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8 Reasons Why You Need a Health Coach!

health coachHave you ever taken a year long subscription to a gym but barely gone twice before you decided to quit? What about one of those fancy weight-loss diets that never helped you cut out junk food? Is binge-watching episode after episode of a thrilling web-series while sacrificing sleep a daily routine? The real question is how many times have you lost motivation while trying to be your own health coach?

Let’s face it! Most people find it difficult to stick to a routine. Even if you do find the time to squeeze in a workout, are you doing it right? Are you eating the right food for your body type? Is your dietary intake in line with your health goals? There are many questions and more than often, being your own health coach can backfire in more ways than one.

This is where you need a health coach. A health coach is like a teacher who teaches and guides you in the right direction by helping you take decisions on the right food and exercise. Having a health coach does not only keep you accountable but also keeps you motivated!

8 Reasons Why You Need A Health Coach

  1. Discover Natural Remedies: Having a health coach who knows what they are talking about can help you understand symptoms of a sickness and help you with natural healing options. Imagine if the contents available in your kitchen and even normal food can heal you, wouldn’t you want to know?
  2. A Health Coach Is Your Friend: Life is increasingly fast-paced and monotonous. It is difficult to find someone who is willing to listen to you and your problems. Eventually, this kind of isolation and lack of communication can lead to increased stress levels. If you have a health coach, he/she is always there to listen to your issues and is well trained to counsel you in that particular situation. The coach in this sense is your buddy and is all ears to listen to your woes, ask the appropriate questions, and help you identify the root cause for your concern and help you resolve it.
  3. Responsible and Accountability: Research shows that 80% of the population who make health resolution on New Year’s, break them within 2-3months. With a bit of self-motivation, you can stick to your plans 1-2 or 3 months at best but after that, you tend to go off track. Now, if you have a health coach, you will be answerable to that person, which in turn will help you stick to your resolutions for a long time and eventually achieve your goal.
  4. Help You Understand Your Body: Leading an unhealthy lifestyle can be costly! Weight gain, loss of stamina, a weak immune system are just some of the banes. Imagine getting active, getting on a great diet plan but it doesn’t work for you! This is where a coach comes in and helps you identify the reason. It might be your body type and your body type might require a different approach.
  5. Increase Your Knowledge: All the nutritional tips, exercise routines and even techniques to sleep better can enable you to manage a healthy life on your own for years to come. Getting the right knowledge to manage your lifestyle is a gift that you can share as well. Knowledge is power and a health coach gives you the power to live an active, healthy and happy life!
  6. Setting Realistic Goals: We always set goals without knowing whether we will be able to achieve them or not. For instance, setting a target of losing 30kg in 2 months is not realistic. Can you achieve this goal with your current lifestyle? A coach can counsel you on setting more realistic and achievable targets based on your daily routine. Setting small targets to achieve a long-term goal is what a coach can bring to the table.
  7. Problem Solver: Can’t stop that sugar or pizza craving? Got a headache? A hangover maybe? Don’t know what mid-meal you should eat? Is whole wheat bread good for you? You just ate a cupcake! What should you do? Your coach will always be by your side to answer these questions, to assist and guide you through all your problems!
  8. Authentic Source of Knowledge: There is this rising trend of fake health news on the world wide web and it can be extremely dangerous! These fake health tips coax people into trying ridiculous things like eating banana peels or following something like beer yoga! Your expert coach can guide you with proper factual information and keep you from making mistakes that can harm you!

Most importantly, a health coach can motivate and push you to achieve your goals!

With GOQii, you can have your very own personal coach available through chat or call. Plus, you can access live sessions with experts in fitness, general health, yoga, emotional wellness, sexual wellness, and more through GOQii Play within the GOQii App. Trust your health journey to your GOQii Coach and take the first step towards a positive lifestyle change by subscribing to Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

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6 Ways To Track & Achieve Your New Year Goals

6 ways to track and achieve your goals We are in the first week of the first month of 2023 and I am sure many of us out there would have made some New Year Resolutions! The most common resolutions often revolve around “Losing weight and getting fit”, “Quitting smoking”, “Learning something new” or “Traveling to new places”.  The question is – are we working on  it and what’s our game plan? The desire to change something about yourself happens year after year. While intentions are good, most of us seldom end up fulfilling the resolutions we’ve set. A recent article by Forbes magazine said that only 8% of the people actually achieve their New Year Goals. 

Why Is It So Hard To Stick To New Year Goals?

Why do so many people fail at goal setting? What is it about those few who manage to get it right and achieve their goals? There are many answers to the why’s and how’s. New Year goal setting is just seen as an opportunity to dish out our large bucket lists of all that we wanted to achieve through the year and could not.  It’s an attempt to tell yourself that this year will definitely be better than the last.

This enthusiasm continues in the first week of the New Year. Then gradually as days and months pass, the interest in achieving these goals fades away. The human mind always finds excuses to stick to set goals set or loses interest mid-way, with little room for introspection. But fear not! We will list 6 ways you can stay on track with your New Year Goals!

6 Ways To Track & Achieve Your New Year Goals 

  1. Create a Q&A: If you have decided to resolve a habit, prepare some questions that you can ask yourself at timely intervals. This really helps you boost your enthusiasm and keep a check on your progress. Analyze your life. Is there anything you want to change or improve? All answers start with questions, so be ready to create your list. Ask who, what and how: Who do I want to become? What can I improve? How can I change? Give yourself plenty of time — anywhere from a few hours to several days.
  2. The Devil Is In The Details: Now as you have your list ready, it’s time to check and analyze it, so that you stick to your routine and check the progress. This will help you to carry out your resolution by the end of the year. For instance, if your goal is to lose 10kg by the end of this month, always keep a record and check at the end of every month how much of your goal you have achieved. This detailed data will help you to reach your goal and definitely works as a roadmap to success!
  3. Gaze Into The Future: Now that you have your New Year roadmap in hand, it’s time to create some emotional attachment with your New Year goals. This really makes your journey enjoyable because it links you to your imagination. You have to visualize how you are feeling after achieving your goals. For instance, if a person’s goal is to lose 10kg, that person should start visualizing themselves in their ideal weight. This in turn will motivate them to achieve their goal. The more senses you engage, the better. This is your future self — get excited!
  4. Eating Elephants: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! We always have to break our goals into small portions to achieve them. It helps us accomplish our goals on time. For instance, if you have to run 10km – your mind starts thinking it’s a huge distance  which you have to cover, and you lose your motivation. But, if you break this down and say that you have to complete 1km 10 times, it will become very easy to achieve your target.
  5. Reward Yourself: As humans, we either need bribes or rewards to stay motivated. Reward yourself every time you reach a milestone closer to your goal. It motivates you further. For instance, if you are planning to run 10km and you have already broken your target to 1km 10 times, start rewarding yourself after every 1km – by walking 100 meters. This will give you some rest and your body will be energized to run another 1km. You can also set a grand reward like maybe giving yourself a dream, outstation vacation after you have achieved your main goal.
  6. Socializing: When you commit something in front of people, you’re always a little more motivated to achieve that goal. What you can do is publish your goals on your social channels and tell your friends about it. Go an extra mile and update your result in a timely manner as well. It will help you stick to your routine and achieve your goals!

And that’s it! A simple 6 step process to help you achieve your New Year Goals! We hope this article helps you. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on goal setting and achieving them, check out Healthy Reads.

If you have trouble sticking to your resolutions, take help from a GOQii Coach who will guide, motivate and help you achieve your goals! Subscribe for GOQii’s personalized health coaching to get started now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce 

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Benefits Of Working Out During Winter

working out during winterWinter, if not very cold, is a very pleasant season. We feel quite lazy, comfy under a blanket and don’t feel like getting up from bed at all! More often than not, we just like to sleep and let the day pass by. Today, we would like to share some very interesting information on how we could utilize this season to our benefit. If you intend to have a lean or bulky body, this is the right season to start.

Winter season is mostly dry. Apart from that, the cold weather can boost our endurance. Calorie burn can be higher in the cold, as the body has to expend energy on staying warm. It’s one of the best times of the year to train and get fit. Here are some benefits of working out during winter.

Benefits Of Working Out During Winter 

  • Burn more: This is probably the best and most popular perk. Because your body is working hard, your metabolism revs up and your body burns more calories and fat to produce energy for your workout.
  • Endurance boosts up: By challenging yourself in the cold weather, you are strengthening your heart, lungs and circulatory system, thereby improving your overall health.
  • Helps against SAD ( Seasonal Affective Disorder): Being out in the open and taking in more sun during the daylight helps keep the mind sharp and relieves you of SAD. It also helps your body get more vitamin D.
  • Makes us feel happy: The cold stimulates our parasympathetic system. The sympathetic system is known as the fight response while the parasympathetic is known as relax and renew system. These endorphins can trigger the release of dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters that keep us happy, feeling good and eases the mood.
  • Increases blood flow: We place greater toxic burden on our poor liver during this time and it could really do with some support. Moderate exercise increases the blood flow to the liver, thereby improving its ability to detoxify waste.
  • Improves Immunity: We all need protection from germs that circulate around the office or being brought home from school by our children. Regular moderate exercise will boost immunity by improving the lymphatic and cardiovascular circulation. Try to choose an activity that increases your heart rate but make sure that you can still hold a conversation. i.e. brisk walking, gentle jogging, swimming, cycling, etc.

Don’t let the pleasant cold weather keep you glued to your sheets. Get outside, get yourself moving and enjoy the extra health benefits offered by working out during winter! If you prefer working out indoors, join a GOQii PRO class where you’ll be guided by an expert in a live, interactive session. Book a class through the GOQii App now.

We hope this article helps you. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. For more on getting healthier during winter, check out Healthy Reads.

#BeTheForce 

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Increase Productivity At Work & Improve Health With This New Challenge

GOQii Corporate Challenge

How was your experience working from home? While it did seem like a good break, the unexpected shift of remote working presented some issues that were difficult to deal with. Along with maiming profits, delayed appraisals, curbed salaries, increase in time spent doing work and disrupting respective corporate cultures, COVID-19 also impacted employees in ways they didn’t bargain for. 

Problems Faced While Working From Home 

  1. Detachment & Isolation: Whichever industry you work in, a workplace gives you a sense of shared purpose and connection. With lesser opportunities of bonding and interaction while working from home, team members began to feel more isolated and disengaged from their workplace. No amount of video conferences can fix this feeling of detachment and isolation. 
  2. Loss of Focus: While some enjoyed an isolated space where they could concentrate on their work, most didn’t have a remote space they could comfortably work from. Distraction by family members, pets and other factors caused more stress and lack of focus. 
  3. Mental Health Issues: Given the state of affairs during the early onset of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, it was easy to get stressed about the future. Feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness and frustration were common across all age groups. Working from home made it difficult to reach out to colleagues and friends for support. In a study we conducted, we found that around 43% Indians were plagued with depression. A number that only saw an upward trend. “Anxiety is one of the symptoms of depression. Most people are anxious on various counts. For some it is about not having a regular routine as they did in normal times,” says Divya Thampi, an Emotional Wellness Coach on GOQii Play. To read more about the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, read the report here. 
  4. Overwhelmed With New Tech: We already use a significant amount of apps and softwares daily. In the business landscape, everything is driven by data and tech. Adaptability aside, the sudden onset of the pandemic and the subsequent remote working scene forced us to work with new tools for scheduling, conferencing, managing, etc. faster than before. 
  5. Feedback, Recognition & Guidance: During pre-lockdown times, it was easy for a manager to step up to your desk to share positive feedback or guide you. In a remote working environment, this form of interaction has suffered greatly. Lack of feedback, recognition and guidance can make one feel further isolated, doubt their skills or lose confidence in their work. 
  6. Health & Wellbeing: Disruption of routine also meant that people were tied down to their couches, beds or desks at home with little movement. Those walks after lunch, chasing trains and any little movement we had while we worked from the office were tossed out the window. Eating habits also suffered and with work hours extending for some, sleep suffered greatly – only adding to stress. 

At GOQii, we believe that a healthy employee is a happy employee and a happy employee is a productive employee. Sadly, that was not the case during the lockdown. In view of these issues which are quite persistent even now, what can corporations do to motivate their employees, build team spirit, foster bonding, improve health and increase productivity?

GOQii Corporate Challenge

What if we told you that there was a fun way to build team spirit, improve health and performance at work? The GOQii Corporate Challenge – an inter-corporate health challenge, can be the solution you’ve been looking for. 

It’s a 60 day engagement program, starting from 13th December to 10th February, where corporates can get their employees to participate on an individual, team and corporate level. The challenges will consist of a 30 day steps challenge and daily social media spot challenges (where you can win daily prizes) – all tracked by a live leaderboard. 

The program also consists of daily fitness sessions i.e. 150+ sessions in 60 days starting with Yoga, Mind and Body sessions at 7 AM, Health Talks at 3 PM and High Intensity Workout sessions at 7 PM. 

What’s more, at the end of the GOQii Corporate Challenge, 1 in every 4 players stands a chance to win exciting prizes such as hotel stays, luxury watches, smartphones, gadgets and exclusive merchandise. 

A little bit of healthy competition like this, can definitely ease the strain left by COVID-19 and build team spirit while most of us return to the office! 

If you’re keen on participating, sign up your corporation for the GOQii Corporate Challenge to take advantage of exciting rewards – the best one being good health! 

Sign up here: https://gcc.goqii.com/ 

#BeTheForce 

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