You’ve probably heard this a lot (like, almost an uncomfortable number of times) on TikTok in the past few days: “And with that, the 2024 season comes to an end … 🎶” Yep, 2025 is officially here. You know what that means. New Year’s resolutions. 

What’s on your list? Well, if you’re like most people, weight loss. 

To set you up for success, we’ve curated 7 simple lifestyle habits designed to help you lose weight and keep it off — for good.

#1: Aim for an extra 1,000 steps each day 

Something crucial to remember throughout this article: to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit. That means burning more calories than you consume. 

Holding all other variables constant, taking more steps will increase your daily energy expenditure and your chances of successfully achieving a calorie deficit. 

But just how many steps a day should you be aiming for? 

The “golden” 10,000 that’s frequently thrown around on the Internet? Bad news: if so, we’re all falling short. 

A recently published research from PureGym analysing step tracker data from around the world found that Australians only manage 6,179 steps daily on average — just over half of this supposed “magical” number. 

As it turns out, you don’t have to clock that many steps to lose weight. 

Researchers in this 2022 study (tracking more than 6,000 participants’ activity and health data for over 4 years) found that people who walked about 8,200 steps daily were less likely to become obese. 

Of course, the more steps you take, the more weight loss and health benefits you’ll likely see.

However, there will come a point when it becomes too time-consuming. On average, it takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to walk 10,000 steps. For most people, ~8,000 daily steps would be a more reasonable and sustainable goal. 

Here are a few tricks you could use to squeeze in more steps every day:

Walk in place during TV shows

Have mobile meetings with your colleagues (just give them a heads-up beforehand!)

Park far away from your destination if you’re driving

Take the stairs whenever possible 

#2: Develop a healthy sleep routine

Insufficient sleep, usually defined as fewer than 6 to 7 hours, has been repeatedly linked to a higher body mass index (BMI) and weight gain. 

Here’s how sleep deprivation causes weight gain: 

Upregulates appetite by increasing ghrelin, the “hunger hormone”, and decreasing leptin, the “satiety hormone”

Makes it harder to make healthy food choices. A 2016 study found that sleep restriction boosts a signal that may enhance the joy of eating, particularly the pleasures gained from sweet or salty, high-fat (i.e., nutrient-poor, calorie-dense) snacks.

Decreases physical activity levels, which negatively impacts your daily energy expenditure.

So, if you haven’t been getting enough sleep, check out this article for 5 strategies that will help you develop a healthy sleep routine and support weight loss. 

#3: Pay attention to your portions

Portion sizes have ballooned during the past few decades.

Take fast food entrees, for instance. This 2019 study found that they have increased by nearly 13 grams per decade, while desserts have increased by 24 grams per decade over about 30 years (from 1986 to 2016).  

Now, you may wonder, “What’s so bad about that? Aren’t I getting more bang for my buck?”

The problem is that we tend to eat more when given larger portions, even if we are already full. As a result, we consume more energy and nutrients than our bodies need, which can lead to unwanted weight gain. 

OK … but how would you know what an appropriate portion size is? You can use your hands. 

A rough guide for each meal is:

#4: Eat a little slower

People who eat quickly tend to weigh more than those who don’t. In fact, fast eaters are up to 115% more likely than slower eaters to be obese. 

Takeaway? In 2025, take it slow during meals to give your brain the time it needs to receive satiety signals. 

Here’s what you can do to start eating more slowly:

Chew more

Set your utensils down between bites of food

Turn off your screens to avoid distracted eating 

Set your kitchen timer for 20 minutes, and do your best not to finish before the buzzer goes off

#5: Prioritise protein

While two palm-sized portions of protein per meal is a good starting place, you may wish to eat more protein simply because of how beneficial it is for weight management. 

More specifically, increased protein intake has been shown to:

Modulate appetite by decreasing ghrelin levels and increasing GLP-1 levels. For the uninitiated, GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) is a hormone that promotes satiety by delaying gastric emptying and decreasing the rewarding value of food by acting on the brain’s reward pathway. 

Promote muscle mass, which is more metabolically active (i.e., burns more calories than) fat mass. 

As for how much protein you should eat for weight loss, a good goal is between 1.6 and 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight. 

#6: Reduce your red and processed meat intake

That said, the type of protein you eat matters. Red and processed meats are often high in fat and, in turn, calories. This is why you should limit your intake as much as possible. 

Two things you could do are:

Opt for leaner cuts of red meat: The leanest beef cuts include round steaks and roasts (e.g., the eye of round, top round, and round tip), top loin, top sirloin, and chuck shoulder. As for pork, you could go for pork loin, tenderloin, center loin, and ham. Finally, lean cuts of mutton include loin chops and boneless leg cuts. 

Swap out red and processed meats with lean protein sources: For example, replace ham on a sandwich with BBQ skinless chicken breasts or tuna. Or use fish, tofu, or chicken in curries and casseroles instead of beef. 

#7: Pile your plate high with fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are high in dietary fibre, which aids healthy weight management by:

Enhancing satiety

Promoting gut health (research suggests that individuals with obesity have poorer gut microbiome diversity than those with a moderate weight)

For good health, the Heart Foundation recommends you eat at least 5 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit daily. How much is a serving of fruit and vegetables, though? Find a few examples below. 

Fruit: 

1 medium apple, banana, orange, or pear

2 small apricots, plums, kiwi fruit

30 grams of dried fruit (eat only occasionally)

Vegetables:

½ cup of cooked vegetables

1 cup of raw or salad vegetables

½ cup of sweetcorn

½ medium potato, sweet potato, and other starchy vegetables 

Feel like the habits shared in this article are simple when viewed individually but impossibly tricky to implement all at once? Fortunately, we have 2 things that can help make weight loss a reality for you in 2025:

Glow Shakes: These meal replacement shakes make portion control and hitting your daily protein intake requirements an absolute breeze. Every serving packs 29+ grams of hunger-curbing protein and comes up to a slim, slim, slim 205 calories. 

Super Beauty Greens: A phenomenally powerful organic greens blend designed to help you get your daily greens in and provide comprehensive gut health support (it’s loaded with prebiotics, probiotics, and digestive enzymes!)