Today is officially the start of resolution season.  You know what I mean. We have eaten more Diwali sweets and Christmas cake than is good for us. Time to stop, we tell ourselves. Time to take charge of our health, habits and goals.  The question is how.

I subscribe to many fitness podcasts, read self-help books and follow a routine that is based on convenience rather than medical advice. So imagine my delight when I heard two actionable items from Dr. Devi Shetty, the eminent cardiac surgeon who founded the Narayana Health group and was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to affordable health. Dr. Shetty was talking about diabetes — rampant in India — and how HbA1C was a marker for longevity. “When you are in your eighties, the one marker that will define the quality of your future life is your HbA1C levels,” he said. So keeping your sugar levels in check is something that all of us need to do.

Dr. Shetty is a healer by habit and temperament. A line of patients — rich, poor and middle-class – wait outside his office to see him. He asks his patient questions, palpating different parts of the body, and combines the clinical with compassion. In every encounter, he tries to soothe patient worry by offering some hope. One morning, I witnessed this, which is how in passing, I heard his advice on how to manage sugar levels. “Don’t stop eating sweets,” he told one patient. “Instead put a small piece of sweet into your mouth and keep it there.  Let it take its time and melt. This will tell the neurotransmitters in the brain that they are satiated.”

A family walked in. The old man in a village-style dhoti, his wife in a saree that is clearly from Hubbali. It is clear that they are of modest means and have waited long to meet Dr. Shetty.  And so it goes, all through the day.  “After each meal, take a 15 minute walk,” Dr. Shetty tells a patient with diabetes. “That’s like getting an insulin shot.”

So there you are. Two actionable items.  Savour a piece of sweet and take a walk after each meal.  Each one of us can do that. Keeping the habit though is difficult. I discover this when I visit Radha Krishnaswamy, a functional strength trainer in Indiranagar. I am there for an analysis of my posture, pain, gait and pronation. Over the course of an hour, Radha takes photos of how I stand, squat, lunge, lift my arms and move my legs. I discover that I am involuntarily leaning right (like the tower of Pisa), because my right side bears the brunt of the weight I carry.  I also learn that my thighs and core need strengthening. Radha suggests simple exercises for correction. For example, stand on one leg and shut your eyes. Try it. You will be shocked at how much you wobble. Over time, you will get used to this and hopefully your balance will improve.  “As you get older, you need to focus on balance and reflexes so that you can prevent falls or learn to fall better,” says Radha.

My brother and I used to tell each other that our Dad was a “good faller (in that he seemed to know how to fall so that he didn’t break bones).” In his eighties, Appa used to fall, but each time, he got wounds and gashes but thankfully no broken bones. Learning to fall is a lot about reflexes. Thankfully there are exercises each of us can do to fall better.

For women, strengthening the core and solving for knee pain is a big issue. Radha also tells me that Kegel exercises are important for women to identify and improve core muscles. This exercise is about identifying core muscles by quickly stopping the urination. Then you lie down and learn to tighten these muscles. Then you use these muscles while exercising.

Most of us focus so much on activity that we don’t pay attention to how we stand, sit or move.  Are you having pain on one side of the body? It means that you are overusing that side. When you stand or walk, do your feet move forward in a straight fashion—“like a railway line” to use Radha’s words? Or does your right foot splay out more than your left foot. Most of us have heads that lean out, thanks to computers.  Look at the location of the heads in children. Their ears are in line with their shoulder blades rather than jutting forward.  All these can be corrected for future benefit.

There is a lot of knowledge out there about diet and exercise. Lesser known are the benefits of how we move, stand and sit through the day for optimal functionality and comfort. Becoming aware of and improving how we perform these simple everyday movements may be the best New Year gift we can give ourselves.