Motivation Archives - Page 7 of 7

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.

February 6, 2019 By GOQii 1 Comment

Being Fit is the New Fashion Statement!

Abhishek Kher's Amazing Transformation

“Being fit is the best fashion statement one can have,” says Abhishek Kher, a finance sector professional residing in Mumbai. At the age of 40, Abhishek has literally made the impossible, possible.

Abhishek has always been fond of running but was forced to lead a lifestyle with moderate physical activity due to his busy work schedule. Weighing about 83kg prior to his introduction to GOQii, he had diseases like hypertension and diabetes running in the family. Abhishek had no intentions of being a victim, with unbreakable determination and hardwork, he is 64kg today and the proud owner of a fit and sexy physique. Let’s take a look at Abhishek’s journey to understand his transformation.

Prior to being introduced to GOQii, Abhishek was dwelling on the heavier side of the weighing scale. Although he had downloaded a few running apps on his phone, and used to go for runs, it wasn’t enough for him to reap the kind of results he was looking for. When we asked him about the inspiration behind his determination, this is what he had to say:

“I come from a family which has a history of lifestyle diseases like hypertension and diabetes. I give the credit to my fear of being slowed down by these diseases, and also my children who are 12 and 2 years old respectively. I wanted to spend more quality time with them, playing with them and giving them the kind of attention they seek from me. I understood that with my current lifestyle and erratic work hours, I would be drained by the time I reach home. I decided to allocate more time to improve my lifestyle, so I can dedicate more time to my kids and family.”

Being an employee of Bajaj Allianz, Abhishek was introduced to GOQii through their corporate tier program. Since then, there was nothing to stop this man on his road to glory. In a time period of 1 year, Abhishek reduced 19kg, coming down from 83kg to 64kg.

Abhishek Kher Transformation

Abhishek’s diet mainly consisted of fats, proteins and complex carbs. He tries to avoid simple carbs and limits his sugar intake to once a day, with his tea in the evening. Abhishek also consumes around 4-5 eggs in a day to get his daily dose of protein.

“Being a vegetarian, getting my daily dose of protein has always been a challenge. My coach has proved to be very helpful in tackling this problem, because she helped me find veg sources of protein to fill my daily dose. She has also taught me how to exercise properly to reap the best of my hard work.”

He eats three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and an evening tea with some dry fruits. Abhishek avoids eating after 4pm and only exercises once a day. He divides his fitness regime into 3 days of running (10km a day) and 3 days in the gym, mostly focusing on strengthening his core muscles.

His transformation is an inspiration to people of all ages because if he can do it, so can you! Abhishek rose above his excuses and has torn through every barrier put in his way with immense style.

To know more about Abhishek’s amazing transformation, join him on 10th of Feb at 12:30 PM as he tell us about his journey exclusively on GOQii Play.

September 8, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian 1 Comment

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

We are all at some point in life restricted by many emotional barricades. They stop us from progressing further in life and affect’s your morale drastically. Shripavan’s tells a story similar to that and he has successfully ended it by proving that it’s never too late to achieve what you want in life.

Shripavan Radhakrishnan (23) led a lifestyle which most would define as an unhealthy one. Since childhood, he has been an avid foodie who was extremely fond of chocolates, ice creams, and other dairy products. Not surprising at all, who doesn’t like chocolates and ice cream right? We feel you Shri. The problem occurred when he carried his childhood eating habits to the later years of his life. By the time he was in college, Shri had an unfortunate gift which most foodies carry around, a pot belly.

Before/After

Weighing about 72 kgs with a waistline of 36 inches, Shri was totally uncomfortable in his skin. This might not sound like an extreme situation but who are we to define that? The only thing that mattered was how much it was affecting him emotionally and the results were drastic. He was constantly made fun of in college because of his physique and this put forth many barriers for him to move forward confidently. Taking the health aspect into consideration, Shri was dealing with vomiting and diarrhea on a daily basis.

Nothing changed until Shripavan became an employee and started working for a private organization. This is when he was first introduced to GOQii by a colleague, in April 2018. Shri was immediately impressed by the cause GOQii stood for. He further researched the brand and soon ordered a GOQii band for himself. He has been a GOQii player for the past three months and the changes have turned his life around.

When asked about his experience with GOQii this is what he had to say:

“I joined the GOQii team about 4 months ago, my colleague/friend Ranjith is the one who introduced me to this amazing platform and I still thank him for it. He explained to me how the band works and how it helps you track your daily activities and eating habits. I soon ordered one for myself.

Looking back in time, I’ve had many unpleasant experiences because of my physique. I remember a time when I used to look at myself in the mirror and constantly criticize myself for my habits. Ah! Those were indeed the dark days. I weighed about 72 kgs and my waistline was 36 inches. My health was also going down the drain, literally! I was forced to accept Vomiting and Diarrhoea as a part of my life, that’s how bad it was.

Now, my life as a GOQii player has been somewhat different. With the help of my coach Hima Gupta, who has been a powerhouse of motivation for me, we addressed problems at the very basic level and to my surprise, this made a big difference in my life. Today, I’ve brought down my weight to 62 kgs, losing nearly 10 kgs and my waistline is 32 inches which were about 36 earlier. From my diet to exercise everything was specially designed to extract the best out of me to bring out the best in me. I reduced my sugar intake and started working out regularly. Various types of planks, crunches and cycling exercises were the major components of my workout. The karma point system served as a major incentive during the course of my journey, it felt good to know that every time I exerted the best of myself out there, I was also supporting a cause for the greater good of the society.

GOQii arena was another platform that made this entire journey much more fun, meeting like-minded people who share the same interests as you do was truly an amazing experience.

My hard work has paid and I have managed to get my body back in shape and my coach deserves the greater portion of the credits. She has been so patient with me the entire time, providing me with the support in times of need. I regularly record everything I eat into the food log and hope to continue on this path of a healthy living.”

Coach Hima was very enthusiastic to talk about her player.

“Shripavan has been really cooperating and full of spirit from the very beginning. He was excited to try new things in his workout and never complained. His major goal was to shed some inches around his belly and to make this possible we started slow, with brisk walking and planks. We also focused on his daily meals and infused more healthy food items into it. This helped him a lot with his metabolism and once he was used to this routine, I also added detox drinks and some core workouts into his regime, which he followed diligently. His dedication and high spirits helped him achieve his goals in a remarkable time. I’m really happy to see his progress and proud to be his Coach. I wish him all the best in life” she added.

November 11, 2017 By Anusha Subramanian 4 Comments

“Coach’s guidance and motivation along with my willpower has helped me achieve my goals to lead a better, fitter and healthy lifestyle”

Prashant Bhatia, 36, is an IT Professional and was always active but, he was not at his optimum level of fitness. He was more of a weekend warrior and not too serious about a daily work out and moreover took things for granted. Until one day when he realised he was doing no good to himself and decided to rectify his habits and get serious about a good routine workout. The result of this change has been that he reduced about 10 kgs in about 8 months’ time and since then has maintained his weight, is active on a daily basis and eating and living healthy. Here is Prashant’s transformation story in his own words.

For a while, I was thinking of wanting to change the way I was physically and mentally. I was active but not consistent enough. Then I happened to read about GOQii on Amazon and the way they managed your health. I learnt that GOQii was more than just a fitness tracker. It did not just help in tracking your daily step count but also guide you on how to lead a good lifestyle.

I was quite impressed with what I read as I was looking for something like GOQii. I was looking for more guidance coming my way to improve the way I live. In September 2015, I went in for a 3-month subscription of GOQii. At this point in time, I weighed around 83 kgs. My weight more or less hovered around this level.

I chose Jyoti Kumawat as my coach. In our first intro call, she asked all about my daily routine, what I do, what I eat, when I eat etc and after that call, I realised so many things for changed drastically and changed for the better.
Just to give you a perspective, before I came on board GOQii, my day used to start with tea and biscuits as breakfast. Fried food at times. I never ate salads, milk or buttermilk. Fruits were nil from my diet All that has changed with me eating healthy food and being active on a daily basis.

I now take time out to go a daily walk or a jog. Lots of foods have been added to my daily diets such as Milk, dry fruits, salads and fruits. Fried items are deleted from my diet list and I have started having buttermilk as well. My urge for tea has also reduced and if I do crave for a tea then I have plain green tea.

These changes were implemented slowly and not all in one go. We proceeded one step at a time. My coach has done a fantastic job and I followed everything she said and hence this positive change in me. Initial 4-5 months I still hovered around my weight of 82-83 and then gradually as two months passed I started reducing and I have now lost around 10 kgs and I am maintaining my weight at 71-72 kgs.

One and half years since I am on GOQii and I can proudly say, I feel good about myself as my lifestyle has changed for the better and I am more healthy. I have been jogging or walking at least 8-10 km a day.

I then suddenly developed a knee issue (ACL Sprain) due to which I had to go in for treatment. I took complete rest for 3 weeks and did not train my legs. During this time my coach recommended that I start taking Curcumin extract which will reduce the inflammation. That helped me.

Overall, I feel awesome. I can definitely wear the jeans that I used to wear earlier because it would not fit and all. So I’m liking it. I can tuck my shirts in the jeans which I didn’t earlier as I was on the heavier side. I definitely feel better and lighter.

People around me too have seen the change and me. My colleagues especially have seen the change as I have stopped eating junk food, fried food etc. I have learnt a lot from my coach and I am thankful for that.

The reason today, I feel positive is that it’s not about just getting guidance from a coach but also that you yourself abide by what is being told to you. I had not followed what my coach told me I do not think I would have seen the positive results in me. I realised a lot of this has to do with your own self-motivation and willpower to change things for the better for yourself.

My goal when I bought the GOQii was to get into best shape physically, run a marathon and am I glad to say that I achieved both my goals within a year’s time of being on the GOQii platform. Six months ago I ran my first 10 km run and I was able to do this purely by walking and jogging daily and slowly building on that. I thought if I can do more in terms of maintaining my physique and my muscles by eating right, I think I will go long way. So going forward my intention is that.

What does Coach Jyoti Kumawat have to say about player Prashant Bhatia?

It feels so great when I roll back my eyes to the time when Prashant came on board, in September 2015. His health goal then was “Optimum fitness and Fat loss”. This was really a broad term as a goal….as he did not have a specific target in terms of his stamina, flexibility and eating habits. But, we started working on simpler habits like stretching and simple food habits like lemon warm water and as time passed he had a better view of his health goals. He started with 83 kg weight and within 6 months he lost 10 kgs weight and inches from his whole body and is now maintaining that 70 kg weight.

I remember I used to tell Prashant that “I will make sure you run marathon”, and he used to laugh it off. I motivated him and made sure he trained well and ate healthily. Today, I am so proud that he did participate in a 10 km marathon organised by one of the large sporting stores in Mumbai.

Prashant’s story started with simple changes in workout adding stretching and warm up pre workout and post workout cool down, then adding cardio, interval training to improve stamina and later on started with strengthening for stronger muscles. Giving different types of workouts- HIIT, Tabata, meditation for relaxation and yoga for flexibility has made him more dedicated towards his fitness and stamina. Starting from 3-5 kilometres walk, now he jogs around 7-10 kilometres daily. In addition to this he now also has pre and post-workout meals for better recovery and this has helped him gain better stamina.