Trying to lose weight? Fitness coach says this common mindset could be holding you back

Losing weight is not just about counting calories and hitting the gym hard; it’s more about the mindset that brings results.

Social media is flooded with videos promising weight loss in one week, one month, six months, and more. But if weight loss were really that easy and quick, why are so many people still struggling to achieve it? Losing weight can be daunting, but it's not impossible if you follow effective strategies and avoid social media gimmicks. In an Instagram post dated April 13, 2026, Raj Ganpath, a fitness trainer, revealed how your mindset shapes your weight loss journey.

Tips to lose weight more sustainably (Unsplash)

Raj said, “If you think about weight loss the way social media presents it — 15 kg in 6 months, 8 kg in 2 months, and so on — that itself is one of the biggest mindset issues.”

Here are the things Raj highlighted about weight loss:

1. The body’s capability to achieve

According to Raj, setting unrealistic goals for weight loss is not the problem, but the problem is not knowing the capability of your body to achieve the desired result in the desired time duration. He added that weight loss is about creating a calorie deficit. In order to lose so much weight, you have to create a big calorie deficit, and for that, you have to expend a lot of calories, and you have to restrict a lot of calories. Most of us are not capable of doing it, and that’s why these unrealistic plans fail in a few days. Only a few people are able to manage it by pushing too hard, depriving themselves, and they somehow lose the weight. But in the next few months, they gain it all back, and then they have to start it all over again.

Weight loss is about creating calorie deficit. (Unsplash)

2. Lifestyle fit

Losing weight is not just the only purpose of your life; there are a lot more. Thus, it’s important to fit this journey into your lifestyle and not make it your lifestyle. Raj highlighted that losing this much weight in such a short span of time requires additional efforts, and it will impact your lifestyle. In order to create such a big calorie deficit, you have to exercise almost every day, walk for one to two hours every day, sleep for about seven to eight hours every day, have protein in every meal, restrict starch, and more. For most people adding all these in their everyday lifestyle is a big challenge, and if they try to achieve this, they have to deprive themselves of a lot of things. This doesn't go in the long run, and things come crashing down. “Thus, it is important to ensure that our lifestyle is able to take these changes before setting these goals,” suggested Raj.

Losing this much weight in such a short span of time requires additional efforts, (Unsplash)

3. Body works differently

Raj mentioned that our body doesn’t work on a timeline. No matter what timelines or deadlines we set for our body, it doesn’t reciprocate the same way. “Your body is not going to lose one kilo every week. There will be ups and downs. There will be days when you do well, and there will be days you don’t. There will be weeks when you lose weight, and there will be weeks when you don’t,” said Raj. He recommends setting effort-based goals. For instance, rather than setting a goal to lose 10 kg in a month, you can consider walking more every day. Building effort-based goals will help you lose weight more sustainably and keep it off in the long run.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. It is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.