Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
If you're a whiny
snowflake that can't handle the
truth, is offended by the wordfuck and about 37 uses of it in
different forms gets ass hurt.
When you hear someone speak theabsolute, real and raw truth,
you should leave Like right now.
This is Shut Up and Choose, thepodcast where we cut through
(00:25):
the shit and get real aboutweight loss, life and everything
in between.
We get into the nitty gritty ofmaking small, smart choices
that add up to big results.
From what's on your plate tohow you approach life's
challenges.
We'll explore how the simpleact of choosing differently can
transform your health, yourmindset and your entire freaking
(00:48):
life.
So if you're ready to cutthrough the bullshit and start
making some real changes, thenbuckle up and shut up, because
we're about to choose our way toa healthier, happier life.
This is Shut Up and Choose.
Let's do this Now.
(01:09):
Your host, jonathan Ressler.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Welcome back to Shut
Up and Choose the podcast where
we cut the noise and thenonsense of the diet industry
and all those online gurus thatthrow it at you.
I'm your host, jonathan Ressler, and I'm going to give you a
little dose of sarcasm today, alittle dose of reality, a little
bit more sarcasm and all kindsof good stuff like that Remember
, don't eat meat, or do eat meator eggs are going to kill you,
(01:37):
or eggs are great for you.
There's so much noise out there.
It's ridiculous and, as we know, it's January and everybody's
back making their New Year'sresolutions, talking about all
the things they're going to do.
How New Year knew me.
All that same old nonsense.
But before I get into that, letme tell you.
First I have to apologize.
This is my first podcast of2025.
Unfortunately, I didn't recordlast week because my 89-year-old
(02:00):
mother fell down and broke herhip and her shoulder, so I was
kind of distracted dealing withall that.
But hey, I'm here, I'm back.
It's 2025.
And it's January and it's thesame old story every year in
January right, this month rollsaround.
Gyms fill up with people eagerto tackle their New Year's
resolutions.
The first few weeks are filledwith enthusiasm, all that great
(02:23):
new gear that you buy and a tonof optimistic plans that are
going to finally get you inshape and finally get you to
lose that weight.
And, by the way, before Idecided I fucking hate the gym,
I made those same resolutionsand went into the gym all
excited.
This year is going to bedifferent and it never is.
You know that.
Then comes Quitter's Day.
Quitter's Day is the secondFriday in January.
I did it this year.
It's going to be different, andit never is.
You know that.
(02:44):
Then comes Quitter's Day.
Quitter's Day is the secondFriday in January.
It's when 80% of people abandontheir resolutions.
That's not something that Ijust made up.
That's a fact.
You can go out there and Googleit Did.
Gym crowds thin out after thesecond week of January.
Your motivation wanes and thesame patterns of frustration and
(03:05):
guilt and all those bad habitsjust creep right back in.
If that sounds familiar,believe me, you're not alone.
The problem isn't just the gymor even your resolution.
The problem is trying to fixthe external habits without
addressing the internal mindsetthat drives your choices.
The truth is, lasting changedoesn't start with a membership
card or a diet plan.
It starts with how you think.
(03:25):
So today I want to explore whymindset is the foundation of
successful weight loss andsustainable weight loss.
It's the psychology behind whyresolutions fail and how to
avoid becoming a quitter's daystatistic.
This year, see, I didn't makeany resolutions, so quitter's
day doesn't really affect me.
But, like I said, the secondFriday in January is known as
(03:46):
Quitter's Day and it's become areminder of how fleeting your
motivation can actually be.
Despite everyone's bestintentions I mean myself
included most people quit theirresolutions within two weeks.
And why does that happen?
I think the first reason isbecause people set these
unrealistic expectations.
So everybody, myself includedbut this year I didn't make any
(04:08):
resolutions.
So I'm not included.
This year, but every other yearyour resolutions are overly
ambitious, like committing to goto the gym every day or cutting
out all sugar and carbsovernight, and those extreme
changes are not only difficultto sustain, but they're
ridiculous and they'reimpossible when life gets busy
(04:28):
or the novelty of doing thosethings wears off.
And the second part of that isa total lack of preparation for
these big changes that you'reabout to make.
So signing up for a gym feelslike action, right, like I've
got to take action.
This year I'm going to join thegym, but without a clear plan,
that action quickly fizzles outand you don't go to the gym
anymore.
A lot of people show up to thegym without knowing what
(04:50):
exercises to do Again, myselfincluded.
I'm just not a gym guy.
I had to go to the gym and docertain exercises when I was
playing football, but after thatI don't know the exercises to
do and most people don't knowhow to structure a routine or
how to even make the habit stick.
And the third and probably mostimportant piece is you're
(05:11):
ignoring the mindset piece whenyou make that resolution right.
So most resolutions focus onwhat you'll do Exercise more,
eat healthier, move more but itdoesn't focus on the why you've
struggled in the past and how toovercome those obstacles.
So without addressing theunderlying habits and the
emotional triggers and limitingbeliefs, the new routine is
(05:34):
destined to fail to stick.
It's not going to work out.
The lesson here is quitter'sday isn't just a cautionary tale
.
It's an opportunity to learn.
If 80% of people fail withintwo weeks, that means success
lies in avoiding the commonpitfalls that derail really most
of the resolutions.
And the first thing you have todo is start with your mindset.
Your habits and your actionsstem from how you think.
(05:55):
Joining a gym or starting adiet a traditional diet or a fad
diet won't work if your mindsetisn't ready to support those
changes and you need to focus onsmall, sustainable steps.
So instead of trying tooverhaul your entire life in one
go like, okay, it's January 1st, I'm changing my life, focus on
making one or two manageablechanges, for example, like
(06:15):
commit to walking 15 minutes aday, or eat vegetables with
every meal, or go out for a walkevery day.
So just make them small andmanageable and prepare for the
changes.
Changes because life is goingto throw curveballs it always
does.
I don't know anybody thatdoesn't have curveballs in their
life, so that could be astressful day.
Cravings, which everybody has,or, if you're a gym person,
(06:36):
missed workouts.
Acknowledge those realitiesfirst and plan how you're going
to respond.
So, when it comes to weightloss, most people focus on the
mechanics of calories in,calories out, workouts and
probably even meal planning.
Most diets are all about themeal plan, but the truth is your
mind drives every decision youmake, from what you eat to
whether you stick to a new habit.
(06:57):
So let's explore three keypsychological factors that help
shape your success.
So let's talk about the firstone.
The first one and this is theone everyone hates me for it's
taking responsibility for whereyou are.
Look, I always say it andpeople get pissed at me you're
fat because you choose to be fat.
That's I get it.
(07:18):
It's a tough pill to swallow,but it's essential.
Where you are today is a resultof your choices period.
There's no other way.
And I'm not only talking aboutweight loss, I'm talking about
financially, emotionally, andwhere you are today is a direct
result of your choices.
And I'm not telling you that.
It's not about guilt or shame,it's about empowerment.
Actually, when you acknowledgethat your actions got you here,
(07:42):
you also acknowledge that youractions can change your future.
And it's hard because it'suncomfortable to confront these
past mistakes, these bad choices, or admit where you fell short.
I get it.
And blaming external factorslike, I don't know, your
genetics or your parents werefat or you have a slow
metabolism.
That's all bullshit, but itdefinitely feels easier.
(08:02):
But the truth is, takingresponsibility puts you in the
driver's seat.
It's powerful.
You can't control everything,we all know that but you
definitely can control yourchoices moving forward.
So the first step in this wholething is you have to take
responsibility for your actions.
You're fat because you chose tobe fat and you continue to
(08:24):
choose to be fat.
Here's your chance to makebetter choices.
The second piece is you have tobreak free from the emotional
eating part of this thing.
I don't care who you are andwhat you say.
The reality is most people do afair amount of emotional eating
and food.
People just naturally use foodas a coping mechanism.
(08:44):
Eating and food people justnaturally use food as a coping
mechanism, whether it's stressor boredom, loneliness, sadness
that all triggers cravings forcomfort food and that leads you
to the cycle of emotional eatingand then guilt.
And the challenge here isemotional eating doesn't just
stem from hunger.
So just restricting your foodor starting a diet won't address
(09:04):
the underlying issue.
You have to address theunderlying issue.
So the solution here isidentify your emotional triggers
.
Are you eating because you'restressed or bored or sad?
There's a million reasons whyyou might be emotionally eating.
But you have to figure that outand try to find some non-food
related ways to cope with thoseemotions.
If you're a journaler, write inyour journaler.
(09:26):
For me it's I go out and I takea walk and just clear my head,
or you could even just call afriend.
There's ways we all eatemotionally.
It's just a fact.
You have to figure out whatthose triggers are and how to
get around them.
The third thing is for me, thiswas a big one.
You have to change your innervoice around them.
The third thing is for me, thiswas a big one.
(09:47):
You have to change your innervoice.
So the way you talk to yourself, like that negative self-talk,
like I'm lazy, or I've triedeverything, I can't lose weight
or I'll lose weight or I can'tdo this or whatever it is you
say to yourself.
At that point you're thinkingwhy even try?
I know I can't do it, and thaterodes your confidence and your
motivation.
To get this done, you have tochange that inner voice.
So a critical inner voice keepsyou stuck in your old patterns
(10:08):
by reinforcing limiting beliefsright, oh, I can't lose weight,
I've tried everything, I can'tdo another, whatever it is,
that's all shit that holds youback.
So what you have to do isreplace those negative thoughts
with empowering ones.
I know it sounds easy, but forexample, you could say, instead
of saying I've been on 100 dietsbefore, say I learned what
doesn't work and I'm tryingagain For me, I'm telling you I
(10:30):
had been on at least 100 dietsand I succeeded on them, but
ultimately I failed on everysingle one of them, and getting
on this journey that I'm on nowdefinitely took some positive
thoughts in my inner voice.
So instead of saying I can'tstick to anything, saying I'm
building consistency one day ata time, one choice at a time.
This is not going to happen foryou overnight.
(10:52):
This is a journey, it takestime and it may even be a
lifetime journey.
The reality is you have tochange that inner voice.
Now let me give you 10 mindsetshifts to build better eating
habits.
So, once you started working onyour mindset, the next step,
once you get rid of thosenegative thoughts and you think
you're motivated, you thinkyou're ready to go, then the
(11:15):
next step is to align yourthoughts with actionable habits.
So let me give you 10 mindsetshifts that are going to help
you to build better eatinghabits.
So number one is view food asfuel, not comfort.
Food is really meant to nourishyour body and give you energy,
not to fix your emotions.
Again, I'm guilty of doing thatfor 59 years.
(11:38):
But if you sit down and thinkabout it, food is nourishment.
So you have to ask yourself amI eating?
Because, remember, I say, everytime you open your mouth, stop
and think and say is this inline with my why?
But every time you open yourmouth, think am I eating the
fuel in my body, am I hungry orjust some numb feeling?
(11:58):
If it's the numb feeling, ifit's because you're bored or
you're sad or you're lonely,just stop and think about
another way to cope with thatfeeling, because food is not the
way, especially if you'retrying to lose weight and get
healthy.
Number two is you have to and Isay this all the time again,
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you have to celebrate small wins.
So every positive choicematters, no matter how small.
And that sounds crazy, I get it, but the reality is every good
choice you make.
Think about hey, you know what,I could have eaten this, but I
ate that.
Or I could have done this, butI did that.
Celebrate those small wins,because this is not something,
like I said, that happensovernight and it's something
(12:40):
that builds in momentum.
It's like compound interest ina bank account.
One small choice builds onanother small choice builds on
another small choice and beforeyou know it, you're really on
the way.
Focus on your daily wins, likedrinking water instead of soda.
That's a big one.
Or actually, to me, a biggerone is drinking water.
Or drinking black coffeeinstead of one of those morning
(13:01):
milkshakes.
Like a mocha frappuccino skinnyNone of it's skinny and none of
it's good for you.
So maybe it's as small as justswitching your morning coffee
instead of whatever those thingsare called.
There's so many different names.
But instead of a mochafrappuccino with milk and
whipped cream and all, just havea black coffee and put some
stevia in it if you're cravingthe sweetness.
(13:22):
And also remember this one factthat I made up.
So it may not be a fact, butthe reality is the longer your
Starbucks order, the biggerasshole you are.
So make it simple Black coffeewith Stevia, please.
So the next one.
I feel guilty even saying thisafter the dinner that I just ate
, but you have to practiceportion control.
(13:43):
Vicki just made some kind ofbeef stew over rice and I did
not practice portion control.
I can tell you that I'm alittle bit nauseous right now,
but the truth is you have topractice portion control.
And, by the way, I ate morethan I would have liked to and I
don't feel bad about it at allbecause I feel no guilt.
It's just not a smart choice.
(14:04):
But you know what the nextchoice I make will be a smart
one.
But anyway, you don't have toeliminate your favorite foods.
You can eat anything you want.
You just have to enjoy them inmoderation.
A really smart way to actuallypractice portion control is you
can use smaller plates, which Ihave done many, many, many, many
times, because your minddefinitely gets fooled and
thinks that even if you're usinga small plate, it feels like
(14:27):
the plate is full and you eatless.
I didn't do that tonight.
Like I said, I'm a little bitnauseous.
You can measure your portions,which I really don't do.
I don't weigh or do anything.
You know what to eat.
So if you're like you reallywant to get technical, sure,
measure your portions.
If you're like you really wantto get technical, sure, measure
your portions.
But most importantly, you haveto eat mindfully.
That means thinking abouteverything you're eating, how
much you're eating and whyyou're eating it.
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So you really have to thinkbefore you open your mouth.
All right, the next one I workon this every single day and I
still definitely cannot get itright, but sometimes I get it
right and sometimes I actuallydon't.
But the next one is slow downwhen you're eating.
I eat fast, I've always eatenfast.
This is growing up in a housewith two other brothers and a
(15:11):
father.
We all ate and if you didn'teat quickly, you didn't eat, and
I need to get past that.
So I'm working on that everysingle day.
So, eating quickly.
When you eat too fast, youdon't really hear the cues, you
don't feel the cues, you don'tknow that you're full.
It definitely leads toovereating because your brain
doesn't really have time toregister the fullness.
(15:31):
And what I should do and I doit sometimes, every now and
again, and I need to do it moreis put your fork down between
bites and chew everythingthoroughly, two things that I
really don't do.
I literally have to mindfullythink about putting my fork or
my spoon down and I have tothink to myself chew more, and
that helps you to savor everybite and it really keeps you
(15:54):
from overeating.
The next thing you can do isplan ahead.
I'm not a big planner, but I dofind that unplanned meals
definitely lead to poor choices.
When I say I don't plan, Ithink about what I'm going to
eat during the day, perhaps, andwhat I want to eat for dinner.
But if it's just you're goingby the seat of your pants and
(16:15):
you're on the fly, thatdefinitely leads to poor choices
.
So if you're a meal prepper, goahead and prep your meals.
I don't believe in mealprepping, but I also don't think
that it's a terrible thing.
If you like to prep your meals,go ahead and prep your meals
for the week, or I do like tokeep healthy snacks around to
avoid me going to eatconvenience food, to eat
McDonald's, to get some shit.
(16:35):
That's really bad for you.
So, yes, if you're a mealprepper, if you love doing that,
by all means prep your meals.
Regardless of whether you prepor you don't, make sure you're
eating the right things and, bythe way, the right things are
with the food that you like.
Don't let anybody tell you thatquinoa and kale and salad,
that's all you can eat, becausethat's fucking bullshit.
You can eat steak and eggs and,yes, you can even eat ice cream
(17:03):
and cake, whatever it is youwant to eat.
As long as you listen to thepoint two above this, which was
eat in moderation, don't eat toomuch.
You can eat all the things thatyou like to eat, just make sure
that you don't eat too much ofit.
So the next one I do this allthe time, this is an important
one is embrace progress overperfection.
Right, one off meal in a dayisn't going to ruin your
progress.
Like I just told you, I justate like a fucking animal for
(17:25):
dinner.
I'm full, I'm borderlinenauseous, but I know that's not
going to kill my entire journey,everything that I've worked on
for the last year and a half.
I know it was a bad choice andI'm good with that, because
every now and then you got tofeed your soul.
But so just remember that youhave to embrace progress over
perfection, and when you focuson that consistency and not
(17:47):
perfection, it allows you to notonly acknowledge your slip-ups
but actually keep moving forward, and moving forward with some
motion.
If you just eat on a diet, ifyou just eat your whatever diet
you're on, you're on the paleoand you never eat a potato and
you never eat bread and younever eat a carb, sooner or
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later you're going to slip up.
Sooner or later you're going tofuck up.
Sooner or later you're going tocrave it.
So don't worry about that.
Focus on consistency and notperfection.
The next one is you have tolearn how to say no, and this is
a tough one, because socialpressure can definitely derail
your goals if you let it.
If everyone says, come on,we'll go out for ice cream, come
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on, let's go have a few beers,it's easy to fall.
Say yeah, why not?
And it's okay again to do thatsometimes.
Don't fall prey to the socialpressure.
I guess sometimes you just haveto politely decline food or
drink that doesn't align withyour goals.
It doesn't make you a badperson for saying you know what
I really don't want to go outfor ice cream right now.
(18:47):
And you know what, if I come, Iknow I'm probably going to eat
it, so I'm going to stay home orwhatever it is.
Whatever the thing, no, Ireally don't want.
I don't want to drink right now.
Yeah, just do that.
Just literally learn to say no.
It's a tough thing for peopleto do, it was a tough thing for
me to do, but it's somethingthat you really need to do.
And when we're talking aboutwater, the next one is drink
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more water.
I don't know how to stress thisany more than I stress it
pretty much in every singleepisode of my podcast.
You have to drink more waterfor a lot of reasons.
The first reason is that thirstis often mistaken for hunger.
A lot of times, when you thinkyou're hungry, you're really
just thirsty.
I read some stat that, like 80%of the world and I'm not
talking about other developednations 80% of the United States
(19:30):
walks around in a constantstate of dehydration.
So force yourself to drinkwater.
I drink at least a gallon ofwater every day.
I spend a lot of time in thebathroom, although less time.
The more time that goes by, thelonger I drink that much more
the less time I spend in thebathroom.
But the reality is, the morewater you drink, the healthier
you're going to be.
(19:50):
So one easy thing that Idefinitely do and I found that
it's actually even better foryour body to do this is start
every day with a glass of waterand try to drink.
I used to get up and the firstthing I would do is get
something to eat and then Iwould drink some coffee, and I
found out that if you start yourday like, your brain wakes up
(20:10):
dehydrated.
So if you start your day with adrink of water, with a big
glass of water and when I saybig glass I mean like 16 ounces
of water and then wait I don'tknow 15, 20 minutes and have
your meal or have your coffee ordo whatever, you'll be amazed
at how much better you feel forthe entire day.
So again, I'm going to stressagain drink more water.
You can't drink too much water.
I know there's assholes outthere that tell you you're going
(20:31):
to get water toxicity.
If you get water toxicity, itwould be a I don't know how much
water you would have to drink.
Don't know how much water youwould have to drink.
You'd have to probably drinklike 10 gallons of water a day.
I promise you you're not goingto get water toxicity.
Drink more water.
Another big one is remove thetemptations from your house,
from your apartment, from youroffice, wherever you are.
(20:52):
If you know that certain foodstrigger overeating, like for me,
if I'm eating candy, I can'tstop with just a couple pieces,
I'm just going to go.
I'm going to try to set arecord.
I try not to keep any candyaround.
I'm not telling you I don'tever eat candy because I do but
try to remove temptations fromwherever you are.
That means basically creatingan environment that supports
(21:13):
your goals by stocking your homewith healthy options.
Right, if you love to crunch onsomething, I love to crunch on
potato chips and tortilla chipsand all that shit, I find that
carrots, those little babycarrots, the peel baby carrots,
they're great, they're crunchy,they taste great and they're a
great substitute.
Plus, they're healthy as hell.
(21:34):
And the last one, the nextmindset shift that you must,
must make is be kind to yourselfokay, mistakes are part of the
process.
Nobody does it without fuckingup.
Sometimes it's not possible.
If you make a mistake, if youeat too much, if you go out and
eat a gallon of ice cream, it'sokay, you didn't blow anything,
(21:58):
you just made a bad choice.
You can start again with thenext choice and make the next
choice a smart choice.
So, I guess, treat yourselfwith that same kindness that you
show a friend who made amistake.
Focus on the bigger picture andthen just keep moving forward.
You can make any choice youwant.
As long as you make more goodchoices than bad choices, I
(22:20):
guarantee you that you willsucceed.
I'm not saying you're going tosucceed in two weeks or two
months.
Well, again, it depends on howmuch weight you have to lose.
But over time, if you make moresmart choices than not so smart
choices, you will succeed.
Okay, so here's a little bonusmindset shift you can make.
(22:40):
Don't join the fucking gym thisweek.
Don't Save your money.
Save yourself all thedisappointment of failure.
Joining the gym or starting anew eating regimen without
addressing your mindset is likebuilding a house on a shaky
foundation.
Right, it might hold up for alittle while, but eventually
it's going to collapse.
So there's no reason to jointhe gym.
(23:02):
There's no reason to start someextreme diet, some fad diet,
until you have your mindset inthe right place.
The key to lasting change liesin understanding the psychology,
understanding your ownpsychology, taking
responsibility for your currentsituation and making small,
consistent mindset shifts.
(23:23):
It's consistency.
You have to do it consistentlyand I didn't say perfectly, I
said consistently.
So this year, don't letQuitter's Day define you.
Instead, focus on sustainablehabits and a mindset that
supports your long-term success.
Remember that meaningful changedoesn't come from the gym or a
(23:44):
gym membership or a meal plan.
It comes from transforming theway that you think.
I can't stress this enough thatthe power to make the change is
in your hands.
You made the choices that gotyou to where you are today and
that gives you the power to makebetter choices moving forward.
(24:04):
Like I said, the power is inyour hands and you should get
started right now.
All right, so that's my kind ofthoughts on the gym and some of
the mindset and psychology thatgoes along with weight loss.
If you want to learn more aboutthe way I think, about my
journey, about how I lost nowover 140 pounds while eating the
(24:25):
foods that I loved, didn't seta fucking foot inside the gym.
Not one minute did I waste inthe gym.
Because, again, weight loss isdone in the kitchen, right, it's
not done in the gym.
You can't burn enough calories.
You know the old saying youcan't out-exercise a bad diet.
You can't burn enough calories.
You know the old saying youcan't out-exercise a bad diet,
you can't.
It's not possible.
So when you get your head rightand you start eating right,
then maybe join the gym.
(24:46):
I probably won't, althoughlately, honestly, I have been
thinking that I would join thegym.
But if you want to learn moreabout how I did all this and how
great reviews got all five acouple of four stars, but mostly
all five star reviews I getemails every day from people
telling me how it's changedtheir life, how it made losing
(25:07):
weight easy.
People go nuts when I say it'seasy.
But fucking, losing weight iseasy.
It's easy and it's simple Ifyou don't overcomplicate things,
if you don't listen to thoseassholes online telling you
don't eat this, don't do that,fuck that.
It's easy and it's simple.
I also have a video coursecalled Live Life, love Food,
(25:27):
lose Weight.
You can get that video courselearnshutupandchoose.
That's learnshutupandchoosecom.
It's made up of 23 videos.
They're all five minutes orless and they really dive deep
into the mindset and all thethings that I did and the things
that I consistently do along myjourney.
Again, you can get that atlearnshutupandchoose.
(25:48):
That kind of brings thispodcast to an end for the day.
You know what to do.
You need to change the way youthink if you want sustainable
weight loss.
So now really, the only thingleft to do is shut up and choose
.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
You've been listening
to shut up and choose.
Jonathan's passion is to sharehis journey of shedding 130
pounds in less than a yearwithout any of the usual
gimmicks no diets, no pills.
And we'll let you in on alittle secret no fucking gym.
And guess what?
(26:24):
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 themeantime, find Jonathan on
Instagram atJonathanWrestlerBocaRaton.
Until next time, shut up andchoose.