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How Alpesh Patel Lost 20kg in 9 months | GOQii Health Stories

Alpesh Patel

Habits often determine whether you will or won’t lead a healthy life. Our Player Alpesh Patel realised this when his sedentary lifestyle led to various health issues. He knew it was time to make a positive change. Here’s how he took the decision to write his own #HealthStory by making a positive change in his lifestyle, losing 20kg in 9 months and getting healthier with GOQii.

Leading A Sedentary Lifestyle & Facing Multiple Health Issues 

Based in Ahmedabad, Alpesh Patel is a 50 year old Automotive Engineer with a desk job. His desk job made him quite sedentary and being a foodie, he would eat anything he liked – which led to weight gain. It became a norm and before he knew it, he had gained 92kg with a waistline of 46”. 

While weight gain is one issue, it never happens in isolation. Along with weight gain, he began facing issues such as high BP and heart issues among other complications. His wife, friends and family would keep pointing out that he needed to do something about his weight. While he paid no heed, his condition had come to a point where he could barely walk, would get breathless and his legs would swell. That’s when he decided to visit his doctor.

In November 2021, a check up with the doctor revealed that he needed an angioplasty. Alpesh consulted two other doctors and then he was referred to Dr. Bhupesh Shah, one of the leading cardiologists in Ahmedabad. A check revealed that  he had a blood clot that had spread to his lungs and had to be immediately removed.  

After this procedure, Alpesh was recommended to enroll into the Care Plus Programme of GOQii for managing his issues better and also for a lifestyle change. He was also put on medication.  

Coming onboard the GOQii Care Plus Programme

Alpesh Patel enrolled into GOQii’s Care Plus Programme in Dec 2021. As part of the programme, he was given a coach to guide him and help him manage his issues. He was also given a GOQii Vital ECG tracker.  “Joining GOQii has been the turning point in my life,” says Alpesh Patel. 

On interacting with his GOQii Coach Sweta Jaiswal, Alpesh realised how his habits affected his lifestyle. After the doctor visit he thought he could never get back to being normal. But, Coach Sweta helped him understand how a daily routine centred around a good, balanced diet, portion control, exercise and sleep can help him get back on track and healthy.

“My lifestyle was sedentary. Despite everyone telling me that I was putting on weight, I should exercise and do something about it, I never did anything. I never was interested in doing anything. I would sit in one place for hours together. It is only when I got the tracker I realised that I was walking barely 200-300 steps a day,” says Alpesh.

He says he is a big fan of the GOQii App which is a one stop shop. You have videos for exercise and yoga, you can track your steps, you have a GOQii Health Store where you can buy healthy products, you can chat with your coach and interact with other like minded people as well on GOQii Arena.

What Were The Results Of Alpesh Patel’s Efforts? 

GHS - Weight Loss - Before and After AlpeshWhen Alpesh joined, he was obese, had unhealthy eating habits, hyperlipidemia, and even complained of kidney stones. “His determination and willpower was at a standstill but he was willing to make the required modifications in his day to day life to see the desired changes. Initially the steps and new routine took a toll over him as used to breathe heavily but by making slow and steady changes, with a ‘Never Give Up’ attitude, he lost the inches and fat for good,” says Coach Sweta Jaiswal.

From walking 200-300 steps before, Alpesh now walks close to 20k steps daily. He has also cut down on junk food and eats on time. The result of following a good diet, exercise and sleeping well on time has resulted in him losing 20kg in 9 months. His blood thinner medication has been reduced from 20mg to 10mg. His water intake has also increased and he sleeps for an average of 7hrs daily. 

“His cholesterol & BP are also in range and kidney stone issue is diluted. Despite his one leg slightly affected by Polio, he has been doing regular exercise and his determination and will power to work towards improving his health has proved to be fruitful,” says coach Sweta Jaiswal.

Alpesh exercises daily for 30 minutes, has salads, a good wholesome lunch and a light dinner. He says, “People around me are also seeing the change and are quite startled at how I have been able to lose so much weight”. He has been an inspiration and an influence to people around him.

Does this story inspire you to make a lifestyle change? Subscribe for Personalised Health Coaching and speak to an expert now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring Health Stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

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The Art Of Reducing Medication & Getting Healthy With GOQii

Hema Sangani - Reducing medication

If you speak to anyone who has lost weight the right way and maintains their health, you’ll begin to understand that it is an art that requires patience, dedication and consistency. Without these, your health will spiral downwards. Our Player Hema Sangani realised this as she took the decision to get healthy with GOQii. Here’s how Hema Sangani painted her Health Story.

Lifestyle and Women’s Health Issues

A dentist by profession and an artist by passion, Hema Sangani is 52 years old and resides in Bhavnagar. As a dentist, her routine can be quite hectic and over the course of time, long working hours left her with no time for physical activity.

She also drank copious amounts of tea on a daily basis and that, coupled with some other habits led to her developing medical issues which included acidity, hypothyroid and women’s health issues. At the age of 44, due to an Ovary Cyst, she had to undergo hysterectomy to avoid malignancy. 

She also gained a lot of weight and weighed around 75kg with lots of fat around her tummy and thighs. With all these issues, her only option was medication. She was on medication for Thyroid and Acidity – taking as many as two antacids a day. 

Her husband was aware of the issues faced by Hema and figured that there might be a better way to maintain good health and manage the condition without popping pills. After a fair amount of research, he came across GOQii and gifted it to her. 

Making Lifestyle Changes & Reducing Medication 

Upon joining GOQii, Hema Sangani’s 3 primary goals were to: 

  • Reduce weight 
  • Reduce acidity levels and the antacid medication 
  • Control thyroid medication 

She was assigned to Coach Parul Massey who understood Hema’s needs and worked out a plan to achieve her goals slowly. “We started this journey by setting the goal of reducing acidity by including buttermilk in meals and reducing the quantity of tea consumed during the day,” says Coach Parul. Slowly, Hema reduced her dependence on tea.

Along with some changes in nutrition and diet, Hema also got motivated to join GOQii PRO classes within the GOQii App. She began joining these live sessions by experts for basic workouts in the morning. The one-on-one guidance during these sessions helped her get more active than before. She also began meditation to reduce stress levels. Now, she regularly attends GOQii PRO classes in the morning.

To know how Hema Sangani painted her Health Story, get the complete picture by watching this episode of GOQii Health Stories where she speaks to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal: 

What Changes Did Hema Sangani Experience? 

After making several lifestyle changes by eating right, on time, exercising regularly and meditating, Hema Sangani was able to reduce her medications. After 3 months of joining GOQii, her acidity medication reduced to one tablet and she reduced the medication for her thyroid issue as well. She also witnessed an inch loss.

“I love GOQii and I keep telling my husband that It’s one of the best gifts that he has given me till date,” says Hema. She has been a GOQii Elite Player for about 204 days till 17th October, 2022. 

Hema continues to paint her Health Story but what about you? Do you want to make a positive lifestyle change and manage health conditions the right way? Speak to an expert by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

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5 Reasons Why You Need To Focus On Nutrition Over Calorie Counting

Nutrition over calorie counting

It’s funny how in an attempt to lose or gain weight, we begin counting every minute calorie intake, diligently doing the math, when we hated the subject in school. But the math isn’t too complicated, right? To lose weight, you go into a deficit where calories out > calories in, and the exact opposite if you want to bulk up. 

While we’re doing all this math, reading up articles on the internet, browsing through YouTube channels and relying on self-taught nutritionists and dietitians, are we really asking the right questions? Are we using food to only fill in whatever we can in our given calorie budgets? Are we using food to provide the right nutrition to our body? Are we even choosing the right foods while we’re at it?

Why You Shouldn’t Rely On Calorie Counting 

While counting calories to lose/gain weight might be the most popular and followed method, overdoing it may not be the correct one. It’s quite dangerous as it can lead to many nutritional deficiencies. 500 calories could look like 2 big slices of pizza or a plate with rice/roti, a bowl of vegetables or pulses with curd and salad. The goal can be attained with both, but are we making the right choice that’ll help us stay healthier in the long run? So, rather than counting calories, it would make more sense to look at the nutrients on your meal plate.

Why You Need To Choose Nutrition Over Calorie Counting  

Let’s look at a few reasons why the focus should be on nutrition over calorie counting

  1. Food Quality Matters: Calories do not look into the quality of food you are eating. A low-calorie food with well-balanced macro and micronutrients is considered healthier than a high calorie, nutritionally poor food. For instance, an apple may have the same calories as a cookie, but we know which one is healthier.
  2. Nutrient Dense Foods: When you follow calorie counting, one tends to avoid the natural calorie dense foods like nuts, seeds, ghee, oils, and avocados, etc. which are very healthy and important for good metabolism and maintaining healthy weight.
  3. Thermic Effect of Food: The number of calories used to digest our food is different for various food groups, so this can alter the effects of calorie counting to some extent. Food items made of processed and refined products are digested faster and are likely to spike up our sugar levels, than those made of natural and unrefined forms, which will take up more energy to break down and get digested and keep the sugar levels stabilized.
  4. Bioavailable Calories: Recent studies have indicated that many foods have less bioavailable calories than originally thought of. For instance, almonds, peanuts and pistachios all seem to be less completely digested, providing fewer calories, almost 20% less than what is mentioned on the label. This may be true for other foods with tough cell walls. So, calorie counting may not actually be accurate here.
  5. Effect of Food on our Satiety: Different foods have a different effect on our satiety levels, some give us a feeling of fullness for longer than others. So all foods are measured on a scale called the satiety index, which is basically the measure of the ability of the foods to reduce hunger, increase feeling of fullness and reduce calorie intake for the next few hours. Eating foods with a low satiety index will make you hungry faster than foods with a high satiety index. 500 calories from an ice cream/doughnut will make you hungry sooner than 500 calories from sprouts/beans and vegetable salad.

So, the bottom line is to make smart choices with your food and focus more on the nutritional aspect rather than calorie counting. Once you pick nutrition over calorie counting, you will notice more satiety, improved energy levels, reduced inflammation, you’ll be able to maintain healthy weight and witness an overall improvement in your health! 

We hope this article helps you make healthier choices. For more on nutrition, check out Healthy Reads. If you want to know more about what kind of food you should incorporate, based on your weight loss or weight gain goals, speak to an expert by subscribing for GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

Do leave your thoughts in the comments below! 

#BeTheForce 

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How Neelima Kulshrestha Managed Diabetes & BP Issues with GOQii

Neelima Kulshrestha The decisions we make, no matter how small, sometimes have a big impact on our life. Have you ever been at a crossroad where you were unsure of a certain decision, but once you took it, it changed your life for the better? Our Player Neelima Kulshrestha was faced with such a decision and as she took it, her life changed for the better. Here’s how her health story unfolded with GOQii. 

Multiple Lifestyle Diseases and Medications 

Neelima is a 38 year old housewife who resides in Delhi. After marriage, her life only revolved around her family and children, leaving no time for herself. At 34, she developed Diabetes, Blood Pressure, Obesity, High Cholesterol, and Triglyceride issues. She was using medications to manage all these issues. 

She had to regularly keep a check on her BP as it would rise constantly. After a while, every time her arm was strapped to check her BP, she would suffer terrible pain in her hands. To help her, her husband began researching to find something like a smartwatch that could monitor her BP 24×7. Upon combing the internet, he found GOQii and was pleased with the reviews. He figured this could be the best option and bought the smart watch from the GOQii Website in Feb 2022. 

Taking A Decision To Make A Positive Lifestyle Change 

“Initially the device was purchased only to monitor my BP. I was not keen on going in for a coach and hence, never activated the code for a 3 month free coaching service,” said Neelima Kulshrestha. But, her husband insisted that she should try the coaching service out as it was free for 3 months. After much resistance, Neelima Kulshrestha finally activated the coaching subscription. In fact, she even asked her husband to attend the intro call and discuss her health with the coach. 

She had joined GOQii with the intention to lose weight. She thought that Diabetes and high blood pressure would be lifelong companions. She was not sure if both these issues could be managed with proper lifestyle changes.

For the first month, Neelima says it was quite a task to connect with the coach and she was not regular. It was during the 2nd month that she gave it a serious thought and said to herself, “Just try and see what happens and what changes the coach is likely to bring about.” Now, she says that, “I have no regrets.”

Once her GOQii Coach slowly started introducing new habits into her lifestyle, she started witnessing the change. She had started feeling active as she started following all the habits that her GOQii Coach recommended – whether it was having vegetable juices or switching over to millets or exercises. She never gave any excuses in spite of having a small child to look after.

As part of her daily routine, she now walks around 20k steps daily as well as exercises regularly. Her GOQii Coach helped her maintain portion control as well. 

Even her husband has seen the changes. Along with her GOQii Coach, Neelima also credits her husband for her change in lifestyle saying, “ If it was not for my husband and his motivation, I would have never been able to do this ever!”    

What Changes Did Neelima Kulshrestha Observe? 

“Neelima’s sugar level has spoken volumes about her dedication towards a healthy lifestyle,” says her GOQii Coach Madhu Soni. Her fasting sugar in April 2022 was 195 and PP was at 150. As of now, her fasting sugar is at 96 and PP at 102.  Her HbA1c has dropped from 8.6 to 6.4 in the month of June.

“When she began her journey with GOQii, her weight was 104kg and now, she weighs 82.4kg. Although her BP has not reached the benchmark, I’m sure we’ll see success there soon as well,” says her GOQii Coach Madhu Soni. 

Recently, Neelima spoke to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal on an episode of GOQii Health Stories, where she discussed her journey and the changes brought about by her GOQii Coach Madhu Soni. You can watch the full episode here:

As of now, Neelima Kulshrestha has been an Elite Player for 199 days and is in the top 6% of Active Players on the GOQii Platform. Owing to the changes she witnessed by making small lifestyle changes, she is now inspiring her family and friends to take up a healthy lifestyle as well. 

If this story inspired you or if you want to reduce your HbA1c levels and manage lifestyle diseases, reach out to us by downloading the GOQii App and subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

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