health tips Archives

May 25, 2020 By Shivani Dalvi Leave a Comment

Effective Ways To Manage Working From Home

It has been well over 2 months now that people have been working from home because of the lockdown and to ensure safety from the COVID-19 pandemic. It won’t come as a surprise if working from home becomes the norm in a post-COVID world. While there are some people who have adapted to this lifestyle, there are others who are possibly struggling with the work from home model due to several reasons not limited to lack of communication, stress, work-life balance being disrupted and so on. As the lockdown may continue, it is a fact that this process of working from home has turned everyone’s routine upside down.

Changes Due To Working From Home

A lot many people are unable to meet their work deadlines which are impacting their overall performance level
Because of the entirely new set up, a lot of people are getting stressed as this is beyond their comfort zone
A majority of the population has become too lazy to work on time.
People end up spending more time working and mess their sleep routines. The cycle of disturbed routine goes on to the next day as well.

Easy Tips To Strike A Work-Life Balance

Here are some effective ways in which you can keep your work-life balance under control in the current situation.

Start your day at the same time every day. This means both the wake-up time and the time to start your work
Get ready early to feel energetic
Sit for your work at such a place where you will feel fresh or simply choose a favourite corner of the house which will make you feel like working
Schedule your resting & eating break before starting your work
You may simplify this by eating meals at the same time what you used to maintain at the workplace
Take a walk inside the house in between your work just to relax your mind and body
You may set a two-hour alarm on your phone & get up from the place and take a walk inside the house for two minutes. This will help you to increase your step counts easily and will make you feel fresh
Avoid doing household work “Ghar ka Kam” in the middle of working hours
Finish your work every day at the same time or just shut down your dashboard & create that work-life balance for yourself by maintaining the time
Keep some healthy snack options ready. Choose options simply like roasted home-made snacks: puffed rice and chana (or) poha and chana (or) puffed jowar/bajra with chana or khakhra or mixed nuts trail or frozen yoghurt. Well, one may simply choose to have a fruit with chana or nuts or buttermilk or milk as per the availability
If you are the one who cooks, then make sure that you pre-plan your day in terms of planning the meal options to be cooked for the next day
Try to arrange those ingredients a day before making the dish, this will bring in more free time and it will reduce the stress of thinking what to cook and arrange ingredients for the same while you work

Lastly but most important point is to be strict with yourself to follow these tips to get a work-life balance in your life and enjoy the phase of being at home all day. We hope these tips on working from home help you. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below.

For more such useful tips, check out the GOQii Blog or tune in to experts on GOQii Play.

Stay home, stay safe and #BeTheForce

May 22, 2020 By Soni Thakur 1 Comment

Is This The Best Time To Make A Positive Lifestyle Change?

There are a number of people who motivate themselves to make positive lifestyle changes to eat better, exercise more, practise yoga and sleep adequately. They have tried before, probably declaring another attempt as a New Year’s resolution. After working hard for a week or two that resolution was found resting in the corner due to lack of time, energy and motivation.

Making a lifestyle change is challenging especially when you want to make so many changes at a time. It takes time and requires your full commitment and dedication once you are ready to make a change.

Some Tips To Make A Positive Lifestyle Change

Make a plan you think you can stick to
Start small
Choose one behaviour change at a time
Make some friends with the same goal
Ask for expert support

As we are all in lockdown, it’s a good break from our fast-paced life. We were complaining about not getting enough time to work out, to eat healthy home-cooked food, to meditate to relieve stress and ditch that alarm clock and sleep a little more. Well, here it is!

This is the best time to make a lifestyle change and reset our biological clock back to normal by balancing all four important components of our body which are: Balanced diet, Exercise, Adequate sleep and Stress management.

We hope this article helps you make a positive lifestyle change. For motivation, healthy recipes and more, you can check out the GOQii Blog or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play for home workouts, meditation, emotional wellness, learning music, yoga and more!

Stay home, stay positive and #BeTheForce!

May 11, 2020 By Priyanka Mangla 1 Comment

6 Tricks To Help You Make Exercise A Habit

More often than not, when you’ve begun a new exercise routine to get in shape, your intentions don’t often match your actions. You begin to realize there’s a big gap between having an intention of achieving something and actually doing the work to fulfil that intention. There’s no need to beat yourself about it. There’s always a way to bridge that gap. Let’s look at a few tricks that can help you make exercise a habit!

How to Make Exercise a Habit

Set a Goal and Send a Reminder to Yourself: I wanted to exercise because I always wanted to stay fit like a soldier – this was my goal. I set a reminder on my phone for 5 AM as “Stay fit like a soldier “. This served as my morning alarm as well. Setting a goal where you remind yourself everyday will never let you sleep without ensuring that you exercised that day.
Challenge a Friend: The day you plan to start exercising, challenge your friend. I texted my friend, “hey, in the next 30 days, I am going to increase my stamina from 6/10 to 10/10 “. Believe me, your friend will never let you forget that you need to exercise daily.
Use the 21/90 Rule: This rule says that It takes 21 days to create a habit. It takes 90 days to create a lifestyle. You just don’t skip a day for 21 straight days. In these 3 weeks, exercise will become your habit. And once you are able to do it, you will continue doing it for another 90 days.
Reward Yourself With 1 Rest Day: Keep 1 day as your ”rest day “. This is important for your muscle recovery too.
Make It Pleasurable: During the lockdown, some music of your choice will do the magic. You will love your exercise without getting bored. This is actually something I do and enjoy a lot. When the circumstances will become favorable to go out, enjoy the beauty of nature, fresh morning air, the beautiful sky as the sun shines and the chirping of birds.
Take Baby Steps: Last but the most useful trick! When I started exercising, I had full “josh”, I forgot to count the sets and reps and just exercised with lots of energy. I had in mind, the more I will do, the sooner I will get the results. But the reverse happened. I had no energy for Day 2. So, this served as a lesson – doing too much, in the beginning, leads to burnout; which may lead to quitting the habit. So, the key is, start with light intensity exercises for 15-30 minutes in the beginning. Our only aim is to be regular. “One workout at a time. One day at a time. One meal at a time“ – Chalene Johnson.

Now that you’re aware of these simple tricks, let’s aim at making exercise a habit! Enjoy your exercise to enjoy the glow of good health. For training routines and home workouts, join our experts on GOQii Play.

Stay safe, stay healthy, get active and #BeTheForce!

April 30, 2020 By Palak Mittal 5 Comments

Does Apple Cider Vinegar Really Promote Weight Loss?

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) has gained a lot of popularity for its weight loss properties but the real question is, does it really help one lose weight? Before we delve deeper into that, let’s understand what ACV is.

What is Apple Cider Vinegar?

ACV is acidic in nature due to its main component of acetic acid. It is prepared by the fermentation of crushed apples. It is the acetic acid which has numerous health benefits. Some of these include:

Helps controlling blood sugar levels: Acetic acid present in Apple Cider Vinegar can improve the ability of the liver to utilize sugar more efficiently from the blood.
Decreases insulin levels: If the ratio of insulin and glucagon reduces, it helps in increasing the fat burning process. This is done by acetic acid.
Helps in boosting metabolism: which increases the fat burning process.
It reduces fat storage and suppresses appetite resulting in low intake of food.
Controls blood pressure naturally
Helps in reducing bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol (HDL).
Alleviates the symptoms of PCOS.

What Does Research Say?

One of the researches done on humans (Japanese) states that Apple Cider Vinegar can really help in reducing weight and body fat.

Researchers gave 1 Tbsp (15ml) of ACV, 2Tbsp (30ml) of a placebo drink daily to 144 obese Japanese adults for 12 weeks, along with their usual diet and exercise routine. After 12 weeks, it was found that those who consumed 15ml of ACV per day reduced 1.2kgs, 0.7% of body fat, 0.5” of the waist and 26% Triglycerides. Those who consumed 30ml of ACV per day reduced 1.7kgs of weight, 0.9% body fat, 0.75” waist and 26% Triglycerides (same as 15ml).

On the other hand, those who were fed the placebo increased 0.4kgs and slight increment in waist circumference too.

So, the bottom line is that 1-2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar per day can lead to weight loss and the reduction in body fat percentage, belly fat, and blood triglycerides.

How Do You Add ACV to Your Routine?

Mix 15-30ml of ACV in a full glass of water. However, it is always advised to break the doses 2-3 times a day preferably, at least 15 mins before a meal. If you can’t drink it due to its pungent taste and smell, then it can be used:

As a salad dressing with olive oil
For pickling of vegetables

Please Note: Do not consume ACV directly. Always dilute before consuming to avoid burning of the throat and stomach lining due to the strong acid. Also, excessive usage of apple cider vinegar may be harmful due to the acid content. Always consume within the safe limits or else it may lead to the erosion of teeth enamel and loss of potassium.

We hope this article helps you. Before you begin using Apple Cider Vinegar, do consult your doctor, nutritionist or dietitian. To know more about ACV, browse through classes by nutrition experts on GOQii Play. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below.

#BeTheForce