GOQii

Blog

By 7 Comments

All You Need to Know About Flaxseeds

everything about flaxseedsWhen it comes to nutrition and fitness, Flaxseeds or Alsi is the most commonly heard terms these days. The way fashion trends keep pouring in, you will see food ingredients also hitting the market as and when research finds out something important.

Flaxseed is one of the important ingredients in the market right now. You will see Flaxseed Oil on the shelves of most grocery stores, Ground Flaxseeds used in various recipes and Whole Flaxseeds tempered beautifully on cookies and bread.

People are talking about Flaxseeds a lot as doctors and dietitians are recommending it to people who want to lose weight. It is being recommended to those who are suffering from cancer, heart problems, diabetes and various other diseases.

Everyone is wondering what magical powers do these tiny oval-shaped, flat, glossy and pointed at one end ingredient have?

It has magical powers in the form of three magical nutrients.

  1. Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects
  2. Lignans, which has both, plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities
  3. Fiber: Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types

Yes, these three magical nutrients are capable of fighting so many deadly diseases. Let’s have a look into it.

Health Benefits of Flaxseeds

Cancer: Omega 3 fatty acids and lignans present in Flaxseeds have a protective effect against breast, prostate and colon cancer. They block the enzymes which are involved in hormone metabolism by interfering with the growth and spread of tumor cells, thus, preventing cancer.

Cardiovascular Health: Omega-3s present in Flaxseeds reduce the hardening of arteries, which keeps plaque from being deposited in them. This automatically helps in keeping the heartbeat normal. As a result, blood pressure is kept under control and it takes care of the overall cardiovascular system.

Cholesterol-lowering effects of Flaxseeds are the result of the combined benefits of the omega-3 ALA, fiber, and lignans.

Inflammation: Omega 3 and lignans present in Flaxseeds are known to block the release of certain pro-inflammatory agents which help in reducing the inflammation that accompanies certain illnesses such as Parkinson’s and Asthma.

Diabetes: Daily intake of Flaxseeds improve the blood sugar of people suffering from diabetes.

Relieves Constipation: Flaxseeds and Flaxseed Oil act as natural laxatives and give you relief from constipation.

Some Facts on Flaxseeds

  1. Whether you have it in the whole form or ground form, what we need to know is that just swallowing Flaxseeds like a medicine with water won’t give you the desired results. The seeds need to be broken to get the omega 3 nutrients which are present in it. If you are eating whole Flaxseeds, chew them properly. If you are grinding it, grind it fresh every time you want to consume it.
  2. The best place to store Ground Flaxseeds is in the freezer. The freezer will help maintain the nutritional content of Grounded Flaxseeds by preventing oxidation.
  3. If you are not grinding Flaxseeds, then the outside shell in the whole Flaxseeds acts as the protective shield of itself which keeps the fatty acids inside well protected. As long as whole Flaxseeds are dry and of good quality, it can be stored at room temperature for up to a year.

Creative Ways to Eat Flaxseeds

  1. You can start your day by adding Ground Flaxseeds in lukewarm lemon water. Drink this early in the morning to detox your body.
  2. Addition of Flaxseed to your regular breakfast cereal will give your boring bowl a fresh, nutty flavor.  You can also add them to puffed rice, idli or parathas.
  3. Prepare a nice evening snack with fruits, Yoghurt and add this tint of nutty flavor to it.
  4. Adding it to milkshakes will also change the flavor of the shakes giving it an exotic nutty flavor.
  5. Add it to your regular veg curries as they won’t get noticed when added to soups,  enchilada casserole, chicken parmesan, chicken meatballs, etc.
  6. Lastly substitute a part of flour with Ground Flaxseed in recipes like cakes, Dhokla, Dosa, Parathas, etc.

In conclusion, these small and nutty seeds which are highly rich in omega 3 are extremely beneficial for our general health.

Did we miss out on any benefits of Flaxseeds? Would you like to know more? Drop us a comment below!

#BeTheForce

By 3 Comments

Why is it Difficult to Make a Lifestyle Change?

lifestyle
In a user story I recently wrote, the player said, “Making a lifestyle change is easy. What is difficult is the commitment to follow through with determination”. Rightly so, it’s indeed considered a tall order and hence, many give it up midway. Most consider it forced, rather than a positive change to bring about within themselves.

This very attitude and constant cribbing of people around me prompted me to write this piece on why is it so difficult to make a lifestyle change?

Many of us have tried it at some point in our lives. Some of us have succeeded, while many have found it extremely taxing. Making a lifestyle change is challenging, especially when you want to transform many things at once. Lifestyle changes are a process that takes time and requires support and lots of patience.

lifestyle1

Here are a few tips that you could follow from my personal experience:

1. Start Small

After you’ve identified realistic short-term and long-term goals, break them into small steps that are well defined, that can be managed and measured. If your long term goal (6-8 months) is to lose 20 kilos, then a good goal would be to reduce about 2 kilos a month in a healthy way.

Physiologically smaller goals give you a sense that it’s achievable and keep you motivated for the long term goal. Look at healthy eating options. Eat smaller, balanced meals at regular intervals. Replace a dessert with a healthier option, like Yoghurt. At the end of the month, you’ll feel successful knowing you met your goal.

2. Change One Behavior at a Time

It is said that old habits die hard. It is simply because behaviors develop over the course of time. Replacing then will take a while. Focus on one goal at a time. If need be, get professional help to understand what changes you need to bring within yourself to become healthy and fit. The problem arises when you try to change things really fast. Take it slow!

3. Have a Buddy, a Personal Coach or a Trainer

It can be anyone from a friend, to a  family member, a co-worker or your personal trainer. Your buddy and you can go for a walk, cycle or run together and keep each other motivated and charged. You can challenge each other to create some excitement in your training and make sure that it is not boring. Having someone with whom you can share your struggles and success makes the work easier and the mission less intimidating.

4. Make a Plan That You Will Stick To

You will have to devise a plan in such a way that it will be your guide. Think out of the box and have things in your plan which you have never done before. For instance, an adventure or sports climbing (artificial wall climbing). But, don’t go haywire and be specific. Manage time well.

Detail the time of the day when you want to exercise, how long you want to exercise or when you can take walks and how long you’ll walk. Maintain a diary in which all your tasks are jotted down and ask yourself if these activities and goals are realistic for you. If not, then start with baby steps.

5. Have Support Around You

Having people around you to support you while you are on your journey will keep you away from slacking. Don’t feel shy to ask for support wherever and whenever needed. If you feel you are unable to meet your goals on your own, get help!

6. Self-Motivation

All the above points will help you in your journey to change your lifestyle. But the biggest factor of all and one of the most important factor is being self-motivated. No matter how many buddies you have, no matter what support your dear and near ones will give you, no matter how good a plan you make, none of this will be effective till the time you are self-motivated and want to make the change.

Do it for yourself, do it on your own and feel good at the end of it all!

Making the changes that you want takes time and commitment. You can do it! Just remember that no one is perfect. You will have occasional lapses. Be kind to yourself. When you eat a brownie or skip the gym, don’t give up. Minor bumps on the road to your goals are normal and okay. Resolve to recover and get back on track.

#BeTheForce

By 4 Comments

Going Beyond The Challenge | Ravishankar User Journey

Ravi Shankar transformationWhat would life be without challenges? Challenges can either make us or break us and quite honestly, without a challenge, we would never grow. When life throws what seems like an insurmountable challenge at you, what do you do? Faced with a similar hurdle, Ravishankar Balasubramanian, 43, from Coimbatore decided to take control of his life, challenged himself and took a huge leap towards a healthier lifestyle.

The Challenge

Like most of us, Ravishankar led an active life throughout his school and college days. He used to play Volleyball but as time passed, he fell into a sedentary lifestyle due to work and other commitments. He was at an alarming 118kg. Deep down he knew he couldn’t live like this.

After consulting a doctor, he got to know that he had excess bad fats and needed medication to reduce it. This is when Ravishankar told his doctor that he doesn’t want to rely on medication. He challenged the doctor that he would lose weight naturally in 2 months. And so, his journey began!

Defying the Odds

Ravishankar immediately took to walking. He believed that with an obese body, one cannot perform many exercises. His initial goal became to lose the extra kilos. Through walking alone, he was able to shed 15kg. He knew this wasn’t enough and had to lose more weight. This is when he decided to get some help.

Enter GOQii

Around October 2018, Ravishankar began looking for a fitness tracker to measure his daily steps and activities. Initially, he was confused between the Mi Band and GOQii. Considering the pros and cons of both, he settled on GOQii because of the personalized live coaching feature. He hasn’t regretted his choice since!

Healthy Habits and Transformation

After taking stock of his goals, his GOQii Coach suggested that he continue walking and jogging. His GOQii Coach also introduced him to a few exercises he could practice. In addition, she asked him to start with pre and post workout meals. Initially, Ravishankar was unaware of its importance but decided to trust his coach. Now, it is a regular part of his day.

His coach guided him on his eating habits. He was strictly asked to avoid junk food and go for good proteins. She explained in detail as to why he should follow these habits. This motivated him to be consistent with them.

His sleeping habits improved a lot after inputs from his coach. He started drinking buttermilk with dinner and hot milk before bed. When Ravishankar traveled abroad for work, his coach was sure to follow up regularly by asking him to send pictures of his plate to know what and how much he was eating. She also ensured that he followed the habits she had set for him.

His GOQii Coach suggested workouts to improve his running style and to recover from injuries. Now, he runs a minimum of 30km a day. He does this by running 2.5 hours in the morning and at night after work, he goes for a walk, followed by jogging and running. He plans to run a marathon next year and is training vigorously to achieve this goal.

Inspiration and Active Sunday Champion

Today, Ravishankar Balasubramanian weighs around 80kg and is motivating people around him to do the same! He is an Active Sunday Champion and heads the sessions in Coimbatore. He guides his participants and is a continuous source of inspiration for them.

India Steps Challenge

Within two weeks of the challenge starting, Ravishankar had already referred 100 members and increased his daily cap to 36,000 steps. Without losing a beat, he began walking and clocking in 36k steps and more on a daily basis. He is one of the first few individuals to claim the OnePlus 6T as a reward in the India Steps Challenge.

Ravishankar’s journey to weight loss and his determination to dive further into health and fitness is a source of inspiration for us all. From something as simple as walking, he has transformed his life for the better. Now, he has a dedicated team that walks, runs and exercises with him. Through walking alone, he has started a collective movement!

He believes that if he can do it, so can you!

What Did Ravishankar’s GOQii Coach Have to Say About Him?

“In his health journey to reduce weight and belly fat, we decided to stick to a routine of structured workout cardio, strength training and lifestyle modification with a focus on  balanced food, sound sleep and managing stress in a positive way.

When he approached me with the willingness to participate in the India Steps Challenge, I was was very happy to see his excitement and zest towards it. We formulated a pattern where he could train, take part in the challenge and at the same time stay injury and stress free too.

With a constant monitoring of his workout, nutrition and sleeping pattern, today, he has achieved his target and a healthier lifestyle at the same time. I wish him a very happy and healthy life forever.”

#BeTheForce

By Leave a Comment

Stay Active, Stay Covered, Stay Stress Free | World Health Day

stay active stay covered stay healthyOne of the key points mentioned during GOQii’s annual event in December last year was that our current healthcare systems focus more on ‘sick care’ rather than preventive healthcare. Measures taken to ensure good health are often reactive as compared to proactive. The problem with this approach is that any precautions we take concerning health won’t be in place until it is too late.

We couldn’t stress more on why this mindset of ‘sick care’ is unyielding as opposed to leading a healthy lifestyle from the start. But as the case with most diseases and unpredictability of unfavorable circumstances, you can never be too prepared. With high healthcare costs and the trust in the healthcare systems decreasing, health insurance is certainly the need of the hour.

Universal Health Coverage

Everybody everywhere is entitled to health coverage that does not harm or put their finances at risk. Based on the WHO constitution of 1948, which declared health a fundamental human right and on the Health for All agenda set by the Alma Ata declaration in 1978, this year’s WHO theme for World Health Day is Universal Health Coverage. It is to ensure better health and protection for the poorest of the poor.

India and Universal Health Coverage

In India, approximately 62% deaths among men and 52% among women, occur due to non-communicable diseases. Due to the low utilization of the public health system, lack of effective management, awareness, and fragmentation of the healthcare services, families are forced to incur high expenditures leading to impoverishment and poverty on account of medical and hospitalization expenses. (source: https://www.pmjay.gov.in)

In an attempt to fulfill the vision of Health for All and Universal Health Coverage, the government conceived Ayushman Bharat, an initiative led by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ayushman Bharat encompasses two complementary schemes, Health and Wellness Centers and National Health Protection Scheme. The Protection Scheme is envisaged to provide financial risk protection of Rs 5 lakh per family, per year to poor and vulnerable families arising out of primary and tertiary care hospitalization.

How GOQii Can Help

GOQii has always believed in enabling individuals to move from a reactive healthcare pattern to a more proactive one. The only way to achieve this is by rewarding good health. By using the data we collect, insurance companies lessen or alter the premiums paid for the life/health insurance they offer to their users, thereby cutting the cost for healthier users and altering the same for higher risk users. This helps the insurance companies and insurance holders make an informed choice of dealing with their health risks.

Through our partnership with Max Bupa, we offer a holistic health insurance offering called –‘Max Bupa GoActive’ to fulfil our customers’ daily health needs. GoActive is a digitally enabled health insurance plan that has been designed to give customers a 360-degree coverage including in-patient hospitalization and on-the-go access to OPD, diagnostics, personalized health coaching, second medical opinion, behavioral counseling and much more. The plan offers up to 20 per cent premium discount on achieving predetermined health scores and also offers benefits such as renewal discount of up to 20 per cent post achieving their health goals. We have also partnered with Swiss Re to provide underwriting assistance to Max Bupa wherein Swiss Re uses GOQii’s data to create relevant products and also build expertise to create risk assessment models for future.

In simple terms, get healthier, improve your health score and pay less premiums on your insurance cover.

To ensure good health and wellness, GOQii has organized a World Health Day Super Sale on the GOQii Health Store. Get amazing discounts on healthy products curated by our experts by using your GOQii Cash. Download the app now to avail its many benefits for free: www.goqii.com/app

#BeTheForce

The Right Guidance With Gradual Change – Rishikesh Ayre User Journey

Do you want to make a positive lifestyle change but don’t know how? Does it take every ounce of motivation for you to move? Do you need a nudge in the right direction? These are all valid questions and you’re not alone. Sometimes, we want to begin something new but don’t know where to start. […]

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

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 […]

The Art Of Reducing Medication & Getting Healthy With GOQii

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 […]