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
10 Things About Weight Loss You Need To Shut Up About!
Jonathan shares the secrets behind his impressive transformation, underlining the importance of taking ownership of your health journey. He tackles common excuses head-on, debunking myths about expensive programs and slow metabolisms. Jonathan offers actionable steps and real-life experiences to help listeners make smarter choices every day. This is about prioritizing health by making small, sustainable changes in habits and mindset, rather than relying on willpower or quick fixes.
The emotional aspects of weight loss are not left out as Jonathan delves into overcoming emotional eating and self-doubt. He shares his personal journey from a life of multiple medications and frequent hospital visits to a healthier, medication-free existence. With raw honesty, he discusses the importance of being kind to yourself and staying consistent through setbacks. If you're ready to shut down the excuses and choose a path of real, lasting change, this episode is your roadmap to success. Tune in and get inspired by Jonathan's powerful testament to the effectiveness of making smart, conscious choices.
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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.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, this is Jonathan Ressler, your host, and we're back for another episode of Shut Up and Choose. In case you forgot, I'm the regular guy that lost over 130 pounds without any fat, diet, shots, pills, anything else. I just shut up and chose. I just made the choice to lose weight. It was that simple. I've been catching a lot of shit online, people telling me it's not easy, and you know what? Maybe you're right, it's not easy, but it sure as hell is simple. That's kind of why I I did that rant last week and it's something that I want to talk about today. I've been reading a lot online lately, been, you know, interacting, let's say, with a lot of people, and it's amazing how many fucking excuses everybody has. And I know I shouldn't be amazed, because I had every excuse under the sun and I made every excuse and told everybody why what they were doing wouldn't work and how it didn't work for me, and you know. So, since this is called shut up and choose, I figured you know I'm gonna give you 10 things to shut the fuck up about and choose to take some action and choose to, like, get it done. You know what I mean. It's, it's really is as simple as making a choice. So let's cut through all the bullshit.
Speaker 2:The problem line is you're probably here because you want to lose weight and you're sick of that endless cycle of yo-yo dieting where you know you go on the next fat diet to guarantee. You know you're going to lose this amount of weight in this time and, like I've always said, every diet works. Mean you really do lose weight. It's just not sustainable. You know you can't. Yeah, you'll lose weight for a certain period of time and then you're going to put it all back on and in my case, you know I put it all back on and then some. I would estimate. You know I've lost probably thousands of pounds in my lifestyle and gained thousands plus a few more. You know I mean it's just yo-yo dieting and traditional dieting just doesn't work.
Speaker 2:Which brings me, actually, to the first thing that I want you to shut up about. So number one is shut up about quick fixes and choose to take some action and make some changes. Right, there's no such thing as a quick fix that's sustainable. Yes, you might get some fast results and yes, it might be like minimal effort, because that's what we want. You might get some fast results and, yes, it might be like minimal effort because that's what we want, right? We're all fat lazy fucks. We don't want to actually have to do the work, but the truth is, at the end of the day, they're just, they're a lie. They're not sustainable.
Speaker 2:So shut up about finding that next magic bullet, and you know it's time to really make a choice, take some action and really think about what you're putting in your mouth. So, like, eat good food and good food. You know, you know what that is like. I always say. You know, eating pop tarts for breakfast is not good. It might feed your soul and it's okay to do it every once in a while, but eat the right food. Make the choice, shut your fucking mouth and be present every time you open it and think about what you're putting in your mouth, because real, lasting weight loss requires real changes. It's not going to happen overnight, but when you make the real changes, the real weight loss, the sustainable weight loss, the real changes to the way you eat and the way you live happen.
Speaker 2:Number two is shut up about your lack of time and choose to take some action, right? You know I hate to break the bad news to you, but we all have the same 24 hours in the day. You know all the excuses about not having the time or I'm too busy to lose weight is bullshit. You know those are tired excuses. We all have the same amount of time and the truth of the matter is it doesn't take a lot of time to shut up and choose. I mean, if you think about the amount of time that you spend eating mindlessly, not really thinking about it, if you think about how long it takes you to think about, do I want to eat this extra bite right now? Do I want to eat ice cream right now? Do I want to eat this thing? That doesn't get me toward my goal. I mean the actual choosing, the actual time it takes to make those decisions is seconds, sometimes nanoseconds. I mean it's not about wasting a lot of time or spending a lot of time on what you eat. I mean I'm not telling you, I'm not giving you a diet plan. I'm not saying eat this and eat that and eat it this time. No, I'm saying just think about what you're putting in your mouth at all times, every time you open your mouth, and make those small, smart choices. I mean, if it's important enough to you, you'll make the right choices. I mean, you have to prioritize your health. I'm not telling you to spend hours in the gym. I'm not telling you to spend hours meal prepping. I'm not saying any of that. I'm just saying spend a second or two, spend the time those seconds, to be present and make a choice. So shut up about your lack of time. It's bullshit.
Speaker 2:Number three shut up about willpower and choose to take some action by making better habits. I mean, willpower is fucking overrated. Okay, it is. It's finite and it's sure as shit unreliable. You got to focus on better habits. You got to focus on these small, smart choices that you make every time you open your mouth. Again, they take seconds. And it's not about willpower, it's about being present. It's about actually thinking hey, is this something that I really want to eat? Is this what I want to eat right now, at this very moment in time? I mean, it's not. You know, it's not about, like, I got to be willpower. I got to have willpower and I got to be disciplined. No, it's about taking a second every time you open your mouth and thinking about what you're putting in there. Okay, it's about building better habits. So you know, shut up about your willpower. I don't care, and I'm proof. You don't need it because I have no fucking willpower at all. But those small consistent choices and those small consistent actions lead to big and sustainable results. You can do this If you shut your fucking mouth anyway.
Speaker 2:Number four is shut up about expensive programs and choose to take action and educate yourself. Okay, all those you know crazy diets and all that you know celebrity trainers and all that bullshit that you read is just that it's bullshit. You don't need anything expensive. You don't need to spend an extra dime. You just need to make smart choices, and they all don't have to be good. If you make more good choices than bad, you will lose your weight. So shut up about needing the latest and greatest weight loss plan and all that crap and educate yourself and educating yourself. I don't mean go out and spend hours reading, no, educate yourself by thinking about what you already know. You know what to eat. You know, when you open your mouth, if that thing you're about to put in, whether it's some sugary shit or it's just that next bite when you're not really hungry. Educate yourself, awaken yourself, wake the fuck up, okay. And if you really need some help, well you know there's always Google. You can go there and find out pretty much anything you need, but you know what to eat. So knock it the fuck off and shut up about these expensive programs. You have everything you need, all right.
Speaker 2:Next thing this is a big one for number five Shut the fuck up about your metabolism being slow. My God, choose to take some action, and you know I didn't exercise, but choose to move a little more. Blaming your metabolism is a total bullshit cop-out. I agree, yes, some people have slower metabolisms than others. There's no question about it. But that's not an excuse. I mean, like, if you're worried about your metabolism, shut up about your metabolic rate and take some action. Right, get moving, if you know, if that's something you do.
Speaker 2:I personally, I couldn't walk, I couldn't move. It was not an option for me, but I surely didn't blame my metabolism. I mean, if you, if you're one of those people that loves the gym, I'm jealous. But I mean, there's simple things that you can do. So, yeah, park a little bit further away. I've talked about them a hundred times, but the bottom line is you don't have to be, you don't have to work out and big muscles. Just move a little bit more and it'll get your metabolic rate up. I mean, the bottom line is, as I've said 50 times and everybody knows, this is no secret burn more calories than you consume. I mean, if you can't burn more calories, consume less, right? Okay, so we talked about that.
Speaker 2:Number six shut up about emotional eating and choose to take action and really kind of look at the root cause. Right, I was definitely and am definitely an emotional eater. Okay, like when something wasn't going my way or I wasn't feeling good, I would definitely turn to food. Now, I wasn't conscious and for it may also not be conscious, but either way, whether it was conscious or unconscious for me or for you, if you're using food as an emotional crutch, that's not a good thing, but you can change it, right? Just wake up, think about it, think about why am I eating this? If you're present when you eat, if you think about it every time you open your mouth, you'll realize it. Hey, you know what? I'm not really hungry right now. And, by the way, again, I'll say this a hundred times If you choose to eat that thing, whatever it may be, because you're upset, okay, as long as you thought about it and made that conscious choice to eat it.
Speaker 2:It's okay. It really is. I mean, I'm not saying emotional eating is okay, but sometimes it is. It's just the way it works. Sometimes food feeds our soul, so you have to get your head kind of into that soul. So you have to get your head kind of into that. And, by the way, if you're an emotional eater, you can definitely develop some other coping mechanism, like for me, when I'm feeling like I want to eat, I work, you know, and it takes my mind off the fact that I want to eat something that's bad. I mean, if you're really bad, get some fucking therapy. I mean, you know, shut the fuck up about emotional eating and do something about it. It's in your hands. Your weight loss journey is just as much a mental health journey as it is a physical one. Your head has to be in the right place if you want to get this done and do it right.
Speaker 2:All right number seven. Shut up about your lack of results and choose to take some action by being consistent. I've been on a hundred diets and they all work and I lose weight on all of them, and then they stop, or let me rephrase it, that I stop and I start to bitch and moan like hey, if I don't follow this exactly, why doesn't it work? Well, because I'm on some diet plan that's unsustainable and, of course, it's not going to work. I mean, you have to be consistent in what you're doing, which is why I think my method is so powerful. I'm just thinking before I eat. I'm not eating, like I always say, four ounces of grilled chicken and cat. I mean I'm eating whatever the fuck I want to eat and I just think about it before I put it in my mouth. So it's. I don't know how to make that any easier or how to make that any less expensive or any of that. I mean, don't be impatient, right? Weight loss definitely takes time. So shut the fuck up if you're not seeing the results as fast as you want. But I promise you, if you do what I tell you, if you just think before you open your mouth, you'll find that you get some results pretty fast and as soon as you start getting those results, your motivation grows. If your desire is to be healthy and all of a sudden you see, wow, I'm getting healthier and I'm losing weight and I'm feeling better and I'm sleeping better and I'm doing all these things that are helping my health. It makes it easier to be consistent, so the results will come. There's no question about it. The results will come. Consistent, so the results will come. There's no question about it. The results will come. So shut up about not seeing results, but I promise you you will see results. So if you just do my method, which is thinking before you eat god, I wish it was more complicated than I really do.
Speaker 2:Here's a good one, and I was victim this. Shut up about comparing yourself to other people and choose to take some action, focusing on your own journey. I looked at friends who had lost a bunch of weight and I was like man, I don't know how they do that. What do you do? How do you do it? You know, man, or this one person did some bariatric surgery. You know, I thought about that, but then I decided against it. I mean, you can't compare yourself against others. For me, particularly, I had a shit ton of weight to lose. So if you only have 20 pounds to lose, don't compare yourself to me, you know, because you only have 20 pounds to lose. I had. I don't even know how much I had to lose, but I was 411 pounds, so you figure it out, you know.
Speaker 2:I mean I had a shit ton of weight to lose and I was a victim of comparing myself to others and I was like, well, why can't I be like that? Why can't I eat what I want? And then I figured out that I could eat what I want. I could eat anything I chose, as long as I thought about it before I opened my mouth. Right, I mean, it's so easy.
Speaker 2:So I got really focused on my own journey and I'm the first guy to tell you that everybody's body and metabolism and physical makeup is different, which is why I'll never offer a meal plan. I'll never tell anybody what to eat or when to eat. Everybody is different. My progress was my progress. I mean, granted, I lost a shit ton of weight, lost over 130 pounds a year, and I'm still losing, but I have to tell you when I lost like five pounds in the first week or I think I lost more. To be honest, I was celebrating that. I wasn't telling anybody, but I was celebrating that success. And every time I made a good decision, every time I made a small, smart choice not to eat something that I was going to eat or to eat something different, I celebrated that decision. I mean, you know, I don't know, I patted myself on the back. I'm like, yeah, you know what, I can do this. So shut up about comparing yourself to others. You're on your own journey and your journey is the only one really that matters.
Speaker 2:Okay, so, number number nine shut up about, like your negative self-talk and choose to take some action by loving yourself, right? I mean, I, I don't want to sound spiritual corny and I don't fucking think big is beautiful. Maybe you do if you're a chubby chaser or whatever, but we all kind of know that no one likes to look at a big fat tub of shit. And I say that because I was a big fat tub of shit and, like I've said before, I'm still a fat guy. But you know, don't give yourself that negative talk, right? I would say, oh my God, I'm so fat I can't do anything. How am I going to do this? I don't want to, I can't Not. I don't do another diet again. There's just no fucking way I can do this thing. I was honestly ready to die.
Speaker 2:I was a victim of that negative self-talk. I told myself I couldn't do it. But then I figured out I had to shut up about berating myself and take some action by doing what I knew I needed to do, what you know how to do, I don't care what you tell me. You know how to do this thing and I, I get it. I shut my mouth, I shut up and I chose. You know what I mean. It's pretty crazy. So I always acknowledge when I was doing.
Speaker 2:Well, granted, as you know, if you read my book, I really didn't tell anybody. I didn't tell my kids, I didn't tell my friends I was doing anything different. But until I was probably down probably 70 or 80 pounds. But I stopped the negative talk, I stopped telling myself I couldn't do it. I started telling myself, hey, you know what I can do this, what I can do this. So shut up. Or tell your inner voices that are keeping you kind of in a rut, or keep, or telling you that you can't do this. Tell you those inner voices to shut the fuck up, because you can do this. You really really can do this.
Speaker 2:It's not easy, you know. I've kind of I've. I've learned over the last week or two in looking and reading and interacting with people online that maybe my saying it's easy is not fair, although honestly I think it is easy, but it may, okay. But if you want to be one of those people who say hey, it's not easy, okay, it's not easy, but it is simple, I will tell you it is simple.
Speaker 2:You don't need to go out and figure out your metabolic rate. You don't need to have a fucking app on your phone. You don't need any of that crap. Okay, what you need, you already know you need to eat better things. And again, I'm going to say it a thousand times there are times when you're going to eat that stuff. That's not. You know. That wouldn't be approved by a diet coach or a doctor or anybody else. But sometimes you just need to feed your soul and I eat plenty of that crap. You know I eat candy sometimes and I eat donuts sometimes and I eat bagels sometimes and I eat dessert. And you know I eat. I eat what I'm going to eat, but I try to make that next decision literally the very next decision a better, smarter choice. And as long as I'm making more good choices than I am, bad choices or not as good choices, I fucking win, you know. And number 10 actually you know what I'm going to make that number 11? Because number 10 is shut the fuck up about your special condition, why you can't lose the weight. Shut up and choose to fucking take some action and do what you know how to do.
Speaker 2:Like I've told you, I was on eight different medications when I started this thing. I had atrial fibrillation, I had poor kidney function, I had high blood pressure. I don't remember all the shit that I had because I've tried to block it out of my head, because I don't have any of it anymore. So if you have some quote unquote special condition, my guess is that the reason you have that special condition is because of the special way you've been eating and treating your body, the special way you've been eating and treating your body. And I will tell you, last week I had I've had a heart monitor in my chest for the last I don't know five or six years that monitored my atrial fibrillation. So when my heart would go into atrial fibrillation someone would get. My doctor would get a notification. They would call me and tell me to come in immediately because I could have a stroke. Last Tuesday I had that heart monitor taken out of my chest. The doctor said you're cured. Well, right now, you haven't had any atrial fibrillation in over seven months. We can take that out, so I can tell you that you can cure your special fucking condition by treating your body better.
Speaker 2:And again, it's not about exercise. You know, I still haven't been in the gym, although I am walking a hell of a lot more. I told you guys this in 2023, my average daily step count was 931. Right now, my average daily step count is over 7,000. And I'm not really doing anything other than walking. I mean, I'm not running, I'm not going to the gym, I'm not doing any of that, but I am walking a lot more just by making small, smart choices, walking further to places that I go to on a daily basis, by parking further away or getting up every now and then and just literally walking around the office. So don't tell me about your special condition, quit fucking making excuses about your special condition and just shut up and choose right. Choose to make smart decisions, choose to think about everything you put in your mouth, and I guarantee you and my guarantee means nothing, because I'm not a doctor, I'm not a nutritionist, I have no credentials in weight loss or medicine, so, I mean, take this for what it's worth.
Speaker 2:All I can tell you is what happened for me. Okay, I was taking eight medications. I was in the hospital every fucking month, every month, for something. There was always something that brought me to the hospital or the emergency room or the doctor. And since I did this, since I started this journey and I'm not saying from day one, but after about eight months I haven't been back to the hospital in over a year. Since I started this thing. My doctors are amazed at the progress that I've made from a health standpoint.
Speaker 2:Like I said, I'm off all eight medications that I was taking, so your special condition is your fault 99% of the time. I'm sure there's some shit, sure someone's gonna say well, I have you okay, yeah, yes, okay, I. I agree there are some conditions that are not weight related, but I will tell you that when you're fat, those conditions are multiplied tremendously okay, because having all that extra weight on your body just doesn't help you. So shut up about your special condition and choose to take action by being present when you eat. And then the last one is my favorite one, which is shut up about your setbacks and choose to take action by forgiving yourself on the, the way I eat, the method I use and I keep calling it a method, because that's the only thing that I really can think of, to call it the method that I use you can't fail. There is no failure.
Speaker 2:You can make some not so smart choices, but the other day, when I told you, I went out and I ate a donut Great, I ate a fucking donut. You know what I mean? I ate a bag of candy the other day, a little bag of candy I didn't fail. That was what I chose to eat. I thought about it. I said, yeah, you know what. I do want to eat this right now. It's something that I really feel like eating, so I ate it. I didn't fail. I didn't put all the weight back on. I didn't even put any weight on. You know. I told you the day after I ate that, or the day that I ate that donut, I was the lightest I've been in 35 years. I mean, you can't fail. Give yourself a fucking break. Forgive yourself if you eat something, your good choice. You know a counter doesn't go back to zero if you make a one bad choice.
Speaker 2:My whole thing is about make more good choices than bad choices, and the only way, the only way you can do that is to be present. Think about it every time you open your mouth. Is this what I really want? Does this serve my desire to be healthier? Or another thing that you can think is is this what I really need right now? And you may need a donut or an ice cream or a piece of candy, and that's okay. Forgive yourself if you make a mistake. You didn't fail. You made a stupid little mistake, Big fucking deal. You can't fail if you do this by simply thinking. Thinking every time you open your mouth. So you know to kind of wrap it up.
Speaker 2:I guess you know this kind of weight loss journey is, you know, full of challenges, tempt, temptations and, of course, excuses. There's a shitload of excuses and again I'll throw myself in that category. I made every fucking excuse under the sun, but the truth is, you need to shut up about all the reasons why you can't do this and choose to take some action and prove to yourself and everybody else if that matters to you and if, I'm being honest, it definitely mattered to me. I wanted to prove to everybody that I could do this, but shut up about all the reasons you can't do it and take some action and show people. Show yourself and show people that you can do it. Okay, again, I'm going to go back to what I was saying before.
Speaker 2:It's not easy. It is simple, but it's not easy. It takes work and it's not quick. Okay, it took me a year to lose over 130 pounds. That's, you know, sounds like a lot of weight in a year, but it took me a year of being committed to this thing.
Speaker 2:But what I can tell you is it's absolutely possible, it's doable, it's something that you can do. I know that you have. You may be making excuses, but the reality is you're fat and it's your fault. It's the choices that you made. But the good news is you're also the solution, the power to change. That is in your hands, right? I mean, it really is. You're the only one that can change it. I can't change it. Your friend can't change it. No quick fix diet can change it. You're the only one that can change it. So embrace it, act on it and you'll really will transform your life. So do me a favor shut up, stop making excuses and start taking action, because I promise you, when you look forward six months from today, you go go. Holy shit, that wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was. Wow, do I feel great? So that's it. So those are the things I want you to shut the fuck up about.
Speaker 2:Now, for my shameless self-promotion, you can get my book on Amazon. You know I'm tired of this same with this shameless self-promotion shit. You know to do, get my, buy my book on Amazon, like and whatever you know, rate my podcast, share it with your friends, anybody that needs to lose weight and needs a little tough love. If I'm too harsh for you, tough shit. Don't listen to me again, but the reality is, someone needs to tell you, or someone needs to tell a certain group of people, that they need to lose some fucking weight, and nobody's going to do it for him, and I hope to be that guy. So here's my advice for you on this glorious day 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 JonathanWrestler Boca Raton. Until next time, shut up and choose.
