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Losing 22kg at 80 with GOQii! Col Ravi Minocha User Journey

Col. Ravi Minocha

As we age, we are often unable to do the things we could before. Mobility issues as a result of old age often become an excuse for older adults to not get active. But we’re here to tell you that age is just a number if you have the will, determination and proper guidance towards living an active and healthy lifestyle. Don’t believe us? Let our player, Retired Army Col Ravi Minocha, tell you how he lost weight and beat his mobility issues with sheer willpower and the right guidance from GOQii! Recently, he spoke to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal. You can watch their conversation here: 

Life Before GOQii 

“I was very active as an army officer. I was in the unit of Core of Electronics as a mechanical engineer. I retired from the army in 1994,” he says. “I always had a tendency to put on weight. After retirement, I joined the private sector and worked there for 10 years. In 2004, I stopped working and had developed arthritis issues in the knee due to which my mobility reduced.

Doctors suggested surgery as a solution, other than that, it was to pop some painkillers and go in for physiotherapy. I did not want to take pain killers and by now, my mobility had reduced a great deal. I could barely walk for 10 minutes. I reached a stage where I was shy of standing on a weighing scale as I had reached the weight of 99kg and had a waistline of about 48-49 inches. In June 2017, on my birthday, my daughter Latika gifted me a GOQii Tracker and what intrigued me was the coaching aspect.” 

Making Steady Lifestyle Changes 

Initially, Col Ravi Minocha struggled with losing weight and his son told him that he had to do something about controlling his weight. That’s when his health goal became to reduce weight. His ideal weight, as per his age and height was supposed to be around 76-77kg. 

After getting onboard the GOQii Ecosystem, Col Ravi Minocha dedicatedly followed all the instructions given to him by his GOQii Coach. “My coach has been very accommodating,” he says. “She has only been motivating, never once discouraging. As for my bad habit of eating unhealthy, she directed me well towards healthy eating. We started small. I followed everything that my coach said religiously. I started enjoying the interactions with my coach. My coach had a lot to work on, including my unhealthy eating habits, my weight and also my mobility issues. So we started slowly.” 

Within 3 months of being on GOQii, he started feeling the change and slowly his GOQii Coach revised the step count to 10K daily. His mobility issues persisted slightly even then but he realized it was getting better. The Coach also changed his eating habits by reducing his carb and sweets intake. He began eating millets, millet rotis – 8-10 meals in a week with millets, including salads. Controlled diet and exercises helped him improve his weight and with weight loss, his mobility improved. 

Col Ravi Minocha Sees The Results of a Healthy Lifestyle 

In 3 years, Col Ravi Minocha lost 22kg and his weight had reduced from 99kg to 77kg. His waist size has reduced from 49 inches to 38 inches now. Currently, he is working towards maintaining this weight which is ideal for his age and height. On an average, he completes around 12-13k steps. 

In May, he took around 270km steps, which is equivalent to almost 7 marathons. He was quite chuffed looking at the data. He says that, “The GOQii App is very good and getting feedback is a very good thing.” Col Ravi Minocha has been renewing his subscription year after year and is extremely happy and thankful to his coach. 

His daughter Latika stays in Singapore and is very happy to see her dad doing very well. She had gifted him a GOQii after her husband’s friend Jyotirmoy Saha, who also happens to be Vishal Gondal’s friend, suggested GOQii. She says, “What appealed to my dad was the personal coaching. We are all so proud of our dad and what he has achieved at his age. We all marvel at his will power and determination.  Even now, he calls and says how many steps he has completed. He has become a great influencer for all of us, including my mom.”

What Does His Coach Falguni Bhojak Have To Say? 

For Col Ravi Minocha, the goal we were working on was reducing his weight and tummy fat. But the main concern was his knee discomfort due to OA, because of which he had mobility issues. Due to his Arthritis issues, his mobility was restricted and he was not able to walk at a stretch for more than 10-15 minutes.

Then we started working on knee discomfort as in, started anti-inflammatory food, started knee exercises, walking with short breaks in between. I also looked into his diet and asked him to log his food every day so I could know what he was eating and how we could bring about changes in that. He started having lukewarm lemon water, more fruits and salads as well as green veggies. We introduced Millets in his diet and he started having millet roti and millet dosa.

He was so consistent and disciplined in updating logs from the time he joined! Even when he travelled to visit his daughter in Singapore, he kept updating his logs and kept updating me about his habits. Gradually, his mobility became better and he was completing 7-8 k steps by going to walk 2 times a day. Gradually we increased the time and now he can walk for an hour without breaks and discomfort.

He had some constipation problems in between, so we started including soaked black raisins to his diet and that helped. When his hemoglobin had shot down, we began including iron-rich food to ensure he remained healthy.

Col. Minocha is consistent with his habits and follows whatever is told to him. He is extremely disciplined in following his routine. Consistency and discipline have helped him achieve his health goals. Infact, on 29 June, he updated me that his weight is now down to 76.5kg.

As you can see from Col Ravi Minocha’s journey, it is never too late to make a positive shift to a healthier lifestyle. What’s stopping you? Subscribe for personalized coaching now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr  

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

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Small Changes For Big Rewards – Officer Susant Dash User Journey

Susant DashIt’s no surprise that the heavy burden of managing this COVID-19 crisis has fallen heavily on our frontline heroes. The members of our police force have faced the worst of it. During this time, it is very important to keep oneself healthy in order to protect others. While this is expected, it is no easy task. Managing health, along with duty, was becoming increasingly difficult for Police Officer Susant Dash. 

As an officer of the police force, his days were always hectic with no timely meals or sleep. He used to eat his lunch at 4pm and dinner around 12:30 or 1am after returning home. He had no control over what he would eat in between his meals – as it mostly consisted of a samosa or some street food from a vendor. The high levels of stress during these precarious times only contributed to his weight gain. He didn’t even have time to think about health or fitness till he stumbled upon an advertisement of our brand ambassador Akshay Kumar on a newspaper which changed his life! 

Making a Lifestyle Change 

The advertisement that Susant Dash saw was that of the GOQii Smart Vital. Being out on the field all day during a pandemic, he figured he could use a device which helped him track vitals such as body temperature, blood oxygen, heart rate and blood pressure. He purchased the GOQii Smart Vital which came with a 3 month subscription to personal coaching. Once he subscribed, he was introduced to his Coach, Yogita Sharma and his journey to a healthier lifestyle began. 

Habits Introduced By His Coach 

The changes that Coach Yogita Sharma introduced were quite basic. This included maintaining a 3 hour gap between his dinner and sleep time, timely meals and no oily food. She gave him a fitness regime to follow for a week which included 4 days of cardio, 2 days of strength training and 1 day of rest. 

Now, his day starts at 6 in the morning with a glass of lemon water or methi seeds soaked overnight with water. He starts his workout at 7 and goes on for an hour. He tries his best to eat his breakfast, lunch and dinner on time. He has completely stopped snacking from vendors – fried foods being a major weakness. Along with this, he does 10 minutes of guided meditation every day before sleeping. 

What Changes Did Officer Susant Dash Notice? 

Thanks to making these minimal changes to his lifestyle, his weight has reduced from 103kg in September 2020 to 87kg now. He feels more energetic and active despite being out all day. He understood from his coach that exercise alone does not lead to fat loss. It has to be coupled with calorie restriction, proper diet and sleep – something that he was unaware about before being coached by Yogita Sharma, who guided him about what to eat, what to avoid, and most importantly, how to structure his meals. 

With visible changes in his physique and appearance, he says he has grown more confident and feels good when he is appreciated by his superiors and his juniors at the station. He feels pleased that he has become a role model for his colleagues and has inspired many among them to take fitness seriously. He says, “I never imagined I could lose 16 kgs in 5 months. Thanks to GOQii this came true!” 

Apart from engaging with his GOQii Coach, Officer Susant Dash also follows GOQii Play Coaches Mukesh, Heena, Dr. Paramjeet and Urvashi and finds their videos interesting. He also purchases products such as honey, teas, etc. from the GOQii Health Store. 

What Does Coach Yogita Sharma Have To Say About Officer Susant Dash? 

Officer Susant Dash joined GOQii on 13th September, 2020. When he joined our team, his weight was 99kg and he struggled with borderline high sugar levels, uric acid and high blood pressure, but was not taking any medication for the same. After our first discussion, we decided that we will try lifestyle modifications to correct these parameters before starting medication. 

Over a period of 4 months, he has lost 10kg of weight and as per his latest reports, his blood sugar, blood pressure and uric acid levels are all well within normal range. Overall, his energy levels have improved and he feels fresh throughout the day. 

Does the story of Officer Susant Dash inspire you to make a lifestyle change? Then download the GOQii App and subscribe now! To read more inspirational stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce

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Always Look At The Big Picture – Mukul Bhartiya User Journey

Mukul Bhartiya

We often treat health as a one off objective but what happens once we achieve our goal? Do we fall back to our previous habits? While keeping health goals, it is important to always look at the big picture. While losing weight is a good target, being healthy should always be a lifelong goal! This is something our player Mukul Bhartiya understood during his journey with GOQii. Let’s look at his journey in his own words. 

Finding GOQii 

I started my journey with GOQii around two and half years back and my purchase decision was a result of meeting Vishal Gondal in 2012 at IIT, Mumbai where he was one of the speakers. I was looking for a fitness band and while researching, I came across GOQii. I immediately jumped in without having a clear idea of what I will do with it. Unfortunately, after just a month or so of purchase, I became very busy with work, having very little time to spend on my health. There was a disconnect with the coach and the 3rd coach assigned to me was a tough task master with his own ideas of fitness and health. So I decided to quit the journey.   

I am a Black Belt in Shito Ryu Karate Do, but left practicing it around five years back due to personal issues. I kept myself active for a couple of years but after that, I became lazy, spending lots of time on social media, following twitter trends, validating my view point through anonymous writer’s rants.  This time, around four months back when I looked at one of my pictures, it gave me a clear idea that I needed immediate help. I was weighing 84kg. Around 10 years back when I signed up for a weight loss program, though I lost 11kg, it was at the cost of my health. This time I needed certified people guiding me, so I went for GOQii! 

Mukul Bhartiya Begins His Journey Again 

My coach Ms. Falguni Bhojak is a patient and understanding coach and mentor. She asked me about my routine and my health objectives. She encouraged me to speak more about my health objectives, challenges and limitations and it resulted in a personalized health template for me. I years back. I wanted to lose weight fast, but she drilled down a few things in my mind, like “not everyday will be the same, I need to  focus on the bigger picture and not allow failures to bother me”. We set a target of 1.5-2kg weight loss per month and made it a one year project. She also said that though weight loss is my immediate target, good health should be my lifelong target.  

Ms. Bhojak’s first and foremost interest was to pull me out of laziness and make me active. She told me, “Mukul, can you start with half an hour of low intensity activity?” and guided me with the same. Now, what was “half an hour activity” around three and half months back, is “more than three hours activity” ranging from moderate to high intensity. In three and half months, I have lost 12.5kg. I am walking around 14-15km per day, spending around 30 minutes on martial arts, 20 minutes on yoga and eating healthy. Even on a bad day, I walk more than ten kilometers.    

What Were Some Key Learnings? 

  • Start always matters, even if it is small: I started with around 15 minutes of lazy activity and now I keep thinking how can I incorporate exercise in every activity. 
  • There should be a bigger picture than the big picture: My coach’s question made me think what will I do after losing 20 kg? I have created a bigger picture for that and it has made my big picture look like a journey than just an end result. 
  • Break the big picture into smaller pixels: Big picture may look daunting and many people back away, so break it down into smaller targets. Achievement of targets work as a reward mechanism for efforts we are putting in. 
  • Stay consistent: Not everyday will be your best day. If you have a bad day, work hard the next day and make it better than your best day. 
  • Everything needs time: You can’t make things happen by the snap of your fingers. Every result is the outcome of many actions you take on a daily basis to make it good.
  • Have someone who can critically analyze your actions but will be considerate and a helping mentor. Ms. Bhojak encourages me to ask questions, list out my challenges, immediately points out my deviations and keeps exercise routines which interest me. 

There are options in the GOQii Arena where players can share their achievements, their story and their now-then photos and people share their achievements daily. Then there are “active month” challenges where participants can see their points, badges and ranks. There are some feature stories of achievers as well. There are many like me who either learnt or re-learnt something during their journey with GOQii. If everyone shares their stories, their journey, challenges, pain, achievements and guides each other from their experiences, moderated by experts, it can create a Facebook of “Health and Healthy Community”. 

What Does Coach Falguni Have To Say About Mukul Bhartiya? 

Mukul joined with a goal of losing 20kg of weight. He was doing meditation but workout or physical activity was missing due to the lockdown. We started with 30 minutes of workout. Moving ahead, as he was a trained Martial arts karate player and enjoyed doing it, we started with Martial arts as his exercise along with 20k steps. 

He was following healthy eating and early dinner, but portion control was needed. So, we started working on it. He was quite determined and with his consistent efforts and hard work, we were able to see a loss of around 14.7kgs in 4 months. 

The best quality of Mukul is that he is a very active GOQii Player who keeps updating his routine on the app and also discusses his challenges and progress with me on a regular basis – which is very essential in achieving any goal. 

Does the journey of Mukul Bhartiya inspire you to begin yours? Head over to the GOQii App or our website to begin your journey today! For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

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Getting A Push To A Healthier Lifestyle – Rohit Khatri User Journey

Rohit Khatri

The choices we make early in life often determine our current predicaments. Unhealthy choices always lead to unhealthy consequences. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. It is never too late to make a shift to healthier choices. Lifestyle diseases can be reversed and you can live a healthy and fulfilling life. When things seem the bleakest, all you need is a gentle push in the right direction. Don’t believe us? Just ask our player Rohit Khatri! 

Finding GOQii To Make A Change 

Rohit Khatri is a 32 year old Delhi-based businessman who was introduced to GOQii through the ABBOTT Gutfit program in 2016. His doctor had asked him to register for a 3 month subscription with GOQii to adopt lifestyle modifications to manage his GERD issue as well as his weight, which at that time was 132kg. The doctor said that the only way he could get relief from GERD and other associated issues is when he reduces his weight.  

“Most times, you know what the problem is but you can’t seem to do anything about it. You just give up and let life take its course,” says Rohit. He knew his weight had increased incredibly over the years and he just seemed to lack the will to do anything about it. He commends both his coaches, his previous coach, Swati and current coach Sakhi Agarwal, for giving him the confidence and the push to tackle his weight issue. 

He points out that untimely eating, overeating and having absolutely no control over his junk habits were the sole cause behind his enormous weight gain. 

Inculcating New Healthy Habits 

The first and foremost thing that his coach assured him was that he doesn’t have to go through any drastic changes to his routine. She said they will adopt a gradual yet consistent method to losing weight and resolving his gastric issues. He was asked to make the following changes to his routine: 

  • Drink jeera water on an empty stomach in the morning, followed by a fruit 
  • Khichdi or Dalia for breakfast 
  • For lunch, he was asked to eat roti, sabzi or dal-chawal, though the portion size was reduced 
  • Avoid calorie-dense foods
  • Stay off junk food and sweets 
  • Dinner consisted of more salads followed by home-cooked meals  
  • Brisk walk for 45 mins every day (his duration has increased to 1.5 hours now) 
  • He slowly included jogging, cycling or brisk walking or a combination of all to avoid boredom 
  • During lockdown, he started watching GOQii Play and worked out with whichever coach was online during his exercise time 

The Right Efforts Lead To Healthy Rewards 

As a result of following his new healthy habits daily, Rohit Khatri witnessed the following changes in his life: “

  • Completely off GERD medication 
  • Weight has reduced from 132kg to 103kg 
  • He feels more energetic and positive about himself 

He says that shopping for clothes earlier used to be a nightmare as he didn’t have many options for his plus size but now he doesn’t have to struggle as much. He is pleased with the compliments he gets from people for his weight loss and that even after 4 years, the weight he lost hasn’t come back. It makes him happy that he achieved his goal. 

What Does Rohit Khatri Have To Say About GOQii? 

He is grateful to both his coaches and says he owes it all to them. If not for them, he wouldn’t have gotten the push to focus on his health. They made it seem too easy to him, corrected him whenever he went wrong, motivated, and encouraged him at every step. 

“Sometimes, all you are waiting for is a push in the right direction and GOQii gave that to me,” says Rohit Khatri. Now the habits have become a part of his life. He says that he can’t imagine a day without his jeera water, fruit and exercise. 

What Does Coach Sakhi Agarwal Have To Say About His Progress? 

Rohit Khatri was transferred to me on June 5, 2020. He was an Abbott Player and had a history of GERD. At the time, his weight was 120kg in July, his waist was 40 inches and his sleep time was disturbed i.e. 2am to 11am. I suggested 3 habits as per his goals: 

  1. Morning detox water to speed his metabolism 
  2. Improve sleep timings and change it to 11pm to 6am 
  3. Start taking an average of 3k steps a day 

Later, I introduced other habits like replacing biscuits with roasted snacks or fruits and eating meals on time.

Now, he has increased his step count to 16-20k a day. He lost 11kg and 5 inches in 5 months. His current weight is 109kg and waist size is 35 inches. He is currently working hard to reduce his weight further and getting healthier. He is happy with his progress and has renewed his subscription for 1 year. 

We’re thrilled to see Rohit Khatri make progress the right way with the right push from our team of experts. Found this story inspiring? Want to make a lifestyle change or know someone who wants to? Ask them to visit our website www.goqii.com or download the GOQii App now: www.goqii.com/app 

For more stories to motivate you, check out other transformation stories on Healthy Reads. 

#BeTheForce 

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

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