Shut Up And Choose
Welcome to the Shut Up and Choose podcast, where we cut through the noise of fad diets, quick fixes, shots, pills, and even the gym. Hosted by Jonathan Ressler, who shares his personal journey of losing 140+ pounds, this podcast dives into the hard truth: being fat is a choice, and just like that, you can choose to lose the weight. If you’re tired of gimmicks, quick-fix scams, and endless excuses, it’s time to make smart, sustainable choices and take control of your health. Tune in for no-nonsense advice, real talk, and the motivation you need to Shut Up and Choose!
Shut Up And Choose
From Diet Myths to Balanced Choices: A New Approach
Breaking the 280-pound barrier and hitting a new personal milestone has fueled our latest episode of "Shut Up and Choose." With over 900 downloads on our chat with Dr. Debbie Rosen, we're back to address your burning questions and concerns about weight loss drugs like Ozempic. Ever wondered if these medications are just another fleeting diet fad? We dive into listener emails from Ira in Naperville and Josie from Sydney, both of whom question the sustainability of these solutions and offer a riveting dialogue on why they might not be the magic bullet everyone hopes for.
Are we doomed to lifelong dependency on weight loss drugs? This episode takes a hard look at the high financial costs and the mindset these medications cultivate. We dissect popular diet plans such as paleo and juicing, revealing that, despite their promises, they often fail without a true lifestyle overhaul. The core principle remains clear: it's all about consuming fewer calories than you burn. But how do we get there? By forging sustainable habits that lead to long-term success, rather than chasing temporary results.
Mindful eating takes center stage as we discuss how small, intentional choices can transform your relationship with food. Forget restrictive diets and the psychological toll they carry; it's time to listen to our bodies and enjoy the foods we love without guilt. This episode also touches on the importance of incorporating physical activity into daily routines, from walking more to making smarter food choices post-indulgence. Our ultimate message? Achieving overall health and happiness through consistent, mindful decisions that feed both body and soul. Join us for an empowering conversation on sustainable weight loss and holistic well-being.
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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.
Jonathan:Welcome back to Shut Up and Choose. I'm Jonathan Ressler, your host, like the announcer told you, and today we're going to talk about something that I'm pretty excited about. We're going to talk about something that I'm pretty excited about. We're going to talk about why traditional diets don't work. But before we do, I just want to.
Jonathan:We got a bunch of emails from last week's episode. I do have two actually crazy announcements first. First announcement, which I'm really excited about, is that I finally broke the 280 barrier. I weighed 279, which is, you know, for whatever reason. It's just been a hurdle that I have not been able to get over, but I did. So I'm excited about that. But I'm even more excited that last week, my episode with Dr Debbie Rosen was the most listened to episode we've had so far. We had just over 900 downloads, which is pretty cool, so I'm pretty excited about that. So, as a result of that episode last week, I got a couple of emails that I definitely would like to share with you guys. One of them says Jonathan, why do you say a Zempik doesn't work?
Jonathan:My brother has been taking it for a few months and losing a lot of weight. Are you suggesting he stop? That comes from Ira in Naperville, illinois Hopefully I'm saying that right, naperville, naperville, anyway. And Ira, no, I'm not saying that weight loss drugs don't work. In fact, I'm saying just the opposite. They do work and they work very well. What they don't do is give you a long-term, sustainable solution. Basically, you're treating the symptom and not the cause of why you're fat. Right, you're just, you know, yes, you're, you know, taking this drug and it's causing you to eat less and control your cravings and all those things. But you're not really learning anything on the way. So I think that that's, you know, just another diet. I mean I don't know how that's any different than paleo or keto or Atkins, or you know Mediterranean, you name it. I mean I think it's basically the same thing. It's the quick fix. Learn how to do it, and then you know, learn how to do it and then you know, follow this restrictive program and you know, eventually you'll fall off. We'll talk more about that.
Jonathan:The second email I got and I got a bunch of them, but the second one I want to share with you says I recently found your podcast and I love it. I agree, the weight loss drugs are just another diet. I love when someone agrees with me like that. Keep telling the truth and congrats on the weight loss. Keep up the good work.
Jonathan:Josie, sydney, australia. Dude, guys and girls, I'm an international sensation. I'm really like I don't really care that the guy agreed with me. I'm really excited that someone's listening to me on the other side of the world. That's amazing to me. But I do agree with what he said.
Jonathan:You know, the weight loss drugs are just another diet, because I mean, just think about weight loss drugs and we'll get into. You know kind of why traditional diets don't work. But before we do, let me just tell you a little bit about why I believe they're just another diet. First of all, I don't know if you've been reading lately, but the weight loss drugs, the weight loss drug companies rather, are saying now, after seeing the results of six months and a year and people being on it, you might have to stay on this for the rest of your life if you want to sustain the weight loss. Well, isn't that convenient? You have to stay on it for the rest of your life.
Jonathan:Now, if you know anything, I mean I've done anecdotal research and it's about $1,000 a month for these weight loss drugs, whether you're on Ozempic Menjara. Some are less, some are more, but we'll call it $1,000 a month. That's $12,000 a year and while that is not a lot of money for your health, who knows what else it's doing to your body? Who knows what else it's doing to your body? But let's say that you're going to stay on this and of course everybody's thinking well, of course the price is going to come down. So I actually looked into that and I see that Ozempic's patent or trademark or however they protect these drugs, expires in 2031. That means they have another seven years of charging you a premium for these drugs. I promise you they're going to milk every dime they can from that drug. So the price of Ozempic is not coming down till the earliest 2031. I also took a look at Manjaro and their patent expires in 2036. So that's another 12 years.
Jonathan:So if you're taking Ozempic and you're going to stay on it for the rest of your life, over the next, you know, seven years until the patent expires, you're in for, you know roughly $85,000. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of money when you can absolutely 100%, 100% do it for free. You can do it yourself, you don't need anybody and, like I said, you're not learning anything. So I'm not really sure what the real benefit is there. But I love that the drug companies are now saying well, you might have to take it for the rest of your life if you want to have, you know, long-term sustainable results. I mean, how freaking convenient is that? Take it for the rest of your life, and that should only you know, depending on how old you are. That should only cost you, you know, half a million dollars. I mean it's ridiculous.
Jonathan:So today, like I said, the topic is you know why traditional diets don't work? I mean, the bottom line is you know traditional diets cause you to restrict your eating. Okay, I mean that's. I mean whether you know, know if you're on paleo and you're only eating meat. You know I love the paleo diet. I mean who wouldn't love to eat all the meat, fish and fowl you can eat, no limit on quantity. Just eat as much, as much of of that protein as you can possibly eat, need it all day and all night, and you're going to lose weight. I mean it's great. But you know what happened? I lost, I think, 80-some-odd pounds on paleo, but after a while I just read this term, by the way After a while I got something called meat fatigue, and for those of you with a dirty mind, that's not what I'm talking about.
Jonathan:I got tired of eating meat, you know, and it was great and I was losing weight. But every now and then you want a potato or a piece of bread or some pasta, but I wasn't allowed to have that. So I cheated, you know, or I felt like I was, you know. Okay, I'll give myself a little paleo mostly paleo, rather, I should say and before you know it, I put all that weight back on. I did the same thing with juicing. Where I ate, you know, I didn't eat a morsel of solid food for, you know, 90 days, nothing. And then I, you know, when it was over the 90 day fat, the 90 day juice cleanse or juice fast, whatever you want to call it I started eating healthier foods. And then I started eating a couple other things and, you know, before you know it, I put all that weight back on too.
Jonathan:And I'm telling you, I've been on no less than 50 diets where they all work. You lose weight on all of them. You just can't sustain it. It's just not, you know, a life, it's not a lifestyle, even though every time I do it I say, oh, this is a lifestyle I can live. No, because you're, all you're doing is making these foods bad foods instead of any food you want to eat, and you're you're learning, I like here, perfect example.
Jonathan:Um, you know, the diets are popular because they're easy, right, you know, we got hey, we got an app for that. You know, I mean, like, people are lazy as shit, they don't want to do the work and, by the way, I put myself in that category because I was lazy as shit for 59 years and I'm not suggesting that doing what I did, the method that I used, is hard work, because it's not, but it took a little bit of, you know, understanding what I desire and really kind of thinking, being present. I know I've said that a thousand times being present when I was eating. That was really important, but at the end of the day, right at the end of the day, you know, at the end of the day, you know you can do your paleo, where you don't have any carbs, or you can do keto, where you have some carbs, where you mix things, or South Beach, where you have to mix this with that, or whatever.
Jonathan:Whatever that is, at the end of the day, there's only one way to lose weight, only one way. There's no other way to lose weight and that is, you know, as Dr Debbie Rosen explained in last week's podcast, it's burning more calories than you take in. You know, putting yourself at a calorie deficit. I mean, that is the only way to lose weight. Now, of course, there are different ways to do it right. So you know you're eating a lot of protein. So you know you're whatever. At the end of the day you're eating less calories than you're burning. That's the only way to lose weight.
Jonathan:Oh and, by the way, for exercise, I'm going to do a whole episode about exercise, but doing exercise in case you didn't listen last week you can't do enough exercise to lose any kind of significant weight. You would have to spend your entire life, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, exercising to lose any significant amount of weight. Now, I'm not suggesting that it doesn't help, it absolutely does. But I'm also telling you, if you're at that place where you're so big that you can't exercise, you can do it without exercise. I did. I've been walking more lately and I'll talk about that later or at another time, but the bottom line is I did it with absolutely no exercise and you can do it too.
Jonathan:So you know why are these diets so popular and why are people drawn to them? The latest and greatest fat Again, it's because they're lazy. Right, it's because they can't eat. First of all, when you cut out the foods, like the carbs or this or that, you end up wanting to eat that food more. Right, because when you classify that food as quote-unquote bad, you tell me I can't have something. I want it 15 times more than I wanted it 15 minutes ago, right. So when you cut the food out, when you restrict yourself, when you eliminate foods from your diet, that's just not natural. Right, you just can't. You can't that Everybody wants to eat an ice cream cone here I'll tell you a little secret.
Jonathan:I just went out to run an errand and I wanted to get an iced tea at Dunkin' Donuts. And you know what I decided? I wanted to eat a donut. So I just ate. I just went to Dunkin' Donuts, I got an unsweet iced tea with some stevia and I had an old fashioned donut. You know now I thought to myself when I was eating it is this really what I want? And yes, it was. It was what I wanted. Again, to quote Dr Debbie, I was feeding my soul. I ate a donut, big fucking deal. I didn't fail on my diet. I didn't, you know, because I'm not on a diet. I didn't blow anything. I just ate a fucking donut, big deal, you know.
Jonathan:I mean, that's kind of the point that I'm trying to get across in all this. You know, the diets are popular because people are lazy and they don't want to think that. Okay, well, I'll follow the plan. Give me the plan and I'll follow the plan. That's easy. I don't have to think because you don't have to be present. You don't have to think about what's going in your mouth because someone already thought about it for you. You know your Nutrisystem food arrives, you eat the food, right, and that's it. I eat what they gave me. Or if someone gives you a meal plan, okay, great, you know, I'll follow the meal plan.
Jonathan:But at the end of the day, they're all short-term fixes and they're not sustainable. A few episodes back I talked about setting goals, and you know how I use the term real goals and the L in real R-E-A-L. The L in real is livable and it's got to be livable, right, if you can't live with what you're doing, it, just it, just it just can't work. You know it's going to be short term, it's going to be. Yeah, I'm doing it for now, but you know, at the end of the day you're not fixing the underlying issue, which is you don't eat properly, and you know I don't.
Jonathan:I'm not saying proper nutrition is something that's out there. You know, like you can go to a website and see what proper nutrition is. You know, you already know it. You're wired with it in your body. It's part of our DNA. We know what we have to eat and what fuels us and what's not great for us.
Jonathan:I mean, you know and I'm not saying that I eat all things that you know traditional weight loss programs would say are good foods. Again, you know I don't believe in good food and bad food. I programs would say are good foods. Again, you know, I don't believe in good food and bad food. I ate plenty of shit on my journey and I still eat plenty of shit because that's what I want to eat, but I think about it before I eat it and I think that that whole you know that whole restrict my diet to this or restrict my diet to. That causes you to fail. And you know the entire weight loss industry is built on failure. It's not built on success, right, it's built on short term success. You'll lose the weight. I mean every diet you lose weight, and something I want to.
Jonathan:You know, when Dr Debbie was here last week we were talking about you know that first couple weeks where you lose a ton of water, weight and probably even lose some muscle, and you know you think that person or that diet is a miracle diet. Holy shit, I lost a ton of weight in the first two weeks. And then it slows down because your body has to. You know you're basically losing water and your body's adjusting. Once your body adjusts it, kind of you know, everything slows down. So I mean, everything you do takes time and I also think that you know it's there's definitely a mental, a psychological impact of being on a diet, right, I mean you know, again, any one of those fad diets it's like, you know I got to restrict what I eat.
Jonathan:I got to, you know I got to. I'm stressed out because I'm going out Saturday night and I don't know what I'm going to have at the restaurant and I mean I really think you can get give yourself eating and eating disorder by being on a traditional diet, you know. And, by the way, in case you don't know this, I mean you can restrict your calories enough and and I I'm, you know, like I said, you have to eat less calories than you burn, but you can do calorie restriction to the point where it actually makes you gain weight. You know, your body goes into starvation mode, your whole water balance gets messed up, I mean. So it's not like you have to eat and you have to eat the stuff that you like and you have to eat stuff that's going to make you happy, that's going to feed your soul, that does not work and that's why my method of eating which is I, you know, honestly, I was just present and I made small, smart choices every time I ate and they were intentional choices and sometimes those choices would not be the food that a traditional doctor or, you know, weight loss coach or whoever would tell you to eat.
Jonathan:But I'm not, I think, that kind of one size fits all plan. You know, whatever that method, that's bullshit. You eat different things than I eat. I've told you this before. I mean, if you told me I had to eat like four ounces of boneless, skinless chicken and some kale. I I'm I'm not following that diet right, so there's no, I have no diet plan for you. Like, I don't say here's the meal plan, there is no meal plan. You know inherently what to eat. You know goddamn well that eating overnight oats in the morning is better for you than eating Pop-Tarts. And, by the way, dr Debbie did tell us last week, which I thought was very interesting you could lose weight eating Twinkies and Doritos. If that's what you want to eat, as long as you take in less calories, then you burn, you'll lose weight. I mean, it's a simple equation. So you can eat anything you want.
Jonathan:And, by the way, I had that donut before, that old-fashioned donut, and I feel great about it. I don't feel like I blew anything. I don't feel like you know, holy, what do I do now? I didn't blow anything. I had a donut and I liked it. You know, it's like I don't know. I don't know what else to tell you. You know, I don't think that people, you know, on these traditional diets and, by the way, uh, weight loss drugs are the exact same thing, because you're restricting and maybe you're not restricting it intentionally, because you know they do make you stay full longer and they do make you nauseous and you probably don't want to eat. Sounds like a great plan to me, by the way, you know got constant state of nausea, um, but you know that that's kind of the one size fits all, to take the shot, you know, and you'll be good.
Jonathan:But you're really making like some crazy changes in your diet and you know it's hard to maintain those restrictive, you know those very specific plans for any kind of real length of time, for a lifetime, I mean. I'm on this now at 13, 14 months. I eat whatever the fuck I want to eat and I keep losing weight. I'm today, I'm the lightest I've been in probably 35 years and I just told you I ate a donut. You know what I mean and I'm not saying go out of the donut diet. That's not what I'm saying. But I am saying you got to eat foods that feed your soul too. It can't just be a diet. It's not. You're not going to lose it. You didn't gain the weight overnight and you're not going to lose it overnight. But it really shouldn't be and it really isn't that difficult.
Jonathan:And also one of the things about like the weight loss drugs is people I've spoken to, people say who say they literally. I just read an article actually in the Wall Street Journal of a guy who and I just say that because I want to sound smart, but it came to me, someone sent it to me I'm not that smart, but I read this article about a guy, one of their reporters, who was on one of the drugs I don't remember if it was Ozempic or Moncharo, anyway, he was on the drugs and he had moderate success on the drug. He lost, I think he said like 18 pounds and then he went off the drugs and he put five back on and he went back on the net is, you know, he said there were days, literally days, that he didn't eat, he didn't want to, he had to force himself to eat. So you know, I think part of the you know of the drug thing, of the miracle drug thing, is, you know you're, you probably miss a lot of essential nutrients when you're eating. And I'm not, I'm not telling you eat. You know this much vitamin b and I'm not saying that, like I I've said a hundred times, you know what to eat. You know I don't have to tell you what to eat and, by the way, nobody has to tell you what to eat. And and another thing is that you know, when you're on one of these diets, one of these traditional diets, you definitely have a goal in mind. I got to lose 20 pounds, you know, and you're really focused on weight loss, and that's fine. I mean you should be focused on weight loss, but the reality is you need to be focused on overall health and wellness, not just the weight loss. The weight loss will help you get there, you know, and the weight loss will maybe be, you know, motivating to you. Your desire may be to be thinner, but really your desire should be I want to be healthier, you know. I want to be able to eat things like everybody else. The other night I don't remember what night it was, maybe it was Friday night or Saturday night I had an ice cream, you know, and it was dipped in chocolate. It was delicious and you know what, like I said this morning, I'm the lightest I've been in 35 or 40 years, so it's crazy.
Jonathan:The closest thing to what I can say my method or technique is is mindful eating. Right, I think about what I put in my mouth. That's what I do. I think, every time I open my mouth and every time I eat something, I say is this really what I want to eat? Am I full, or am I just eating this because it's on my plate? And does this, you know, I guess, serve my long-term goal, which is to be healthy? It's not to weigh a certain amount. My long-term goal is to be healthy and if that involves eating a dessert, I'm going to eat a dessert, you know, and I'll make my next choice a smarter choice, you know. I mean so it's got to be.
Jonathan:You know, everyone's like what's your goal? What's your goal? What's your goal? I don't have a weight goal. I have a kind of, I guess, a health goal. You know, I want to be healthy. I just want to kind of really eat what I want to eat. Still, think about it. Like I said, I think about every single thing I put in my mouth, whether it be candy or, you know, or kale. I don't really put a lot of kale in my mouth. Oh, I did eat some the other day. It wasn't terrible, but anyway, that's a story for another day. But, you know, I think before I put anything in my mouth, and that's why I'm able to. You know a state I mean, I've been on this for, I don't know, 13, 14 months and I don't feel like I'm missing a thing and I keep losing weight.
Jonathan:A traditional diet, like you know, you can't. I don't know anybody. You know and I know a lot of big fat people. I know also know some people that are just overweight. They're not, they're not triple Fs. You know Triple H, the, the uh um, professional wrestler, you know. I don't know who that is, but I know the name. I know a lot of triple Fs. That's fellow fat fucks, you know, and you you know. But I also know people that just need to lose 15 or 20 pounds and they go on and off and on and off and on and off.
Jonathan:The latest and greatest diet, you know, and it never, never works. Because again, you're treating the symptom, not the cause. Right, you have to treat the cause of what, of why you've put on all this weight. You didn't put it on overnight and you're not going to take it off overnight. And if your goal is to get to a certain number, you're probably not going to get there and if you do, you won't stay there for long. My goal is to be healthy. I know my weight fluctuates a couple pounds all the time and I'm totally cool with that. You know, I'm totally cool with that.
Jonathan:Just going back to the exercise thing for a second, I will tell you and I'm going to do an episode about this but I am, quote-unquote, exercising a little bit more. I have not gone to the gym. I still do beep the horn when I drive by. I have gotten a couple massages, so I don't know if that counts in your book, that I'm going to the gym, but I'm just walking more, you know, and I'm doing stupid little things like parking further away from the place. You know, wherever it is, I'm going walking and I'm enjoying it. I don't feel like I'm exercising but I'm, you know, doing. You know a lot, a lot more walking, and I have to tell you I, physically, I feel a hell of a lot better. Physically, I feel a hell of a lot better.
Jonathan:So, as we approach the end of this podcast, I guess the net takeaway here is traditional diets suck. They help you lose weight and then you fail. So who wants to do that? I mean, like I told you, I was at a point where I'm like I can't do another diet again. You know it sucks to lose the weight and everyone's like, oh, you look great. And then they see six months later and you're a triple f again. You know it's like traditional diets don't give you what you're looking for.
Jonathan:You have to learn how to eat properly and that doesn't mean eat, like, you know, rabbit food. You could eat anything you want, as long as you think about it before you put it in your mouth. And you, you know that food item, that stuff that you're eating, either feeds your soul, which is fine, or it helps you get closer to your goal, which should be to lead a healthier life, or whatever your long-term goal is. It's really pretty simple. I wish it were more complicated than that, but it isn't. It's small, smart choices, many, many, many times a day. That's it. If you make a bad one, you know, if you decide that you want to eat a donut and you feel bad about it, don't. Don't feel bad about it, just make the next choice smarter.
Jonathan:You can do this. This is not hard. You don't need to be a scientist. You don't need a written app plan. You sure as shit don't need an app on your phone.
Jonathan:You know what to eat. It's built in our DNA. We know what we're supposed to eat. You know, when you're shoving that candy and ice cream down your throat, that's not what we're meant to eat. We can indulge every now and then, but that's not you know. I mean, you know so I'm not going to tell you what to eat. If you're looking for me to tell you what to eat, you're kind of, you know, you're barking up the wrong tree, because I'm never going to tell you what to eat. You know what to eat and you know when to eat it, and it's okay. I mean, the most important thing here is you cannot fail with my method. It's not possible. There is no failure.
Jonathan:There might be some choices that aren't as good as others, but you have the freedom to make a not so smart choice and then make a smart choice. Right, make five smart choices, make 70% smart choices. You're going to lose weight, and I've said this a hundred times. I'll say it one more time. Actually, I'll probably say it a thousand more times, but it's amazing how, when the smart choices start to stack up and you see the results, you will find the things that you want to eat are radically different than the things you used to want to eat. When you see, hey, this is easy, I can do this thing, I'm having success, this is great, you want you know. Your motivation becomes that much greater, your desire becomes that much greater. It's like compound interest in a bank account, right? The more good choices you make, the more smart choices you make, the more results you see. So my here's let me just finish with this.
Jonathan:Weight loss drugs work. Traditional diets work. They are not sustainable. They teach you nothing. You do not learn what to eat and how to eat. They just are a temporary band-aid. If you want to lose weight, keep it off and be happy, have a livable life. I promise you try my method. I guarantee you it works. All you need to do is shut up and choose. So now for the shameless self-promotion section. Please, if you like this, buy my book on Amazon. I have a paperback and a Kindle book. Definitely, tell your friends about my podcast. I'm always looking for more listeners. I'm dying to hit that 1,000 listener, 1,000 download mark. Last week we were close and you know, definitely 100%. You can do this if you shut up and choose. You've been listening to.
Announcer: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 JonathanWrestlerBoccaRaton. Until next time, shut up and choose.
