoking habit for the last 1 month and this is one of my major achievements. I have been smoking for almost 29 years. If it was not for my coach I do not think I would have ever been able to do this.

Sweta did not do anything drastic to get me out of the habit. Our target was to get me off smoking in 3 months It was a slow and steady process. I used to smoke on an average 10 cigarettes a day. My coach systematically cut down the smoking from 10 to 8 to 6 to 5 then 4, 3, 2, 1 and then a lot of struggle and she was constantly supporting me then finally I was able to stop it. I’ve had also been asked to go for a walk whenever I feel the urge of smoking. But, I do not have the urge anymore.

My second issue was with my food habits. I thought I ate healthy but obviously, I didn’t. I lacked understanding on what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, what should be daily water intake. All these concepts were well defined and explained to me by my coach over these last few months. Being on GOQii has helped me get clarity on lots of aspects of health and nutrition. It has helped me understand what goals I need to achieve, quantification and how I can achieve them.

The one thing I have realised with GOQii is that one has, to be honest to oneself and your coach and follow the tips given to you diligently to get the best results.

My acidity was aggravated due my excess coffee drinking and smoking. I used to drink 5-6 cups daily. I was asked to bring it down slowly. Old habits die hard but I tried.  I knew if I did not, it could only get worse and that would be painful for me.  I bought it down to 4, but coach asked me to take just half a cup every time. So, then the frequency also came down from 4 to 2.

My water intake has also increased from 1.25 litres earlier to the current 2.75 litres of water every day. This has helped me a lot. I have also started having a lemon juice after my morning walks and then have my breakfast and bowl of fruits. My vegetable intake has increased and then the food intake has reduced. I have controlled my rice intake to a large extent. I go for a maximum of vegetables and salads, sprouts, carrots etc. These small habit changes have proved fruitful.

My activity levels have also seen a gradual increase. I also participated in a 21 km run and 10 km run and could do it easily. I clock around 13000 to 14000 steps a day which is quite normal for me nowadays. Along with all this, my coach has also advised me to do some breathing exercise at least twice in a day.

One more point what I’d like to mention is that there are 4 units of service that is followed in this industry. These are namely Design of service, Delivery mechanism, Passion, Touch and Feel and lastly building long term relationships.

GOQii follows these four essential aspects very well. The band is designed so well that there is clarity in the band usage. It links to the app easily without a cumbersome process and easy to operate. The charging mechanism is also simple. So the first aspect of design and quality is taken care of. GOQii’s delivery mechanism is also well taken care of in the form of their communication, the follow-ups that they do on a regular basis helping you keep your goals extended etc. The third thing I’d talk about is the passion, the touch and feel and emotion attached is well delivered. Each one at GOQii is a passionate about their roles and that is evident in various ways.The coach takes part in helping you as one of your own family members and she guides you properly.If your step count is down they motivate you to do more

Lastly, GOQii is trying to build long-term relationships by constantly seeking feedback from players on what sort of improvement we are able to do etc. That stems from the CEO who is in constant dialogue with his players trying to understand their needs.They not only take feedback but also try and implement and then they demonstrate to you without even saying explicitly. But, the effects are visible.

What does coach Sweta Kariahave to say about her players?

Initially, his meals were not well balanced and he used to smoke 10 cigarettes per day.
He was very dedicated towards his goal to quit smoking completely within a time span of 3 months and with all the efforts he made things possible. Not only that, we worked on his water intake, vitamin C intake as his immunity which was at risk due to smoking and unbalanced meals coupled with high stress levels..

I have never heard a NO from him for anything that I have asked him to do. We made things happen slowly. We started with initially bringing down his smoking to 2 cigarettes per week and slowly by the end of 3 months we came to 0..and is still at 0.

The other goals were given 100% attention too by him which makes him feel much better now and he is super active, healthy and happy too with the lifestyle changes he has made!!!

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“The fitness tracker has helped me bring about a discipline within myself”

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He is a busy financial services profession and practically lives out his suitcase. He was leading a sedentary lifestyle with no workout or any fitness regime whatsoever. To add to this he would eat out more often than not. All put together it was a recipe for an unhealthy lifestyle. He needed to change that for himself. He decided to run the marathon which means it will automatically motivate him to run and do exercise every day. Let us hear it from Gawir Baig how he managed to shed his sedentary lifestyle and run a marathon.

I work in the financial services sector and my job is hectic that involves lots of travel. I practically led a very sedentary lifestyle with no much workout or exercise regime and lots of eating out. Everything combined was getting me to be unhealthy. I decided I need to do something about this and decided to run the 2015 Mumbai half-marathon and even registered for it. My wife was aware of it.

3-4 months before the marathon she gifted me a GOQii fitness tracker to start preparing for the marathon using GOQii as a tool, as a catalyst which could help you in getting ready for the marathon. Technically I got a GOQii in October 2014 and ParwageAlam was my coach.

The reason I was given the GOQii was to use this as a tool to start running and maintain the habit of running which could help me later to run 21 km half-marathon. I have run a bit in the past but because of my travel schedule, I was not regular. GOQii has helped me because I have a coach who monitors my activity, what I eat, what kind of diet I am following, the portions I am eating and whether I am drinking enough water or no.

The tracker has helped in terms of getting into a rhythm of following a fixed pattern for running and exercise as well as the dietary part. It helps me in bringing some kind of discipline within me amidst all the madness around. When I am traveling and even otherwise I used to eat out often and followed a very unhealthy diet pattern. By having a GOQii coach this has reduced drastically.

My coach then gave me a plan of how should I go about running for the next 4 weeks before the marathon. So maybe Monday 3 km then a break, Wednesday (3+2) km and so on. It was a pattern that helped me in terms of also increasing my stamina for running the marathon. I still consider the best part of this entire GOQii experience in terms of someone as a coach proved good to build up the stamina for the marathon.

I run better now and hence still continuing to run. I run about 4-5 days a week. I have come to a stage where if I do not run I don’t feel good. I run about 5 km and cool down on 1 km and warm up of 1 km; so 7 km altogether.

There have also been some habit changes brought in such not having a fruit after a meal. I have started having more proteins during lunch time. My lunch used to be completely carbohydrate driven now I include curds. I am not a vegetarian but my lunch is mostly vegetarian lunch so there is hardly any protein in that. Adding some curd is good protein. These dietary changes that I have brought about are helping me and I think the other thing which has really benefited me is having 5-6 meals a day.

Small and frequent meals which I wasn’t having earlier. I used to have good breakfast, a good lunch, a good dinner and sometimes maybe an evening snack which was very unhealthy evening snack. Frequent meal intake is something which is brought to me and I am continuing to do that.

On the sleep cycle, I wouldn’t say much because that’s correlated to the kind of work I do.  I have to improve my sleep cycle. But, I am glad that on the dietary part and with regard to exercises GOQii has brought a good impact.

My health goal when I started on GOQii was training for the marathon. At that time, I also weighed close to 100. There was an instance when I was about to do skydiving and the threshold for skydive was 100 kilos, it was mentioned over there although they were a bit fine even if it is above 1 or 2 kilos above 100. I was almost at that threshold.

When I started preparing for the marathon, my weight reduced to about 92 kilos. Now my health goal is also to further reduce my weight by purely doing more activity and eating right. Over the next 18 months, I want to have a normal life and eventually bring down my weight to 82 kilos which are actually the right weight as per the BMI section. I am still at about 92.

I am happy with my progress thus far. Now I really feel bad if I don’t run on a particular day. Frequent meal system is what has been inculcated in my dietary habits and that has resulted in the gradual weight loss.   

What does coach Parwage Alaam have to say about Gawir Baig?

Gawir Baig is a guy with full determination. If he decides to do something – he will achieve it. When he joined GOQii he wanted to run Marathon, so I guided him with the proper schedule of running and following up with the practice session. He was really amazing – hardly miss his workout (running practice + Strengthening exercise). Then on the final day of Marathon, he completed his first half marathon within two and half hours.

During his practice session, he challenged himself to run 10 KM in 68 Min on 23rd August, which was the qualifying run for Marathon and he prepared himself within 3 weeks despite his work schedules. Simultaneously he also followed all the tips in terms of diet pattern. He properly maintains his protein, carbs, vitamins intake and tries to have a balanced plate in every meal which has also helped him get lighter.

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“The idea of having a fitness tracker with a personalized coach appealed to me”

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He needed a little push and motivation to shape up. He lost weight in just about six months, overcoming a variety of obstacles along the way. All he did was exercise, ate right, and built right muscles within few months— after not having touched weights in nearly a year. He made time in his busy life, and committed to getting fit once and for all. Bottom line: If he can do it, so can you. Let us find out what finally caused Aditya Vikram to say goodbye to his extra kilos for good — and what actually worked for him in his own words.

I work as a manager in an IT firm in Hyderabad. Prior to moving to Hyderabad, India, I was in the US for 6 years from 2007-2013. I had a very active lifestyle in the US and had a regular exercise regime. I used to also play tennis. But, things were not the same when I returned back to India.My health and fitness took a toll due to my long working hours.

I hardly did any physical activity due to lack of time and gained a lot of weight and my lifestyle just changed in one year of coming back to India. Also, I didn’t want to take any regular gym membership or get a personal trainer because once you stop you tend to go back from where you began.

I was looking for a sustainable goal and plan that would help me stay myself and yet get healthy and fit. My work also includes lot of travelling. I started researching on wearablesand that is when I came across Jawbone but it wasn’t of much help because that wouldn’t keep me motivated. Then I came across GOQii on Amazon. The idea of having a personalized coach who would follow up with you and also that you would be answerable to someone will make you more conscious about yourself appealed to me.

I came on board GOQii in March 2015 and my coach is Pawan Sharma. I was then 89 kilos so my health goal was clear. Firstly, I wanted to reduce weight and secondly, I wanted to run a marathon

I started slow. I started with clocking 5k steps. Then we began gym training and added Yoga as well. My meals were altered. Where I used to have large meals, I started having small and frequent meals and that made a difference.

After a year with GOQii it’s been wonderful actually. I mean the amount I paid for it is pretty good. I wish the band had more features and it was more functional and most of all I think it’s a decent band and the best part undoubtedly is the coach. I had issues with the app where I couldn’t have monthly calls with the coach for almost three months. It’s not as good as you expect the first month is usually like that, you start off with full stream also you have your regular challenges etc. it’s like you can’t do it as expected etc. but because of the live feedback, you start the day thinking I am going to have so much protein, I am going to have a team outing and sometimes I miss lunch so the coach tells me that this is what you can do for dinner so that was really helpful.

I stopped eating sweets. Previously, I would manifest my time in a lot of binge eating which stopped with small frequent meals and that was a new learning for me. The result of all this was that I lost 10 kilos within 6 months and also became very active.

Gradually my coach increased by activity. From 5K steps I started doing a daily step count of 13k steps. In terms of physical activity, I got a very good advice from Pawan that not to keep any favourite exercises. It was mandatory for me to clock 10000 steps every day. I do not mange that on weekends so no matter where I am and what schedule I am on weekdays, I make sure I do a mandatory 10000 steps.

But, just as everything was going smoothly, a point came when in January 2016, I was posted in London for 3 months. Here I was going to have no access to gym. So my coach suggested I do walks and continue my Yoga on a daily basis and that helped me. He told me once you are back we can resume our training back.

But, in 6 months of getting on GOQii, I had managed to shed 10 kilos. I was at 79 kilos. I had lost weight in a healthy manner. However, while in London, I was not able to keep in touch with my coach. I was also not cooking and calling for food from out. So ended up eating high fat foods and put on weight again. I tried to keep myself active in London. I used to walk a lot. I walked from office to home and did Yoga at home.

I am back and continuing with my workout. Though, I don’t have a scheduled workout. I drink more water and I walk more at work, so I am integrating some form of physical activity in daily routine and apart from that I make sure I walk and also I do strengthening and now that it is summer I am also going swimming.

GOQii has been a fantastic motivator for me. One of the things that also attracted me towards GOQii was the price tag. Prior to GOQii I did take a look at other wearables like Fitbitt, Jawbone etc. which are water proof and all that but they rely on the fact that you will find out the motivation to work out and decipher the data on your own. People are seldom open to doing that. And for me being in the IT industry there is no time, something or the keeps coming up. With GOQii, there is someone whom you can chat with, someone who keeps a track of all your activities.

You are not necessarily being answerable but, being able to share what you want to do, have done and can do is the USP of GOQii which has been the most beneficial for me.I haverenewed my membership and now training for the marathon. 

What does Coach Pawan Sharma have to say about player Aditya Vikram? 

Aditya was in great physical shape a few years ago but after moving to India he couldn’t adjust his lifestyle. Thus, he ended up gaining a lot of weight, so our goal was to get him back in shape by losing those extra kilos and get him healthy and fit.

One of his main goals is to run a 10k but, we had limitations to work around due to his epileptic condition. We began with monitoring his meals getting his sleep back on track, controlling stress levels and resuming his yoga. Once we started with these, we then gradually moved on to gym training, treadmill running and intense weekend workouts.
We moved on from daily step target of 5k to a recent 13k a day.

On the nutrition and meal front, we cut out the processed and junk foods and divided his meals into smaller portions more frequently through the day. Our biggest challenge was when he moved to UK for 3 months where he had no access to gym workouts. So, we kept his yoga and walks going and kept a check on that and resumed the intense routine on his return. He has been a pleasure to work with as he is extremely proactive on chat and calls and is regular with his meal logs and daily step targets.

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“I needed a coach who could help me with understanding nutrition patterns better”

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She is a fitness instructor herself. One would wonder why would a fitness trainer need a fitness tracker? But, this fitness trainer wanted a tracker that would help her know how many steps she takes in a day and also wanted a motivating factor in a coach with whom she could interact and understand more on nutrition etc. Let us understand from Nyela Saeed in her own words  what is it that she has learnt and implemented for her ownself?

I am a fitness instructor by profession and I run various classes of aerobics, Bollywood workout etc. and I am trained with Reebok and have done many other short courses in fitness. I was gifted a GOQii fitness band a year back for my birthday by my husband.

I have been with it for a year and I have been extremely regular with my login and my meals but the reason I have actually got the band is because even though I am a fitness instructor and I am conscious in many ways just having a band on your self tells you how many steps you took and having a coach who is constantly watching over you is an important key feature that works for me.

I have a daily routine that starts with the workout classes in the morning and I am extremely busy through the day. I also have a three year old baby who I attend to and therefore end up paying less attention to myself.

Initially, I didn’t really know what GOQii was about, I knew that there are fitness bands in the market that measures your heart rate and track your step count etc. but I didn’t know GOQii existed and it comes with a live coach. When I got the band and synced with the app, I understood that this is not a robotic application its real who understands my needs and works accordingly.

I didn’t have any particular health goal because I am a fitness trainer myself. Despite the fact that fitness is something that has always been of interest to me, I still wasn’t paying a lot of attention to myself. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to my sleep cycle. I wasn’t eating mid meals at all earlier and I would get extremely hungry and eat a big supper. Now all of this is corrected thanks to my coach and also I make sure I meet my water intake level of three litres per day.

Other than this I get a lots of tips from my coach and I don’t have to keep googling to get my  questions answered. For e.g. the cooking oil that you use in the house. I always go and buy the same cooking oil from the same bottle. The way my coach has explained to me what is poly saturated and mono saturated fats and how to alternate your oils etc. these are the things you need somebody to personally tell you how to incorporate in your life.

Also lot of questions pertaining to nutrition, I now just ask my coach and take her word for it. She also, put me on a three to four days detox regime in between because I had a long wedding period. My wrong sleep patterns have come down drastically because of my coach. Sometimes I used to have my meal and then have chocolate cravings.

My coach has taught me to alter my meals and now after my meals I have flavoured saunf or jaggary and peanut bar. My meals are now only healthy choices and I have given up on white sugar for the last one year.That is a big thing for me. I only take jaggary for everything but my coach has told me not to go overboard with it.

Recently, I have also been away from tea and coffee not because my coach told me but because I have become more conscious. Tips on nutrition is what I was largely looking for and my concepts are now clear. Apart from my health, my baby’s nutrition is also taken care of.

Earlier I would workout 5 days a week, my coach suggested I add one more day of workout and have only one day for rest.I have stopped taking the car or an auto and instead walk to places that that has helped me reach my target step count. My water intake has always been good. All in all I am happy being on GOQii platform and it has helped me a lot.

What does coach Tejal Gupte have to say about Nyela Saeed?

Nyela has been on her GOQii health journey for more than a year now.  She has always been a cheerful and an enthusiastic person, always ready to learn more and new things about health and nutrition. Coming from a fitness background, staying physically active was never a big challenge for her. But, her lifestyle consisted of high frequency of eating out due to frequent socialization and she had been a sugar addict for a long time. So we took these two aspects as our short term goals one after another.

We regularly discussed ways to practice mindful eating when having outside food and importance of portion control in such situations was explained and imbibed in her routine. Dealing with the sugar cravings looked challenging and took time initially. Right from using healthy substitutes i.e jaggery based sweets, dates and fruits, to the distraction techniques like engaging in favorite activity, consuming saunf at the time of craving, and other tips were shared and incorporated. I must say, even though it was not easy for Nyela to go off sugar that easily, it was her determination and hard work that helped us to achieve these goals. She even participated and to her surprise finished the 7 days sugar free challenge. She also completed some other challenges like the “3 day detox challenge” and step count challenge.During the whole year, we also worked successfully on some other goals like water intake and adding healthy snacks in evening to beat the hunger pangs.

Nyela has been regularly syncing her band, sending her updates as well as interacting on her goals throughout, which has made it more helpful to work on her goals.In the current scenario, her water intake has improved a lot than earlier. Best part is that although we could not do much alteration in her frequency of eating out due to her highly social lifestyle, mindful eating has almost become a habit for her and she is able to master it most of the times. I feel really happy and proud to see the transformation she has brought in herself in this one year period.

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