They say the truth will set you free, but first, it might just ruffle some feathers. Join me, Jonathan Ressler, as I strip down the uncomfortable realities of obesity and the hidden costs that come with it—what I call the 'fat tax.' This isn't your typical weight loss pep talk; it's an unflinching examination of the toll excess pounds can take, from the financial hit to the deep emotional scars that often remain out of sight. You'll hear the raw details of my own battle as I shed over 130 pounds, facing not just my demons in the mirror but the societal judgments and flawed metrics like the BMI scale that can distort our view of health.
Prepare to shift your perspective as we navigate the murky waters of personal responsibility and the power of choice in overcoming the 'fat tax.' The stakes are high—atrial fibrillation, pre-diabetes, and anxiety are just some of the heavy burdens we'll unpack. But it's not all grim; there’s a message of empowerment woven through each chapter of this journey. I've lived it, I've learned, and I'm here to share the blueprint for not only reclaiming your health but rediscovering the joy in your life. This episode is a rallying cry for anyone ready to break free from the weight of their weight and make choices that echo in improved health and happiness.
They say the truth will set you free, but first, it might just ruffle some feathers. Join me, Jonathan Ressler, as I strip down the uncomfortable realities of obesity and the hidden costs that come with it—what I call the 'fat tax.' This isn't your typical weight loss pep talk; it's an unflinching examination of the toll excess pounds can take, from the financial hit to the deep emotional scars that often remain out of sight. You'll hear the raw details of my own battle as I shed over 130 pounds, facing not just my demons in the mirror but the societal judgments and flawed metrics like the BMI scale that can distort our view of health.
Prepare to shift your perspective as we navigate the murky waters of personal responsibility and the power of choice in overcoming the 'fat tax.' The stakes are high—atrial fibrillation, pre-diabetes, and anxiety are just some of the heavy burdens we'll unpack. But it's not all grim; there’s a message of empowerment woven through each chapter of this journey. I've lived it, I've learned, and I'm here to share the blueprint for not only reclaiming your health but rediscovering the joy in your life. This episode is a rallying cry for anyone ready to break free from the weight of their weight and make choices that echo in improved health and happiness.
Speaker 1:
If you're a whiny snowflake that can't handle the truth, is offended by the word fuck and about 37 uses of it in different forms gets ass hurt. When you hear someone speak the absolute, real and raw truth, you should leave Like right now. This is Shut Up and Choose, the podcast where we cut through the shit and get real about weight loss, life and everything in between. We get into the nitty-gritty of making small, smart choices that add up to big results. From what's on your plate to how you approach life's challenges. We'll explore how the simple act of choosing differently can transform your health, your mindset and your entire freaking life. So if you're ready to cut through the bullshit and start making some real changes, then buckle up and shut up, because we're about to choose our way to a healthier, happier life. This is Shut Up and Choose. Let's do this Now. Your host, jonathan Ressler.
Speaker 2:
Welcome back to Shut Up and Choose. I'm Jonathan Ressler, your host, and on this podcast I talk about my 130 plus pound weight loss journey, without any diets, shots, supplement pills, surgeries, anything else and how it's transformed my life through the power of small, smart choices and I don't just mean my weight, it's transformed my life. I'm completely different than I was a little bit over a year ago. So today, what I want to talk about is this thing that I call the fat tax, and I don't mean some tax that the government is putting on you for being fat, although there was at some point. There was some kind of legislation or some kind of talk about taxing certain foods that were very sugary or high in fat or just generally unhealthy. I don't know if that has ever actually really happened, nor do I care. That's not what I'm talking about when I'm talking about the fat tax. I'm talking about the fat tax that you're paying, both financially and emotionally and psychologically so not both, that would be all three, I guess but you're paying a tax. So if we talk about, like the fat tax in financial terms, no, it's not really a tax, but it's a tax that you're making yourself pay. And so like what am I talking about when I say paying the fat tax? Well, first, the most basic thing is you eat more. So naturally, if you eat more, you're going to. Basic thing is you eat more, so naturally, if you eat more, you're going to end up paying more for food. So of course, you eat more. And if you like junk food, I mean junk food is ridiculously expensive. I mean some fast food used to be cheap, but now even that has gone up. The prices are through the roof. So you're paying more for eating bad food. So that's definitely a tax you're putting on yourself. If you're overweight, you're probably unhealthy in some way, so you're paying some taxes because you're taking some pills or other things from the pharmacy. I can tell you that I was taking eight different drugs. One of my drugs was about $1,200 a month because the insurance companies didn't cover it. It was for my atrial fibrillation. I was probably paying maybe I'm going to guess around $2,000 a month in drugs to keep myself alive, basically because I was so my body just couldn't function normally. Today, I'm happy to report I don't take a single drug, not one drug. So I've removed that tax from my life.
Speaker 2:
We all pay. Anybody that's ever been on a diet has probably paid. You know, to read a book, to buy a weight loss program, to get meal replacement. You know extra money in food prep to buy containers. I mean there's a financial burden when it comes to quote unquote dieting.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mean that stuff definitely costs money. And if you're ever hired a trainer because you wanted to get yourself in shape, I mean we all know that costs a lot of money and it fucking sucks in my opinion. But that's beside the point, that's not what we're talking about. And really you pay a fat tax for bigger clothing. I'm sure if you've ever looked online, if you're more than an XL, you're going to pay a couple extra dollars for each X that you put in front of that L. So if you're a double XL, you're going to pay a little bit more than an XL, and if you're a quadruple or a six XL, you're paying a hell of a lot more money for that same piece of clothing that someone that's anywhere from probably small to XL would pay. So those are the financial taxes, the financial fat taxes, but that's not really what.
Speaker 2:
I'm talking about. I mean, that's not like those are okay, that's part of life, you know, it is what it is. Do what you got to do. Those are not the taxes that really, really, really hurt you. The taxes that hurt you are the emotional and the psychological fat taxes.
Speaker 2:
Before I kind of go into that a little bit deeper, I just want to say that I just read a study that said 71% of Americans are either overweight or obese. That's like it's by the CDC, and you know I don't really give that a whole lot of credibility. Just I'll tell you why in a minute. But I mean, and I don't want you to think that most of those people are just overweight 42% of the people are clinically obese. 42% of Americans are clinically obese. I mean that's a, that's a pretty big number. Um, I mean, clinically obese means you have a BMI, a body mass index, of 30 or higher, okay, and then for just a, you know to be overweight, it's under 20. If you're over 25, a BMI of over 25 is considered overweight. So I kind of feel, you know, let me take a look at this thing and let me calculate my BMI and see where I fall on that scale. I'm obese by that scale. Okay, I'm a six foot three and I weigh 280 pounds. My BMI is 35.
Speaker 2:
I can tell you that I don't feel obese. I don't even know what my BMI when I was four was. When I was four, 11, but it was a lot higher than that. So then I said, well, okay, well, what would I have to be? What would I have to weigh to get into the normal range? And I did the calculation. You Google it, google any BMI calculator and you can do this very easily. So in order for me to be considered normal weight I hope you're sitting down for this In order for me, at 6'3", to be considered normal weight, I would have to weigh between 148 and 199 pounds.
Speaker 2:
That that's just laughable. I mean I could never see myself weighing 199 pounds under 200 pounds. I mean that's just not possible. If I weighed 150 pounds, I don't know if I could sustain life. I mean that's, that's insane. That number is just absolutely insane. So I don't know if I could sustain life. I mean that's insane. That number is just absolutely insane.
Speaker 2:
So I don't give the whole BMI thing a whole lot of credibility. I mean, I think it's actually complete bullshit. But the reality is. I know how I feel and while I am clinically obese, still my body and my mind feel great best I've felt in 30 years. I mean I lost over 130 pounds. I mean that's insane. Yeah, of course you're gonna feel better.
Speaker 2:
So don't get hung up on the bmi thing. Um, but I just wanted to kind of have an idea of of how obese this country is and how overweight this country is, because you don't have to be 100 pounds overweight to do what I did or to use this kind of method of approaching your weight loss journey, your health journey, your health and wellness journey. You just have to have a few pounds that you feel like losing. You could, you could lose 10 pounds. You lose 100 pounds, you lose 200 pounds, whatever it is that makes you feel better. Our end goal here is to be healthy, it's not to fit into some BMI calculator.
Speaker 2:
So, with that being said, I want to talk about this thing before I get into the emotional tax, this thing called fat shaming. You know, I think there was a while back I don't remember when it was where they were trying to get people who were fat, who were overweight, who were clinically obese or clinically overweight, to be classified as disabled. Okay, now, I've been a fat guy my whole life. Okay, I've been a fat guy my whole life. I've been a fat guy my entire life, I mean from the time I'm probably three or four years old and, like I said, I still consider myself a fat guy, and so does the CDC. So I'm a fat guy even though I'm 130 pounds lighter, but it's not a disability. I mean, maybe I'm causing that disability by making poor choices, but it's not a disability and it's not a disease.
Speaker 2:
Ok, so if you're one of those people that think you know, oh, we, you know, we, we need to have a law because you know, because fat people get made fun of tough shit, make a choice. Shut your mouth and do what you need to do and you can lose the weight. And again, I'm not telling you to lose enough weight to get into this clinically normal weight thing. That's bullshit. But if you have, you know, more than 20 pounds to lose, shut up and choose. I mean, I hate to use the title of my own book, but really stop whining and make a choice and do what you need to do, because you can do this. It's simple. And I got to tell you the fat diets and the miracle drugs. They're not going to help you, they're not going to prevent you from paying the fat tax that you pay every day, every single day. It's your fault that you're paying this tax and you're paying this tax essentially to yourself. So what do I mean by that? Well, first of all, when it comes to the physical fat tax, I mean you're abusing your body.
Speaker 2:
I abused my body for years and years and years until I started, you know, following my method of making small, smart choices. Let me give you a little idea. Okay, I had atrial fibrillation, I had gout, I had high blood pressure, I had an elevated heart rate, I had high cholesterol, I had poor kidney function, I was pre-diabetic, I had lymphedema, and that's just what I remember. I was pre-diabetic, I had lymphedema, and that's just what I remember. Okay, I did that to me. Nobody else did that to me. I did that to me. So I was paying a physical tax to myself and, you know, to anybody else around me, but I was paying that physical tax. So that's the physical fat tax, or all those things that you're doing to your body that you don't need to, and you can stop right now, like, like, not after you're done with the podcast, right now, you can stop right now. Okay, so that's the physical fat tax, but the the fat tax that is the most painful and you know that you pay the most for, is the emotional fat tax. The emotional fat tax is brutal. Okay, the.
Speaker 2:
You know, people who are overweight are 70% more likely to have anxiety and depression. That's crazy. Just because of your choices, you're choosing and of course, it's not a direct correlation. You're not saying I want to have anxiety, so I'm going to be overweight, but you're saying I'm overweight, I'm choosing to eat these foods, even though I know I would be healthier and I'd be happier and I'd be all these things If I made smart choices. I'm still going to eat shit, you know. And and again, shit is a relative term. I don't think there's any good food and I don't think there's any bad food. I think you make choices based on where you want to go, on what your goal is, and we talked about that. You can hear my thoughts on that in another podcast.
Speaker 2:
But let me tell you some of the anxiety that I created for myself and you guys may not have experienced any of these or all of these, or who knows, but I had anxiety if I had to get on an airplane. I talked about this in a couple of podcasts. I definitely talked about it in my book. I mean, I had to wear a seatbelt extender. I was so fat that the seatbelt didn't go around me. I was always in a panic about that, like would they have one? You know how embarrassing it is to have to ask for it. But another fat tax that I paid is you know, if you tell me you've never done this, I'm calling bullshit on you. Okay, when you see that big guy or that big girl walking down the aisle, the first thought in your mind is oh man, I hope they're not sitting next to me because it's going to be uncomfortable, right? So you've done it. And as the big guy or the big girl walking down the aisle, you know every goddamn person in that plane is thinking the same thing oh, I hope that fat bastard doesn't sit next to me. And then, when it happens, oh, that's even worse, but we don't have to get into that.
Speaker 2:
You have anxiety over simple things like going to the doctor, right? I was always worried when I went to the doctor that the gown wasn't going to fit me when I was in the hospital at my biggest, I used to have to wear two gowns, one on the front and one on the back because I was so fat. You don't think that caused anxiety for me? Yeah, I was able to play it off and laugh about it Like, as you guys know, I called my company Big Fat because I embrace my fatness. But deep down, when I put my head on the pillow at night, that hurt. It hurt to think of those things that I had to do.
Speaker 2:
I had anxiety when I was trying to relax. How crazy is that? When I'm trying to relax I have anxiety. I mean, if you, when I would go to a spa or, you know, a massage place, whatever, I always had to panic and worry will the robe fit me? There's nothing more embarrassing than having the robe almost fit. I mean I would rather have it like not fit at all and be silly than have it almost fit. I mean you're wearing the oversized robe and that thing still doesn't close. That gives you anxiety. And here I was trying to relax at a spa.
Speaker 2:
I told you about my anxiety of going out to eat in a restaurant. You know I would always say, oh no, I prefer to sit at a table because I didn't know if my belly was going to fit between the table and the booth. You know the seat in the booth. I also and again you know this, whatever side of the coin you're on, whether you're the one being judged or you're the one judging, when someone is fat, when someone's overweight, you look at what they're eating and you think to yourself, oh well, yeah, that's why they're fat. I mean, you know, eat a little less, try to, you know, have a little self-control. So, and we know that, as fat people, we know what you're thinking. It's not a secret.
Speaker 2:
I had anxiety when I took my kids to an amusement park. When that safety bar comes down on a roller coaster or even, like you know some, like not violent ride, you know the safety bar comes down and hits you in the belly. There was one time that I took my kids to Carowinds, which is in North Carolina or South Carolina, I think. Actually it's in both, but anyway, I went to Carowinds and we want that. Kids wanted to ride this roller coaster so badly and when I got in, the safety bar wouldn't close over my belly. So I had to tell my kids listen, either you have to ride this by yourself or not ride it at all because dad can't fit. I mean, wow, talk about anxiety. I mean, look, I remember my kids are grown adults now, but I still remember that clearest day. I mean you have anxiety when you go to the pool, when I would go to the pool and I had this big fat belly sticking out.
Speaker 2:
You know people are looking at you, you know people are saying stuff. I mean, and again, if you're not the fat guy or the fat girl, you're the one saying it and doing it and thinking it, so you know that it's the truth. And then probably the most well, either the most or the second most painful one is the anxiety that you have dating or being in a relationship with your significant other. I mean you love that person, you want to be, you know the best that you can be and you know you feel bad when you're, when you look like shit. Yeah, I mean you want to look great for that person, you want to have fun and you know you want to do all this kind of you know great things with and for your significant other, but your weight kind of holds you back and that's a really shitty feeling and, again, like I said, I'm not sure which or any of these you have felt by being overweight, by being fat, because you're fat if you're listening this probably, um, but if you had in those feelings, you know exactly what I'm talking about you're charging yourself a tax and then then, oh, last weekend I went to see a TED Talk here in Boca Raton and one of the people on the TED Talk was a sexual health doctor and she said something that really, you know, kind of hit me and like, if you're a guy and you're listening to this, let me give you a little stat.
Speaker 2:
Okay, listening to this, let me give you a little stat. Okay, if you're overweight, you are 50% more likely to have erectile dysfunction. 50% more likely. If you're overweight, not obese, I mean, that's probably even higher number. If you're overweight, you're more likely, you're 50% more likely to have erectile dysfunction. And she said a funny line and I'm going to steal her line and I'm going to say it here so if you don't want to lose the weight for yourself, do it for him. I mean, you know that's not what my podcast is about, but my God, that would be. You know, I think that would be the ultimate fat tax. So there have been a ton of studies on, you know, on this. You know kind of like fat shaming and this whole weight loss thing and some of the things, some of the generalizations that people make, and this is a big study so you can say that you don't think this or you haven't done this, but you're full of shit and I'm calling you to the carpet on it. You're completely full of shit.
Speaker 2:
Some of the things that people think are men and women who are obese are lazy and irresponsible, you know, because they lack willpower and self-discipline two things, by the way willpower and self-discipline. That I don't think you need. I've proven you don't need because I don't have either one and I lost over 130 pounds. But I think that you're lazy and irresponsible. Um, they believe that, you know, a larger body size is unattractive and undesirable. I happen to agree with that one. I definitely agree with that. You know we can say we want big is beautiful bullshit. No, it's not. Big is unhealthy. I mean, you know, you may be a chubby chaser Great. I mean, if you find that attractive, that's fantastic. But I think the general population finds people who are less obese more attractive. I mean, I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it just is.
Speaker 2:
One of the things that people think is people that are overweight must not be very smart. Well, I mean that's crazy. People who are overweight must have poor hygiene. And they definitely think and you've seen this at work is people that are overweight, people that are fat or people that are obese are less capable of succeeding. I mean that's crazy that people just think that about you because of your weight.
Speaker 2:
But having said all that, I'm not one of those guys goes oh man, we need to make this a disability. You know I'm fat and it's not my fault and and you know I should be disabled and you shouldn't be no people. You know, I said this, I said this all the time I'm live and let live, guy, if that's what you think, that's what you think, if that bothers you, if it bothers you that people think and say those things, then it's time to do something about it. You have the power to do it. You can literally just shut up and choose. And what do I mean by shut up and choose? It's basically stop your whining, stop saying I can't do it because of this and I can't. Yeah, I've tried something. No bullshit.
Speaker 2:
Stop whining, shut up and make the choices that you need to make to lose the weight. You don't need to diet, you don't need a crutch, you don't need a shot. You don't need a shot, you don't need a surgery, you don't need any of that shit. You just need to be present, right? You need to be thinking about what you're putting in your mouth, because you have that choice, right, you choose. Unless someone is force-feeding you and sometimes I feel like my girlfriend is force-feeding me but other than those occasions, I have the choice to eat whatever I want. I choose what goes in my mouth. And if I stop and think about what goes into my mouth, and I think, is this in line with my goal which, as you know, initially my goal was to be alive, because I weighed 411 pounds and that's it's hard to sustain life at a weight like that.
Speaker 2:
But now my goal is to be healthier. Every day. I want to be healthier, right, I'm. I'm healthier than I've been in 25 or 30 years. Right now, like I said, I'm not on any medications, I don't have atrial fibrillation, everything is going really well from a health standpoint, but I still want to be healthier. I want to get fitter. I mean, like I always told you in other podcasts, I'm not looking to be like, you know, the muscle guy. You know the muscle guy. You know that. I just want to be a fit person where I can do the things that everybody else does without being tired or without saying no or you know, I just I just want to be generally healthy.
Speaker 2:
And when you're paying the fat tax financially, physically and emotionally you're not happy. And when you're not happy, it's hard to not happy. And when you're not happy, it's hard to be healthy, and when you're not healthy, it's hard to be happy. So you have the control, you have the power. You can do this. You can stop paying the fat tax in all three categories If you take control of your choices, if you show up.
Speaker 2:
I think it was Woody Allen who said showing up is like 95% of life or something Love him or hate him, who cares? I like that statement right. Showing up is 95% If you're present, if you're aware of what you're putting in your mouth every single time and make the right choice and, by the way, it could be the choice to eat candy. That's okay, as long as you think about it and say, okay, I'm going to eat candy now, but later I'm going to make better choices. Because you can't mess this up right. You can eat whatever you want, as much as you want, as frequently as you want, but if you start making small, smart choices and you see the results piling up, I promise you what you want to eat will become radically different in a very short period of time. So I mean, you have the ability to take control of this thing by showing up, by being present, by not putting anything in your mouth that you don't think about first, and whichever way your choice goes, that's fine.
Speaker 2:
Like I said, there's no good food and there's no bad food. There's no limitations, there's no diet. Like I said, there's no good food and there's no bad food. There's no limitations, there's no diet. Make the choice that makes you happy and brings you toward your goal. It's that simple. It really isn't more complicated than that. When you're present, when you're eating, you will make the best choices for you. So I guess the summary is you're paying the emotional fat tax, you're paying the financial fat tax and you're paying the physical fat tax because of the choices you make. You can choose not to pay those taxes by choosing what you put in your mouth. I mean, really, it's that simple. You can stop paying those fat taxes just by making smart choices. So that's the end of my rant on the three different kinds of fat taxes. Now it's time for the shameless self-promotion section where I say hey, you can buy my book on Amazoncom. Of course, tell your friends to buy it too.
Speaker 1:
Please review it if you do, buy it and like it. If you don't like it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you can still review it. I don't care. I also have an e-book out there. I'm still working on the audio book. Tell your friends to listen to the podcast, and that's kind of it for today. Just shut up and choose.
Speaker 1:
You've been listening to Shut Up and Choose. Jonathan's passion is to share his journey Of shedding 130 pounds in less than a year without any of the usual gimmicks no diets, no pills. And we'll let you in on a little secret no fucking gym. And guess what? You can do it too. We hope you enjoyed the show. We had a fucking blast. If you did, make sure to like, rate and review. We'll be back soon, but in the meantime, find Jonathan on Instagram at JonathanWrestlerBocaRaton. Until next time, shut up and choose.