October 26, 2022 By Vandana Juneja Leave a Comment

Top 5 Eating Habits That Are Bad For Heart Health

There are lots of habits which play a key role in maintaining good heart health. Eating right, being active, managing stress well and getting good quality sleep are just a few of them. Then, there are habits which are bad for heart health. These habits, over a period of time, if left unchecked, can increase the risk for heart disease. Let’s go over some of these eating habits that can affect your heart.

Top 5 Eating Habits That Are Bad For Heart Health

Junk & Packaged Food: This one is a no-brainer. Eating junk and packaged food items like chips, namkeens, maggi and bakery items, etc. are bad for heart health. These food items are loaded with saturated fats and sodium which increase the amount of LDL (Bad cholesterol) in our body. High levels of bad cholesterol can build up plaque in the blood vessels and clog them, leading to atherosclerosis, heart failures and stroke.
High Sugar Intake: Regular and high consumption of sugar can damage blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart, causing high blood pressure and damage to artery walls. Besides table sugar, there are many food items with hidden sugars that we should avoid like – bakery items, desserts, mithai, packed juices, and instant food items like ready to cook breakfast cereals, aerated drinks, energy drinks, etc.
Overeating: Being overweight is a major risk factor for heart disease. Eating uncontrolled portions leads to weight gain which can cause a myriad of health issues. So avoid eating, not only high calorie foods in large quantities, but be careful about the portion of your regular meals as well.
Eating Red Meat: Red meat is high in saturated fat and there’s also evidence that processed meat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Ideally, less than 10% of your diet should come from animals and animal products.
Avoiding Fruits & Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are a great source of Vit C and beta carotene. These antioxidants help prevent plaque deposition in the blood vessels. So, try including fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.

Apart from the above mentioned foods, make sure you lead an overall healthy lifestyle to avoid facing any health issues. If you need help with improving your lifestyle or seek guidance to manage an existing condition, reach out to an expert by subscribing for GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more on heart health, check out Healthy Reads.

We hope this article helps you avoid these foods which are bad for heart health. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below!

#BeTheForce

October 25, 2022 By GOQii 5 Comments

Strength Training and It’s Benefits

Having covered so many topics across health and fitness, we wanted to focus today’s topic on Strength Training. I have always been fond of strength training. If performed correctly, strength training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being.

Weight training can increase Bone Mineral Density and Muscle Mass. It also increases the strength and toughness of our tendons and ligaments, improves joint function and range of motion, and reduces potential for injury. Strength training will tone your muscles.

Strength training or weight training or anaerobic training all are same. In anaerobic exercise, cells use ATP (Adenosine Tri Phosphate) as a source of energy or glucose in the absence of oxygen. It usually lasts up to 2 minutes.

I began strength training at the age of 16 with traditional Indian squat, Surya Namaskar and push ups. At that time, my knowledge was limited. After some time I realized that my immune system is performing better. I used to fall sick more often with fever and/or cold but weight training really helped me make my immune system stronger.

Weight training can be done using body weight, elastic bands, dumbbells, barbells, and kettle bells. I prefer using my body weight as there is no investment which is required and sometimes, I use dumbbells for weight training.

If you are feeling depressed or stressed, try weight training. It helped me overcome depression and might work wonders for you! After a weight training session, endorphin levels increase in the body. Endorphins are the neurotransmitters released by the pituitary gland which makes one feel good. Neuro-muscular coordination improves.

One benefit of strength training is that during training you are burning calories but the effect will remain for more time because of the increased muscle mass. So weight training will help to increase the B.M.R. as muscle needs more energy to survive.

What Happens in Strength Training?

During strength training, there will be a wear and tear in the muscle fiber but that damage will be repaired after sleep and proper nutrition. Your muscles will become stronger. Your muscular strength and muscular endurance will go up after 2-3 sessions. For hypertrophy (increase in muscle mass), you need more training sessions, proper nutrition and rest.

During weight training, blood flow will increase to a particular muscle. There will be more supply of nutrients to that muscle and muscle will increase in size and strength. Smaller muscles need less time for recovery but bigger muscles like the hamstrings or quadriceps need more time and nutrition.

But before starting weight training you have to prepare your body and mind. Start with a good warm up. During or before you exercise, try ballistic stretching where you are not holding the stretch. After your training session, perform cool down and static stretching where you will hold the stretch for 10-15 seconds.

Want to know more about Strength Training? Ask an expert by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more on fitness, check out Healthy Reads.

#BeTheForce

October 9, 2022 By GOQii Leave a Comment

How Neelima Kulshrestha Managed Diabetes & BP Issues with GOQii

The decisions we make, no matter how small, sometimes have a big impact on our life. Have you ever been at a crossroad where you were unsure of a certain decision, but once you took it, it changed your life for the better? Our Player Neelima Kulshrestha was faced with such a decision and as she took it, her life changed for the better. Here’s how her health story unfolded with GOQii.

Multiple Lifestyle Diseases and Medications

Neelima is a 38 year old housewife who resides in Delhi. After marriage, her life only revolved around her family and children, leaving no time for herself. At 34, she developed Diabetes, Blood Pressure, Obesity, High Cholesterol, and Triglyceride issues. She was using medications to manage all these issues.

She had to regularly keep a check on her BP as it would rise constantly. After a while, every time her arm was strapped to check her BP, she would suffer terrible pain in her hands. To help her, her husband began researching to find something like a smartwatch that could monitor her BP 24×7. Upon combing the internet, he found GOQii and was pleased with the reviews. He figured this could be the best option and bought the smart watch from the GOQii Website in Feb 2022.

Taking A Decision To Make A Positive Lifestyle Change

“Initially the device was purchased only to monitor my BP. I was not keen on going in for a coach and hence, never activated the code for a 3 month free coaching service,” said Neelima Kulshrestha. But, her husband insisted that she should try the coaching service out as it was free for 3 months. After much resistance, Neelima Kulshrestha finally activated the coaching subscription. In fact, she even asked her husband to attend the intro call and discuss her health with the coach.

She had joined GOQii with the intention to lose weight. She thought that Diabetes and high blood pressure would be lifelong companions. She was not sure if both these issues could be managed with proper lifestyle changes.

For the first month, Neelima says it was quite a task to connect with the coach and she was not regular. It was during the 2nd month that she gave it a serious thought and said to herself, “Just try and see what happens and what changes the coach is likely to bring about.” Now, she says that, “I have no regrets.”

Once her GOQii Coach slowly started introducing new habits into her lifestyle, she started witnessing the change. She had started feeling active as she started following all the habits that her GOQii Coach recommended – whether it was having vegetable juices or switching over to millets or exercises. She never gave any excuses in spite of having a small child to look after.

As part of her daily routine, she now walks around 20k steps daily as well as exercises regularly. Her GOQii Coach helped her maintain portion control as well.

Even her husband has seen the changes. Along with her GOQii Coach, Neelima also credits her husband for her change in lifestyle saying, “ If it was not for my husband and his motivation, I would have never been able to do this ever!”

What Changes Did Neelima Kulshrestha Observe?

“Neelima’s sugar level has spoken volumes about her dedication towards a healthy lifestyle,” says her GOQii Coach Madhu Soni. Her fasting sugar in April 2022 was 195 and PP was at 150. As of now, her fasting sugar is at 96 and PP at 102. Her HbA1c has dropped from 8.6 to 6.4 in the month of June.

“When she began her journey with GOQii, her weight was 104kg and now, she weighs 82.4kg. Although her BP has not reached the benchmark, I’m sure we’ll see success there soon as well,” says her GOQii Coach Madhu Soni.

Recently, Neelima spoke to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal on an episode of GOQii Health Stories, where she discussed her journey and the changes brought about by her GOQii Coach Madhu Soni. You can watch the full episode here:

As of now, Neelima Kulshrestha has been an Elite Player for 199 days and is in the top 6% of Active Players on the GOQii Platform. Owing to the changes she witnessed by making small lifestyle changes, she is now inspiring her family and friends to take up a healthy lifestyle as well.

If this story inspired you or if you want to reduce your HbA1c levels and manage lifestyle diseases, reach out to us by downloading the GOQii App and subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads.

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September 30, 2022 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi 7 Comments

8 Simple Health Tips You Can Follow At Work

In 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:

Include a walk in between while traveling to work and back.
Use the stairs instead of an elevator
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/
Get up after every couple of hours to stretch your back, arms and legs
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
Keep a few snacks, fruits or dry fruits on your desk so you can munch on them when hungry
Keep the brightness of your system low and maintain a decent distance away from the screen
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

#BeTheForce