healthy Archives - Page 2 of 2

March 8, 2019 By GOQii 3 Comments

Championing the Health & Fitness Space | International Women’s Day

What does it mean to be a champion? Is a champion someone who always wins? Is a champion someone who strives in the face of adversity? Does a champion believe in their self, perseveres and never gives up? There are many different parameters that can be used to define what a champion is or should be but there are some that stand out from the rest. On International Women’s Day, let’s read through the accomplishments of some of our Indian women who have redefined what it means to be a champion by being a daily source of inspiration and motivation to many!

Rujuta Diwekar

“When we go through nutrition transition and give up on our local, native, regional food and we begin to adopt a food system, which has no resonance to our region, culture, that’s when our waists start spilling out in a protest for you to go back to your more local diet.”

A nutrition and exercise science expert, Rujuta Diwekar is a vocal champion of using our common sense and un-complicating the act of eating. In a career spanning more than 15 years, Rujuta Diwekar has worked with clients from all walks of life – from businessmen to homemakers, students, celebrities and sportsmen including Kareena Kapoor and Anil Ambani. She emphasizes a blend of traditional food wisdom and modern nutritional science for a healthy body and mind, best reflected through the mantra – Eat local, think global. She is also the author of 5 best-selling nutrition books.

Sucheta Pal

TheHealthSite.com

Ranchi girl and ex-IT professional Sucheta Pal inspired an entire nation towards healthier living and fitness through Zumba. She is India’s first Zumba Education Specialist and the brand ambassador for Zumba in India. In 2018, she was felicitated by the Hon. President of India as the “First Lady” for women wellness. Over four and a half years, she has trained nearly 3,500 Zumba instructors and has represented Zumba and India in multiple international fitness conferences from FIBO Germany, IFEX Indonesia, AFAA Japan conference, Asia Fitness Convention, Bangkok and others across the world. She is also a fitness TV-show host of Zoom TV’s Zumba Dance Fitness Party and has featured in several fitness shows on NDTV, Mtunes and TLC. Definitely a champion of heath and fitness in our books!

Pooja Makhija

http://www.dssc.co/delhi/2018/02/08/nourish-eat-delete-celebrity-nutritionist-pooja-makhija/

Ace Nutritionist Pooja Makhija has successfully transformed the bodies and lives of thousands of people! She’s a nutritionist to celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor and Sushmita Sen. Pooja believes in nourishment over weight loss – food is fuel, it is your friend and not your enemy. To date, she has published two books – Eat Delete and Eat Delete Junior. She feels that people are seeing food for its calories rather than its true value. According to her, eating the right food can prevent lifestyle diseases such as high cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes.

Sonali Swami

https://naidunia.jagran.com

A mother of two, Sonali Swami is definitely a source of inspiration for every fit mom out there! An IBBF athlete, she has bagged a bronze at the WBBF Asian Championship 2016, won Fit Factor India 2014, won Muscle Mania India 2014 in Fitness and Model’s Physique Categorory, secured 6th place in Asian Body Building Championships 2017 and is among the country’s Top 10 bodybuilders – all this while starting her journey towards bodybuilding at the age of 37! She firmly believes that age is just a number and you can start training regardless of your age, it doesn’t matter if you’re a teenager or in your 60’s. She advises people to be patient, consistent and never give up.

Yasmin Karachiwala

The fitness guru that Bollywood swears by! Yasmin Karachiwala boasts of a clientele that includes the likes of Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhat. She owns a gym called Body Image, she was the first BASI certified Pilates instructor in India and established the first Pilates studio in Mumbai. She often shares workout videos with her followers and fitness enthusiasts on social media. She has also co-authored a book on Pilates. Yasmin does not believe in a diet and prefers making smarter food choices. Her mantra is to strive to be the best version of yourself!

Deepika Mehta

http://deepikamehta.in/

After a near death rock climbing accident in 1997, doctors told Deepika Mehta that she wouldn’t walk again. This wasn’t acceptable to someone like her who possessed a great zeal for life. She sought alternative approaches and found yoga. Since then, she has been learning and practicing various forms such as Pranayama, Ashtanga Yoga and meditation. Deepika has had her own TV show called Yoga City. She has a vast clientele including celebrities, individuals and corporates all over the country. She has been a master trainer on the show “The Biggest Loser” in India. In 2014, she was featured as one of the three women redefining beauty ideals in India in Vogue Magazine and has been the face of Elle India’s 2015 fitness campaign. She has also given a dance/yoga presentation and talk at the TedX event at the UN Headquarters in NYC.

Namrata Purohit

https://twitter.com/namratapurohit

The youngest Stott Pilates instructor in the world at the age of 16, Namrata Purohit has trained celebrities such as Kangana Ranaut, Jacqueline Fernandez, Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Elli Avram, Malaika Arora, Neha Dhupia and Lauren Gottlieb to name a few. When she was 19, she completed all the courses on Stott Pilates and is also a certified Barre Instructor. Along with her father Samir Purohit, she is the co-founder of The Pilates Studio, which is the first in the world to have pilates and a simulated altitude training room under one roof. At 21, she launched her first book titled The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Being Fit. She was the official fitness partner to Femina Miss India Organization since 2011, official Fitness Partner to Miss Diva (2013 & 2014) and along with her father, were official Pilates coaches to the 2014 Mumbai City FC team. She was also a national level squash player and a state level football player.

Shilpa Shetty Kundra

http://www.priyaadivarekar.com/2018/06/shilpa-shetty-kundra-interview-international-yoga-day.html

Apart from being a successful Bollywood Diva, Shilpa Shetty Kundra also follows an active and healthy lifestyle by practicing yoga, healthy eating and exercise. According to her, Yoga inculcates a sense of discipline and self-control. On days when she isn’t able to workout, she practices Pranayama. Being a health enthusiast, she decided to foray into the health and wellness space with the simple aim of spreading awareness. Shilpa’s Yoga DVD was a huge success. Her YouTube channel is a one-stop-shop for all fitness enthusiasts across the globe. Her first book ‘The Great Indian Diet’ went on to be an award-winning one and still remains one of the bestsellers in the health segment. Her second book, The Diary of a Domestic Diva, aims to share quick and hassle-free methods that lead to cooking healthy, nutritious and delicious meals.

P V Sindhu

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/sports/cricket/251216/2016-pv-sindhus-olympic-silver-marks-a-glorious-year-for-badminton.html

Picking up badminton at the age of 7, P V Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic Silver Medal. Fitness definitely plays an important role in her overall game which includes 8 hours of training. Her daily schedule includes Yoga, Pranayama, Running and Swimming, along with push-ups and sit-ups. In nutrition, she eats a zero sugar and high protein diet. She won a silver medal in Women’s Singles at Commonwealth 2018. She was also a silver medalist at the 2017 BWF World Championships and 2018 BWF World Championships consecutively. In the Asian Games 2018, held in Indonesia, she grabbed another silver medal. Sindhu came into international attention when she broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking and was the first ever Indian women’s singles player to win a medal at the Badminton World Championships. In 2015, she was awarded the Padma Shri. In 2018, she became the first Indian to have clinched the BWF World Tour title defeating Nozomi Okuhara in the finals.

March 12, 2018 By Palak Mittal 12 Comments

10 health and diet tips for Women

eating-healthy-and-exercising

March 8^th is considered International woman’s day but at GOQii we dedicate this whole month to focus on Women’s health. This month, I want you to sit back and relax and take some time out to focus on your health. I have carved out some easy-to-follow tips that will help you keep up with your health and fitness along with your diet habits.

Here are some of the health and diet tips every woman must follow to remain healthy and fit

Do not cut out any food groups from your diet

If you are dieting, do not think of cutting down on any food groups, be it carbohydrate or fat. Include lean proteins, calcium and other nutritional foods that will help your body function better. All you need to do is to ensure portion control and not go overboard, especially with unhealthy foods. Moderation is the key to a healthy you!

Load up on lots of water

Water is the one solution to all your health problems; it helps flush out the hazardous toxins produced in the body due to poor eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, et al. Drink lots of water or just add some lemon and honey to make it healthier. Not only will it help keep your body hydrated but also will leave your skin glowing.

Kick-start your day with a healthy and heavy breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; no matter how busy or caught up you are, take out some time to indulge in a good and healthy breakfast full of proteins to keep you energized through the day.

Do not obsess over dieting

One must not obsess over dieting. It is okay to accept your body as it is; what is important is to ensure eating healthy and keeping yourself physically fit. Focus on building your stamina and engage in exercises.

Feed your skin with healthy and natural ingredients

It shouldn’t be only your overall health but also your skin that needs some attention. For once, toss your chemical-laden commercial skincare products and use natural kitchen ingredients instead. They will help you get a gleaming skin.

Do not forget to engage in at least 30 minutes of exercise

It is not just your diet that will ensure a healthy body, but also some physical activity or exercise. It is not necessary to spend two hours at the gym, but just 30 minutes of your favourite outdoor sport, gaming, running, walking, et al can help you out.

Get yourself checked every six months

In order to take care of others in the family, we neglect minute health problems we generally go through. Take some time out and get your body checked for any suspicious growth or anything that you think should be flagged before it gets too late. Go in for a comprehensive health check up once in a year.

Do not stop yourself from indulging

Keeping yourself healthy does not mean you forget munching on your favourite foods. Indulge in these foods once in a while to make yourself and your tummy happy and going. Do make sure you don’t overeat only to ruin your diet.

Stop stressing! Include bright coloured foods to up your mood and get going

Nowadays, stress has become synonymous with us humans and one cannot avoid considering the many pressures in personal and professional lives. Load up on de-stressing foods and include more bright coloured fruits and vegetables in your diet that will help liven up your mood instantly.

Avoid smoking and alcohol

While occasional drinking is fine, making it a lifestyle habit is extremely dangerous. Not only do smoking and drinking cut short your lifespan, but also make you look a lot older and dull.

Follow these basic health and diet tips to lead a positive, fit and enduring life!

October 9, 2015 By TAARIKA ARYA 1 Comment

An “ATTITUDE” of “GRATITUDE”

I vividly remember myself humming these few lines back in school:

“Thank you for the world so sweet,

Thank you for the food we eat,

Thank you for the birds that sing,

Thank you GOD for everything.”

WAIT a second! This is not a religious blog but, simply about being thankful for the good in our lives focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. Seeing the cup of life as “half full” than as “half empty”.

Sadly, I could not continue saying those 4 lines as I grew up. But why should I not feel grateful about things that are around me or happen to me now?

This thought stuck my mind a month back and since then I became serious about being “grateful” in life and making it a lifelong habit. Of course, it was going to be something beyond these few lines considering the amount of experience I’ve had or the number of things that I should be grateful for. Best thing about it was that it was doable and it required no inventory.

Just 5 min of your day, but in turn provides great rewards in happiness, healthy, mind-fullness, career, personality, deeper relationships. The benefits are endless but, doing so takes a bit of practice (talk about HABITS !) .

Speaking about its benefits on Health & Well-Being (since that’s my forte), here are some of the ways it affects us:

HAPPINESS:

Experts say that practicing gratitude can increase health and happiness levels by about 25% ! And we all know that to achieve optimum health we need a healthy body, but we also need a healthy mind. Like muscle building, your mind also takes a while to build up and get strong. For this essentially practicing gratitude certainly helps.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE:

Gratitude also turns what we have in to enough, shrinking away our worries, negativity, comparisons. You end up with a more positive outlook towards your goals and your life.

SLEEP :

It improves sleep quality, time required to fall asleep and increases sleep duration. Just thinking about a few things we should be grateful for induces melatonin (sleep-inducing hormone) and knocks us out. Gratitude and positive emotion in general are among the strongest relaxants known to man. A safe and free sleep aid!

INCREASES LONGEVITY:

Indirectly of course. Gratitude is strongly related to a positive emotion and we all know that the optimists live a few years longer than the pessimists! So, gratitude —-> positive emotion —-> extra months / years on earth!

STRESS:

Gratitude reduces feelings of envy, makes our memories happier and lets us experience good feelings. All of this helps us bounce back from stress. Whenever I am under this funk , feel down or demotivated, all I do it’s : grab my journal and start counting my blessings !

YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO EXERCISE !

While there is no strong evidence that supports this, it should not surprise you if being grateful for your health would increase the tendency to want to protect it by exercising more. (Start practicing and let me know if it works for you! )

In a nutshell: Gratitude is no one-stop-shop , but it is a massively under utilised tool for improving the quality of life . You will be amazed to realise that all the goodness we take for granted.

Now you should be asking me, HOW can I bring more gratitude in my life???

Well, while there are many ways to practice this, one way that I follow and find the most practical is: Maintaining a gratitude journal.

All it requires is noting 1 or more things ( I write 3 everyday ) you are grateful for on a daily basis . No fancy notebook or App required. The real work goes on in your head. But if using a tool is helpful, go for it.

Here are a few handful of apps / websites that specialise in Gratitude:

Thankfulfor.com ( http://thankfulfor.com/) , Gratittude Journal for Iphone , Gratitude Plus for Ipad , Treater for IOS and Android .

I have picked up a few examples from my journal to give you an idea about how can you start:

I am grateful for being able to sleep on a clean white bed sheet.
I am grateful for the comfortable shoes I am wearing right now.
I am blessed to have access to technology.
I am lucky have my own bedroom space.
I am grateful for a day off!
I really enjoyed the lunch today.

Start off with small and simple things and gradually get deeper and complex. All of this takes less than 5 mins a day. It’s that simple! Trust me, once you start, you will want to go on and on and start falling short of space!

Keep a few things in mind, before you made a decision to go ahead:

Be genuine, No false praises, Be as specific as possible, Try to actually “feel” that feeling of gratitude.

So do you have 5 minutes to change your life forever ?

Thought so!

Go ahead and let’s make GRATITUDE PRACTICE a daily habit!

(WARNING: This exercise is super powerful and can make you feel really good. You might also find yourself smiling while filling up your journal.)