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Devesh Srivastava Lowers His HbA1c from 6.7 to 5.8 With GOQii

Devesh SrivastavaHave you ever suffered from a cold or fever and thought to yourself that you can manage this? In fact, there’s a good chance that with some medication and rest, the symptoms of a cold or fever have subsided. But, when you deal with issues such as Diabetes and Hypertension, trying to manage the issue on your own might not be such a good idea. Our Player Devesh Srivastava came to realize that personalized health coaching is the best way forward!

Life Before Joining GOQii 

Devesh Srivastava is a 52 year old investment banker residing in the city of Ahmedabad. He was always keen on joining an app-based fitness solution. Back in 2014, he heard our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal speak at an event. He says, “What he said connected well with me and I was looking forward to joining something like GOQii, but it never happened”.

While he did have a normal routine, he wanted someone to look over him and guide him towards a healthy lifestyle. He says, “Before the pandemic, things were manageable but during the pandemic, the situation was difficult as you were at home the whole time. Earlier I would walk with my friends and colleagues but then it all stopped during the lockdown. I did not have a proper routine and that created a weight issue”. 

During this time, Devesh Srivastava tried creating his own regime and restricted his diet to reduce weight. “I’ve seen other people reduce weight by doing their own things. So I decided to try as well. But, my sugar levels were not reducing,” he said. He was also on Diabetes and Hypertension medication. 

Joining GOQii and Making Lifestyle Changes 

After several trials and errors of trying to manage his health by himself, Devesh Srivastava said that he needed someone to keep a watch on his health and guide him properly. So, he came to the decision to subscribe for GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching in November 2021. 

“The coach’s guidance worked well for me. She made simple and doable changes,” he says. Some of these changes included: 

  • Have soaked Methi seeds in the morning
  • Increase salad portion before lunch and consume fruits as mid-meal snacks 
  • Eat healthy evening snacks which include dry fruits, fruits or roasted snacks.
  • Eating an early dinner
  • Reduce carbs from dinner and replace them with fiber and protein
  • Drink green tea in the evening 
  • Begin the day with Surya Namaskar 
  • Increase steps count gradually

Apart from the above changes, his GOQii Coach kept a close watch on his food consumption, water intake, sleep and exercise, making timely corrections as per requirements. 

What Changes Did Devesh Srivastava Experience? 

Within 4 months, Devesh could experience changes in his health. As his journey continued, within 7 months he was able to lose approximately 7kg. From 80kg, he came down to 74.6kg. His waist size had reduced from 36 inches to 34 inches. 

In his current report, he found that his blood sugar and cholesterol levels had lowered down. “With Coaching, I feel better,” he says. “My stress levels are better managed. I am also able to sleep well for at least 6.5 hours daily,” he added.

What Does Coach Sakshi Agarwal Have To Say About Her Player? 

When he came onboard, he was overweight. His height is 170cm and weight was 80kg. His waist size was 36 inches and his BMI was 27.7. He was suffering from Diabetes and High Blood Pressure. His Triglyceride was also high at about 180.

Fortunately, Devesh Srivastava is a very sincere player and was always enthusiastic about taking on all the challenges I threw at him. He tried his absolute best to complete them. Within 4 months, he has made remarkable progress. 

Apart from reducing his weight and waist size, his blood sugar and cholesterol levels have also reduced. His HbA1c reduced from 6.7 to 5.8. His Triglyceride levels reduced from 180 to 148. His Blood Pressure reduced from 97fbs – 135pp to 85fbs – 119pp. 

He is quite happy with these transformations and I appreciate his positive response to my suggestions as well as his  dedicated approach to improving his lifestyle! 

Do you have a condition similar to Devesh Srivastava? You too can make a positive lifestyle change by getting the right guidance and motivation from certified experts. Join the GOQii Diabetes Care program – India’s only diabetes program that is driven by Smart Science and Personal Coaching to improve Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS), Postprandial Blood Sugar (PP), reduce HbA1c levels and let you win gold! You can subscribe here: https://store.goqii.com/diabetescare.

For more inspiring Health Stories, check out Healthy Reads.

#BeTheForce 

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Ashima Dalela Beats Gut Health Issues and Anxiety With GOQii

Ashima Dalela

You might have heard the saying, “Almost all diseases begin in the gut.” If gut health issues are left unchecked, it can get worse and affect your mental health too. Our Player Ashima Dalela suffered from gut health issues which led to severe anxiety and she visited around 15 doctors who were unable to identify the cause. But, she was able to fix the issue with simple lifestyle changes suggested by her GOQii Coach. How did she tackle her gut and anxiety issue? Let’s find out! 

Life Before GOQii 

Ashima Dalela is a young working professional based in Ghaziabad. For the longest time, she suffered from stomach issues and anxiety. Multiple doctors were unable to diagnose what was wrong, with some saying it was GERD and stomach infection. One doctor told her that it was IBS and her gut problem has combined with anxiety. Finally, one of the doctors she visited suggested GOQii. 

Identifying the Issue & Making Lifestyle Changes 

Since she onboarded, Coach Meenakshi was assigned to Ashima Dalela. Coach Meenakshi began by tackling the stomach issues and acidity. She prescribed specific foods to improve her gut health. She coupled nutrition with exercises such as asanas for the stomach, all of which slowly and steadily brought about a change. 

Initially, Ashima faced some difficulty in walking. So she was tasked with completing 2k steps a day. She was also skipping meals due to her situation and her condition was only getting worse. Despite some hurdles, Ashima stuck to the habits given by her GOQii Coach. Thanks to her dedication and her GOQii Coach’s constant motivation, she was able to fix her gut health issue as well as her anxiety. She now enjoys the live sessions on the app and always browses through Healthy Reads. She also enrolls for challenges within the app. 

Initially, her mother was skeptical about the coaching aspect but after seeing positive results, she is convinced that the coaching works. In fact, the entire family has adopted healthy habits. Her goal now is to stay active and gain healthy weight. 

 What Are Coach Meenakshi’s Thoughts About Ashima Dalela’s Journey? 

When Ashima came on board, she was very nervous about her health issues. She wanted to control:

  • GERD with symptoms like acidity in the morning, vomiting sensation, stomach upset, burning sensation, bloating and gas after meals 
  • Anxiety (20%, 1-2 anxiety attacks in a month because of health problems related to the gut) with symptoms like dizziness, increased heartbeat and numbness in hands and legs.

Now, her GERD has reduced by 95% without any symptoms after introducing habits like lemon water, detox water, eating slowly, adding curd, rice, kanji, etc. Anxiety levels reduced by 95% without any symptoms. Now, she can cope easily with any arguments/bad news. 

She has been practicing meditation, deep breathing and is generally more positive. Ashima doesn’t feel stress and anxiety while handling physical, mental and emotionally taxing situations. 

We changed to a new health goal on 15 August 2020 as she wanted to be more active in 3 months as she was unable to do any activity in the morning and evening because of work. She felt lethargic in the evening after office work. She was also facing haemorrhoid issues and irregular cycles. 

She feels 85% improvement in activeness with asanas, exercise and daily walks. Her bowel movement is fine with more water and salad intake. Menstrual cycle also continues now in September with the habit of seed cycle.

We’re now working with a new health goal from 10 March, 2021 – She wants to gain weight up to 53kg (weight was 50kg on March 10). Her current weight is 51kg thanks to the added habits of eating nuts and seeds, post workout meals and employing strengthening exercises.

To take a glimpse into Ashima’s inspiring journey with GOQii, watch her GOQii Health Story session with our Founder and CEO Vishal Gondal along with her GOQii Coach Meenakshi, Doctor Viral Thakkar and Divya Thampi here – 

If you suffer from similar issues or know someone who does, share this article with them and subscribe to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here. 

Find more inspiring health stories here.

#BeTheForce  

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Nikita Jain Battles A Rare Condition & Wins With The Right Coaching

Nikita Jain

The pandemic wasn’t easy on a lot of us. The entire lockdown, coupled with social distancing and movement restriction impacted a lot of people in different ways. A unique problem that one of our players Nikita Jain suffered from was Vocal Cord Dysfunction – a condition which was latent in her till the lockdown. Nikita Jain says that due to her location, her house gets less sunlight and ventilation. The need to stay indoors always along with the paranoia of contracting an infection if she stepped outside, aggravated her stress, causing panic attacks and breathlessness which was eventually diagnosed as Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD). 

When she consulted her local doctor, he assumed it was asthma and put her on a nebulizer. She did experience some relief, however, it was only for a short while. Later in August 2020, she consulted an Asthma and Allergy Specialist who diagnosed it as VCD and prescribed medication and some breathing exercises. Around the same time, she happened to see GOQii’s Brand Ambassador Akshay Kumar talk about the GOQii Smart Vital on YouTube. She then decided to buy a tracker and took a 3-month coaching subscription. 

Start of the Journey 

In their first conversation, her coach Mamta Joshi understood everything about her medical condition and lifestyle in general. Then she calmly explained the need to adopt healthy eating habits and minor modifications in her current diet. She introduced small tweaks in her meal pattern like reducing intake of carbs like roti and rice and switching them with protein sources. She started with fruits and salads which were not a part of her diet until then. She also started including soaked nuts and jeera water upon waking up. 

She used to skip breakfast all the time, which her coach said was not advisable. Every habit was inculcated slowly one by one so that she was able to follow them without difficulty. Nikita Jain rarely indulged in any physical activity apart from normal household chores. Her GOQii Coach asked her to start with yoga and meditation for a few mins every day. She regularly watches live GOQii Play sessions and follows Ronak Gajjar for meditation, Sheetal Tiwari for yoga and Mukesh Morwall for nutrition tips. 

She was also experiencing a lot of back pain and ankle pain which has magically disappeared after practicing some stretches and yoga every day. The coach also suggested an oil concoction for her ankle pain which helped her a lot. 

Transformation and Leveling Up! 

Nikita Jain says that the major transformation in her is in terms of her energy levels. There is no lethargy whatsoever and she is able to stay active throughout the day. She doesn’t feel any weakness or pain nowadays which helps her stay happy and peaceful. 

She says, “Coach Mamta has brought back the smile on my face which was missing before and which was sorely missed by my family. More than me, it’s my Dad who is eager to see all my meal intake updated on the app for the coach to see and check if they are good enough.” 

She enjoys Coach Arooshi Garg’s cooking sessions on GOQii Play and tried the recipes from the sessions at home. Being a housewife, she used to cook before too but now she cooks not just tasty but nutritious food as well. So it isn’t just her who benefited from the GOQii Coaching Subscription but her entire family on all levels. 

What Does Coach Mamta Have To Say About Her Player Nikita Jain? 

Nikita joined GOQii with a goal to get relief from a rare kind of health issue that developed during lockdown. She experienced some rare and abnormal complications such as paralysis of the left side of her body, stretched arms and limbs, intolerable body pain, breathlessness and excessive sensitivity to smell.

In our first discussion, I read her plight in her withered voice .She was intensely insecure about her future too. After some evaluation, I figured it was her disconnection with nature and to get her back to it might be the only possible solution. So we planned habits like getting some indoor plants, keeping doors/windows open during the day, soaking in sunlight on the building terrace, plus an oil massage for pain relief, breathing exercise/meditation for stress management and gradually the results started appearing. She started eating a healthy, well-balanced diet and her energy levels/stamina improved. From an almost bedridden state, she now exercises 1.5 hours a day.

I am glad she mustered the courage and will to not only tackle the problems head on but overcome them as well. Though it was an uphill battle, she won! Her stress levels have gone down, she clocks in 10,000 steps daily, has lost some weight , got in shape and the journey is still going on! The best thing about Nikita is that she never took any of my suggestions lightly and always adhered to them religiously. She honestly updated and acknowledged me about her condition and progress logs from time to time. And the result is a big victory in a short span of time.

Does Nikita Jain’s Health Story inspire you to begin yours? Then subscribe for GOQii’s Personalized coaching now and get the right guidance and motivation to achieve your health goals! Subscribe here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

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Diet & Exercise: How Timanna Gudi Battled Diabetes

Timanna GudiAccess to medication is easy! We live in a day and age where even a sneeze can be seen as a good enough reason to swallow a pill. The number of those pills only increase with time as health deteriorates. The more pills you swallow, the more you realize that they aren’t working. Without intervention, without data or without trying, you never realize that a pill is not the answer, it is your lifestyle! In the face of adversity, change is imperative. Here’s how 49 yr old Timanna Gudi made a positive U-turn!

Hailing from Hubli, Karnataka, this mechanical engineer by qualification worked with an MNC as a managing director. His job responsibilities and efforts placed immense stress on his wellbeing. Realizing this, he knew he had to quit. He did so 5 years back and started his own business. However, this did not change anything and his health problems continued.

Battling Diabetes

In 2008, Timanna Gudi was diagnosed with Diabetes. This was just one part of his struggle. Along with diabetes, he had to face hypertension and high cholesterol as well! He was immediately put on medication and with every visit to the doctor, his dosage only seemed to increase. He would have to get tests and visit the doctor every 3 months while his doctor only increased the number of medicines. With no concrete solution in sight, Timanna was only confused.

Making Lifestyle Modifications to Fight Diabetes

He happened to come across a talk by B M Hedge, Dean of Manipal Medical College and a renowned doctor. He said that people shouldn’t be visiting doctors for lifestyle diseases like diabetes and cholesterol. The medicines they need are available in their kitchens. Of course, medical assistance is required in case of an emergency but it must be supplemented by a healthy lifestyle. This got Timanna thinking…

He had lost his Dad and his elder sister to diabetes in spite of them being on heavy medications like him. He told himself that if his condition is a disorder, there should be a way to bring it in order! This very thought became the turning point which would pivot his life to balance and wellbeing.

He came to Pune  in 2011 and joined a therapy called Freedom from Diabetes. He managed to get rid of all his medicines in a matter of 40 days through diet control and some light exercise. From then on, he began advocating his approach to everyone who was affected by the same medical condition as his. He gave them hope that they too could change!

Joining GOQii and Being the Force

In 2018, he bought some equipment to perform exercises at home. He followed YouTube channels and performed his routine accordingly. However, he ended up with a frozen shoulder due to an incorrect position. This kept him from exercising for about 8-9 months.

In March 2019, a friend introduced him to GOQii. He was intrigued with the idea of coaches demonstrating exercises LIVE on the app. The GOQii app solved two of his needs i.e. exercise and nutrition. He was getting expert advice from topics relating to a healthy diet, lifestyle, meditation and so on. He saw GOQii as an opportunity to get back into routine!

He joined during the India Steps Challenge and began competing, clocking in 6000 steps a day. He initially started with basic walking and increased his target to 12,000 steps after he invited a few of his friends. Due to walking too much, he began losing a lot of weight and was underweight by 7kg. He was asked to stop walking and jogging completely. To keep the momentum of his physical activity going, he began strength training in order to build muscle mass.

He is a regular on GOQii Play. He watches Coach Tufail Qureshi, Coach Alistrair Fernandes and Coach Shweta Kariya, following the workout routines demonstrated by them on a daily basis. As his work requires him to travel often, he carries a resistance band in his luggage as suggested by Play Coaches. He feels that a resistance band is a handy equipment that can be used to target any body part!

Being lactose intolerant, he shifted to a vegan diet. This essentially means that he avoids milk, curd and cheese. He avoids processed foods like bread, biscuits, etc. He begins his day with a glass of green smoothie which is a wholesome blend of raw Spinach (Palak) or any other leafy vegetable coupled with Betel leaf, Pudina (Mint), Tulsi (Holy Basil), Curry Leaves, Cinnamon Powder, Black Pepper and one fruit along with soaked nuts and seeds.

He follows this up with 45mins to an hour of exercise. His breakfast is more protein-based which includes a dal-based Cheela or sprouts and salad. In between meals, he grabs a spoonful of any seeds or a cup of green tea. His Lunch includes a Roti, one bowl each of dal, vegetable and raw salad. He also drinks Apple Cider Vinegar, which he believes has helped in keeping his body more alkaline. His family mostly uses cold pressed virgin coconut oil instead of refined oil.

Opting For Natural Methods Instead of Medicines

Timanna Gudi reiterates that commitment is absolutely necessary. There is no way you can cheat or give in to temptations. He strongly believes that Diabetes is a medical condition which should be eradicated from India.

He says, “The medicines never stop and you just keep losing your vital organs to it slowly. However, everybody is different and not all solutions suit everyone. You need to go test and try before settling down with what suits you.”

He in fact, also got rid of his Acute Bronchitis, something which he suffered from since childhood which required him to use inhalers. He did so by practicing Pranayama (You too can reap the benefits of this wonderful practice. Here are 6 Variations of Pranayama and their Benefits)

In the course of his time fighting diabetes, he has also helped his younger brother reduce his sugar levels. He feels it is his duty to share the knowledge he has gained from his experience combating lifestyle disorders.

Timanna feels GOQii is a fantastic platform with lot of resources that can benefit anyone and everyone. He regularly shops on the GOQii Health Store and advocates the fact that you get good options at competitive rates.

We wish Timanna Gudi the best for his journey. If this story inspired you or if you are fighting your own uphill battle against a lifestyle disease, share your thoughts in the comments below! To help you manage diabetes effectively, reach out to our experts by subscribing for GOQii’s Diabetes Care Program here: https://store.goqii.com/diabetescare

#BeTheForce

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