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Healthy Eating: Sabudana Soup

Sabudana SoupSabudana Soup is an energy rich, wholesome soup that is packed with several health benefits. It is quite famous in tropical regions and many parts of India consume it during festivals. If you’ve been looking for a nice soup to warm you up during monsoon, this is it! So without further ado, let’s go over this delicious recipe! 

What You Will Need 

  • Sabudana – 1 cup 
  • Oil – 2 spoons 
  • Green Chilli – 1 (chopped) 
  • Coriander Leaves – 1 spoon (chopped) 
  • Tomato Puree – 1 
  • Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp 
  • Onion – 1 (chopped) 
  • Water – 3 cups 
  • Maggi Masala – 1 tsp 
  • Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp 
  • Salt to taste 

How To Prepare 

  1. Soak the Sabudana for an hour 
  2. In a pan, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds 
  3. Then, add the chopped onions, tomato, green chilli 
  4. Saute well and add turmeric along with the coriander leaves 
  5. Add water and salt (as per taste) and then add the Maggi masala 
  6. Cook for 3-4 mins and your Sabudana Soup is ready! 

Highlights Of The Sabudana Soup 

  • Is excellent for morning breakfast or as an evening snack as it provides energy
  • It improves digestion, increases metabolism and is good for gut health 
  • It can aid in maintaining good blood flow and reduces blood pressure 
  • Great for bone health! 
  • It is high in carbs, yet low in fat – a healthier choice for weight gain!
  • The antioxidants it provides is good for the skin  

We hope you enjoy this healthy Sabudana Soup recipe. Do try it out and let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

Find more Healthy Recipes here or you can ask a GOQii Coach directly by subscribing to Personalised Health Coaching here.

Eat Healthy and #BeTheForce 

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How To Break a Weight Loss Plateau

weight loss plateau

You have been working hard on your weight loss journey by following a healthy, low-calorie diet and improving your exercise habits. Your reward has been watching your weight go down on the weighing scale. Now, at some point, your weight stops decreasing! The weighing scale doesn’t tip in your favor anymore and you’re left frustrated! Don’t worry. You’ve just hit a weight loss plateau.

It’s pretty common and nothing to get discouraged about. It is normal for weight loss to slow down and even stall. But, by understanding what causes a weight loss plateau, you can decide how to respond and avoid backsliding on your new healthy habits.

Here are some ways you can overcome a weight loss plateau to stay on track and keep going!

How Can You Overcome a Weight Loss Plateau?

When you reach a plateau, you may have lost all of the weight you can on your current diet and exercise plan. Ask yourself if you’re satisfied with your current weight or if you want to lose more. In which case, you’ll need to adjust your weight loss program.

If you’re committed to lose more weight, try these tips for getting past the plateau:

1. Drop Your Calorie Intake

To cut down fat, a calorie deficit diet is needed. Consume fewer calories than you burn per day. Maintain a food journal to track your calories. Then slowly reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories per day to boost fat loss. Fat percentage can be measured either by using callipers or with the BCA machine.

2. Rotate Your Workout Routine

Have you been addicted to the treadmill and cross training for the past 4 months? It’s time to switch! Once your muscles become familiar with the same old workout, it makes your regular routine less effective. To see a change in body fat, you have to get outside your fitness comfort zone. Introduce High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to burn body fat effectively. Try a total-body circuit. Instead of a basic sprint interval, you’ll work your entire body which will boost your metabolism. Also note that you need to progress slowly and deliberately when incorporating high-intensity exercise into your routine. Doing too much too fast can leave you too sore, tired or even injured.

3. Eat More Protein

Weight Loss Plateau - Eat more proteinProtein is essential to fat loss, as it maintains your muscle during a calorie deficit. It keeps you satiated, which prevents overeating and snacking on junk food. Also, it boosts your calorie burn throughout the day because takes more energy to digest as compared to carbs or fat. Eat at least one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day and get your protein from whole sources like nuts, eggs, lean meats, yogurts, and quality protein powders.

4. Eat More Healthy Fats

To lose more fat, eat more fat. This might seem absurd but healthy fats such as animal fats, real butter, coconut oil, nuts, and avocados actually make you leaner and more muscular—they keep you full & maintain your good testosterone levels. Eating healthy fats force you to lower your carbohydrate intake. Get at least 30 percent of your calories from good sources of fat and never consume artificial fats, which can cause health problems like heart disease.

5. Stay Hydrated

Hydration is important as your body often craves food even when you are mildly dehydrated. We are often confused whether we are thirsty or hungry because the symptoms of hunger and thirst are similar. Aim to drink 2-3L of water per day plus additional fluids lost during activity.

6. Try Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting increases fat oxidation, which promotes more fat loss. Also, fasting along with exercise boosts the insulin sensitivity, helping your body send nutrients to muscle rather than fat. Fasting during a calorie-restricted diet can lead to weight loss.

7. Get Plenty of Sleep

Insufficient sleep can interfere with weight loss by reducing your metabolic rate and shifting your hormone levels to promote hunger and fat storage. Hence, have at least 7-8hrs of good quality sleep.

8. Eat Your Veggies

Breaking weight loss - Eat more veggiesVegetables are loaded with important nutrients and are low in calories and carbs. The fiber in your greens aids digestion and also provide your body the essential antioxidants it needs. Including them might help you break through the weight loss plateau.

9. Don’t Rely on a Weighing Scale

The numbers flashing on your weighing scale might be misleading because it does not reflect the loss of body fat. Instead, focus on how you feel, whether your old clothes fit you or if your measurements have changed.

10. Check for Medical Conditions

If you’re still stuck on the weight loss plateau despite all your efforts, then you might need to check for a medical condition. Check your thyroid levels, hormonal imbalance, PCOD, or for Vitamin deficiencies such as Vitamin D or B12. You will first need to correct a medical issue to lose more weight.

Stress also plays a part in weight loss as it raises the level of cortisol in the body which in turn increases weight. Most important of all, don’t get demotivated and work towards your goals. The weight loss plateau is a part of the journey and with the right direction, you can overcome it!

If this article helped you, let us know your thoughts in the comments below! You can also find more articles on weight loss here. If you want to overcome a weight loss plateau and need some advice or guidance, reach out to our experts by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

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How Good Nutrition Before Conception Can Affect Up To 3 Generations

How Good Nutrition Before Conception Can Affect Up To 3 Generations

We usually lay a lot of emphasis on the pregnancy and postpartum diet, however, a new study suggests that a gene called VTRNA20-1 which is responsible for reducing the risk of future diseases for a developing baby is directly related to nutritional status of a mother before pregnancy.

A mother’s pre-pregnancy diet is directly related to the foetus’s genetic makeup and immunity. If a mother is nutritionally deficient before conception, it may lead to radical and permanent change in the unborn child’s genetic makeup responsible for immunity and future risk of cancer.

Factors That Determine The Health Of The Unborn Child

A mother’s environment, nutritional intake, and mental health status determines the long term health of the unborn child.

Few nutrients are said to be extremely essential for a healthy pregnancy and should be included in a women’s diet in the pre-pregnancy period. Some babies are born with spina bifida, brain defects, preterm births, or underweight babies which is directly related to a mother’s pre-pregnancy weight and nutritional adequacy.

As soon as the egg is fertilized, the embryo starts using the mother’s nutrient stores to support its growth. Essential nutrients like Zinc, Iron, Folic Acid are needed to support development and growth of the main body organs in the developing foetus.

How Does Good Nutrition Before Conception Help?

Let’s look at the role good nutrition and the lack of it play during pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and childbirth.

  • Women in the higher BMI range have an increased risk for pregnancy induced diabetes or high blood pressure which can lead to improper foetal development. This could affect generations to come! It is extremely essential to monitor weight and be in a BMI range that is below 25.
  • Folate or Vitamin B9 is a very important vitamin for the development of the brain and spinal cord of the baby. Deficiency of which can cause neural tube defects or Spina Bifida, where the backbone encasing the spinal cord doesn’t develop properly, exposing the spinal cord. This can lead to intellectual disability or paralysis which might be carried on to generations to come as a hereditary issue. Folic acid is a very essential nutrient found in nuts, legumes, orange and yellow fruits.
  • Calcium is extremely important not only for the unborn child but also for the mother to maintain good nutritional status. As the embryo grows, it starts drawing minerals like calcium, zinc and magnesium from the mother’s body. Inadequacy of these nutrients might lead to poor bone development, poor muscle and nerve fibre expansion. In turn, the mother’s bones also weaken, putting them at risk of osteoarthritis in the future.
  • Iron is required in good amounts in maternal stores to prepare the mother’s body for the needs of the foetus during pregnancy. Anaemia or iron deficiency is related to increased foetal morbidity. Affected mothers may experience breathlessness, fainting, tiredness, palpitations, and sleep difficulties. Most of the iron transfer to foetus happens in the third trimester and is the most important phase where iron reserves of the mother should be extremely good. A good iron reserve ensures that the blood supply in the developing baby is proper and any blood loss that happens during delivery doesn’t prove to be fatal for the new mother.

In short, if a mother’s diet and nutritional status are poor before conception, it might lead to a plethora of adverse outcomes that might continue for generations to come. 

I hope this write-up helps to-be mothers lay more focus on correcting their nutrition before conceiving which helps them as well as their unborn babies to be at a lesser risk for any genetic or nutrition-induced life threatening outcomes!

If this article helped you, let us know in the comments below and share it with anyone who needs to read it! Find more articles on women’s health here. You can also seek advice and guidance from a certified expert during your pregnancy, by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce  

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Healthy Eating: Fruit and Chia Salad With Nuts

healthy eatingIs preparing evening snacks a challenge for you? If you haven’t figured out what you’ll be eating today, this Fruit and Chia Salad with Nuts is perfect! This healthy recipe is filling and it will satisfy your sweet tooth as well. It can also be served as a cold dessert to beat the heat!

Ingredients:

  • Apple/Banana/Ripe Mango – 1 medium size chopped
  • Strawberries – 5-6
  • Kiwi – 1 medium size chopped
  • Chia seeds – 1 tbsp
  • Almond milk/ Coconut milk/ Low-fat milk – ½ cup (100 ml)
  • Honey – 1 tsp
  • Walnuts (4 halves), almonds (5), Pista (5), Cashews (4)
  • Cinnamon powder

Method:

  1. Chop all the nuts roughly
  2. Heat a pan and roast the chopped nuts for 3-4 minutes on low to medium flame to make them brittle and crunchy
  3. Take 100ml low-fat milk/ coconut milk/ almond milk, add 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, pinch of cinnamon powder and 1 tsp of honey in it
  4. Allow this mixture to stay in refrigerator overnight or for 8-10 hours to allow the chia seeds to swell up
  5. Take a mason jar or a glass and start layering
  6. Add chopped mangoes to base and add milk + chia seeds mixture on it to cover the mangoes
  7. To this, add the chopped kiwi and again add milk + chia seeds mixture on it
  8. Top this with chopped strawberries and again some milk + chia seeds mixture
  9. Add the roasted nuts on top

Please Note: If you’re allergic to nuts, replace them with seeds.

Highlights of the Fruit and Chia Salad Recipe 

  • Chia seeds are very rich in omega 3 fatty acids and fiber which makes this snack very filling
  • You can add seasonal fruits of your own choice and get all the seasonal nutrients
  • This will give a variation to your normal fruit intake

Did you like this fruit and chia salad with nuts recipe? Have you already tried it out? Share a pic on social media or the GOQii Arena and tag us! You can find more healthy recipes here.

To get more advice on recipes, nutrition and diet tips from an expert, subscribe to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme places people at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the […]