March 26, 2025 • 25 mins
Tired of jumping from one diet plan to another without sustainable results? This raw, no-holds-barred episode tackles the uncomfortable truth about meal plans and why they're setting you up for failure in your weight loss journey.
Drawing from my experience of losing 130 pounds and keeping it off for nearly two years, I expose why those $99 influencer meal plans never work long-term. These plans don't teach you how to eat—they just tell you what to eat temporarily. Once the plan ends, you're right back where you started, often heavier than before.
The real problem? Meal plans are a way to avoid taking responsibility for your food choices. You're looking for someone else to tell you exactly what to eat because you don't trust yourself to make good decisions. I spent years telling myself I was "incapable of making good food choices" while bouncing between paleo, keto, and countless other diets that always worked... until they didn't.
Sustainable weight loss isn't about finding the perfect meal plan—it's about learning to eat like a normal person. This means prioritizing protein, practicing portion control without obsessive measuring, and following the 80-20 rule: eat nutrient-dense foods 80% of the time and leave 20% for flexibility and treats. Most importantly, it means breaking free from labeling foods as "good" or "bad" and developing habits you can maintain for life.
Ready to stop the cycle of temporary dieting and create lasting change? Grab my book "Shut Up and Choose" on Amazon or check out my comprehensive video course "The Effortless Weight Loss Academy" at learnshutupandchoose.com. It's time to trust yourself, take control of your eating habits, and finally achieve the results you deserve.
Lose Weight Without Starving or Obsessing! Learn the simple, no-BS system that helped me lose 140 pounds naturally—no extreme diets, no endless gym hours, just real, sustainable fat loss for real people.
Join the Effortless Weight Loss Academy HERE
Please leave me a review on whatever platform you listen to your podcasts.
Send me questions or comments to Jonathan.Ressler@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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.
Your host, jonathan Ressler.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hey, welcome back to Shut Up and Choose the podcast
that cuts through the noise, thenonsense and all the garbage
that all those internetjerk-offs and Instagram gurus
are throwing your way tellingyou about buy my plan.
All this shit from the dietindustry.
It's all a bunch of garbage andhopefully I'm here to help you
cut through some of that garbageand actually see what really
(01:34):
matters and what really works.
And today I want to talk aboutsomething.
I know it's going to piss a lotof people off, but I want to
talk about meal plans.
A lot of people are out therebuying meal plans from some
influencer, telling them allthis great stuff that they
should be doing and just followmy meal plan and you lose 30
pounds.
And the truth of the matter isfuck that meal plan stuff.
(01:54):
What you really need to do islearn to eat like a normal
person and, truthfully, I'm atthe point where I can't take it
anymore.
If I have to hear one moreinternet jerk-off talk about
their foolproof step-by-stepplan for weight loss, I'm going
to lose my shit.
You've definitely seen it someripped influencer flexing in
some perfect lighting with hisperfect tan, telling that if you
(02:17):
just follow their magic formula, the weight will fall off you
effortlessly.
Oh and, by the way, it onlycosts 99 bucks a month, but
they'll make the meal plan foryou to follow, not knowing what
you like to eat or anything likethat, but they'll just.
They'll make a meal plan for 99bucks a month.
But let me save you some timeand money.
It's all bullshit.
These plans don't worklong-term because they don't
(02:39):
teach you a fucking thing aboutreal life eating.
They just tell you what to eatwithout helping you learn how to
eat.
And guess what?
The second you stop followingtheir plan, you gain all the
weight back.
So today we're going to breakdown why meal plans, honestly,
are just a scam, why you need tostop looking for the perfect
(03:01):
diet and how to actually loseweight without following some
influencers' overpriced grocerylist.
Look.
For decades, the weight lossindustry has pushed meal plans
as the ultimate solution forshedding pounds.
Follow this plan for 30 daysand lose 15 pounds.
Eat exactly these foods andthese portions and you'll
finally see results.
Or just stick to this plan andyour weight loss problem will be
(03:25):
solved.
It sounds great, right?
Except it's wrong.
Meal plans are a temporary fixto a permanent problem.
They don't teach you how to eatin real life.
They just tell you what to eatfor a short period of time, for
right now, and once the plan isover, most of the people who
follow those plans are going toput the weight back.
(03:45):
Look at me I follow noexaggeration 100 different diet
plans and I always do well onthem.
But once they're over, I putthe weight back.
And why does that happen?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
The reason it happens isbecause you never actually learn
how to eat in the right way, ina way that works for your
lifestyle.
So if you're tired of bouncingfrom rigid diets, meal plan to
(04:09):
meal plan, or diet thatconstantly feel like you're
failing when you can't stick toit, this episode is definitely
for you.
So, if we kind of cut throughall the bullshit, if you're
looking for a meal plan, you'relooking for an excuse.
That's it.
If you're looking for a mealplan, you're looking for an
excuse.
You want someone else to tellyou exactly what to eat so you
(04:29):
don't have to think, you don'thave to make choices and you
don't have to takeresponsibility for your own
eating habits.
You know, for me it's all aboutsmall, smart choices and you're
trying not to make any choices.
You're hoping, if you justfollow a perfect plan, you'll
finally lose weight withoutactually having to change the
way you think about food.
For me, the biggest factor ofmy weight loss was absolutely
(04:53):
changing the way that I lookedat food.
But here's a hard truth for youMeal plans are just another way
to avoid taking control, andavoiding responsibility is
exactly why you keep failing.
You think you need that perfectmeal plan, but what you
actually need is someaccountability.
You believe that a meal plan isgoing to keep you on track, but
what you actually need is someaccountability.
(05:13):
You believe that a meal plan isgoing to keep you on track, but
what you actually need is totake ownership of your choices,
and you think that following astrict plan will make weight
loss easier.
What you actually need toaccept is that the easy way has
never worked and it never willNow.
I'm not saying that weight lossis hard, but following a meal
plan, eating shit a certain waywith certain other foods, these
(05:35):
portions it's just unworkable.
So most people who aresearching for a meal plan don't
want to admit.
The real reason they strugglewith food is they don't want to
take responsibilities for theireating habits.
They want to be told what to doinstead of figuring it out for
themselves.
I'm so guilty of this.
I can't even tell you I was soguilty.
(05:56):
But, like I said, I did over100 diets and I lost weight on
all of them, but I never reallyfigured it out for myself.
I just followed hey, cut outcarbs or eat this meal at this
time and don't combine this food, that food and it works.
I'm not saying it doesn't work,but it doesn't teach you
anything.
And, lastly, I was alwayslooking for an easy way out
instead of putting in the effortto learn how to eat for the
(06:19):
rest of my life, and that's whatI learned in this journey, so I
get it.
It's so much easier to tellyourself, if I only had the
right meal plan, I'd finallylose weight.
I mean, I said I had the rightmeal plan a hundred times Paleo,
keto, you name it and it wasalways the right meal plan until
it wasn't.
Because what happens when thatmeal plan doesn't fit your real
life?
(06:39):
Or what happens when you don'tfeel like eating what's on the
plan?
What happens when you're at arestaurant or traveling or
dealing with cravings?
You panic and you go off theplan and you quit.
And that's where it's justcrazy.
The reality is, the reason youquit is because you were never
in control.
The meal plan was in control,and that's exactly why meal
(07:01):
plans just don't work.
Look, if meal plans worked, youwouldn't be listening to this
right now and you wouldn't likeme.
You wouldn't have tried everydiet, plan after plan, only to
end up right back where youstarted, and usually with a
little bit more weight.
And the reason that I keptlooking for a meal plan was
because I wanted weight loss tobe easy.
(07:22):
I wanted someone to tell mewhat to eat, so I didn't have to
think about it.
I always say I'm incapable ofmaking good food choices.
You're looking, and I waslooking, for a set of rules so I
don't have to be responsiblefor my own choices Because, like
I said, I always said I'mincapable of making good food
choices.
And you want to believe in theend, when it fails, that the
(07:44):
plan failed, that it wasn't youthat the plan failed.
But the problem is the easy wayout never works.
And again, I'm not telling youweight loss is hard, but the
easy way of not figuring out foryourself it just never lasts.
So the truth is, until you stoplooking for the shortcuts and
start taking control, you'realways going to struggle with
food.
So that's my opinion.
(08:06):
But now let me tell you whymeal plans actually set you up
for failure, and what happenswhen they end, and how to
actually lose weight withoutneeding a fucking meal plan ever
again.
So meal plans seem helpful first, of course they do.
They remove the need fordecision-making.
I don't have to think about myfood.
You don't have to think, youjust follow the list.
But this is the real problemand I am living proof.
(08:28):
I'm sitting here and tellingyou.
I'm living proof.
No one eats that way forever.
I don't care what the meal planis, no one eats that way
forever.
And a meal plan fails becausethey tell you exactly what to
eat and they don't teach you whyyou're eating those foods.
(08:48):
You don't learn anything aboutnutrition.
You don't learn how to buildbalanced meals on your own, you
don't learn how to adjustportion size based on your
hunger and activity levels andyou don't learn what to do when
you're not following the presetplan.
So what happens when the mealplan ends?
You have no idea how to makegood choices on your own and you
convince yourself of that.
(09:08):
I convinced myself for yearsand years and years and years
that I was incapable of makinggood food choices.
Another problem with meal plansis they don't allow for any
flexibility, because life isunpredictable, like what happens
if you go out to eat and therestaurant you're in doesn't
have your quote, unquote mealapproved plans or foods, or what
happens if you're traveling andyou can't prep your meals.
(09:30):
I am dead set against mealprepping.
I think it's fucking horrible.
Unless you're a hardcorebodybuilder, then it makes sense
.
But I mean, what happens whenyou can't prep your meal?
Or what if you just don'tfucking feel like eating chicken
and broccoli for the fifth timethis weekend?
I'm not talking about Chinesechicken and broccoli, I'm
talking about bland grilledchicken and steamed broccoli.
(09:51):
What happens if you don't feellike eating it for the 11th time
this month?
Meal plans don't teach you howto adapt to real-life situations
.
So the second, somethingunexpected happens.
You feel like you failed, whenin reality here wait for it the
plan actually failed you.
And when you start to eat thesethings, when you start to eat
(10:11):
something that's not on the planI know you've all thought of
this oh man, I fucked it up, soI might as well eat everything
in style.
No, you know what?
I'll start over on Monday, I'llstart over next week, I'll
start over next month.
That's just such that all ornothing mindset is why so many
people quit completely.
The second they go off plan.
They think that one bad mealruins everything, when in
(10:32):
reality it doesn't really matterat all.
Like I said before, unlessyou're a bodybuilder prepping
for a competition, you will noteat from a structured meal plan
forever.
At some point you're going tohave a birthday dinner with some
friends or a night out whereyou just feel like eating tacos
and margaritas or craving for aburger that just won't go away
and guess what?
(10:53):
That's normal.
A good nutrition strategyshould allow you to enjoy food
and still make progress.
If your plan doesn't work in thereal world, it is not a good
plan.
Second part is let's say you'redisciplined and I hate that
word.
But let's say you'redisciplined and you follow a
meal plan for eight weeks andyou lose weight Awesome.
(11:14):
But then what do you do next?
And this is where people gowrong.
They try to stay on the planforever, and I don't have to
tell you that never works.
What's more likely is they'regoing to go back to their old
eating habits and gain all theweight back, and they start to
panic when faced with foodchoices that are outside the
plan and spiral into baddecisions.
(11:36):
You've heard my story.
I said I was paleo and I waskilling it.
Yeah, I was just losing weightand I was strict.
Then I became a little lesspaleo and then I became somewhat
paleo.
Before you know it, I waseating all the shit that I
wasn't supposed to eat on, plusa bunch of other shit.
I put all the weight back onAgain.
The problem is, meal plans don'tteach you how to eat for life.
(11:57):
I learned how to eat for life.
That's what my whole thing isabout.
But when you don't learn how toeat for life, when that plan
ends, so does the structure, andwhen the structure disappears,
people go right back to all thateating habits.
They go right off the rails andlook.
The bottom line is thisTemporary changes equal
temporary results.
You're not going to havesustainable weight loss and
(12:20):
again, I'm only blaming myselffor this, but I didn't trust
myself to make good food choices.
I kept bouncing from diet todiet, hoping the next one's
going to work or I would obsess.
I did some calorie countingwhere I was down to like 1,500
calories a day and I obsessedwith tracking calories and
fucked around macros and pointsand you all of you know what
(12:40):
points are instead of learninghow to eat naturally and
normally.
And when I was doing thosethings, I felt lost every time
that I had to make a choiceoutside that structured plan.
And the reality is most peopledon't need a meal plan.
They need to learn how to eat.
So if you don't know how tobuild a balanced meal without
needing an app, you're a fuckingidiot.
(13:01):
If you don't know how to eat inmoderation without binging,
well, I understand that one.
If you don't know how to handlecravings without guilt, I'm
going to tell you how.
And if you don't know how toeat at restaurants without
panicking, you're missing a hugepart of life.
And, by the way, no meal planis ever going to fix anything
any of those things For me.
(13:23):
I don't know how to say thisother than this I learned how to
eat like a normal person andI'm not sure what normal is, but
the way everybody else eats,the people who are fit.
So instead of obsessing whatmeal plan I was going to follow,
I focused on learning how toeat in a way that works forever,
and just some of the thingsthat I did.
Look, I have no meal plan.
I've told you a thousand timesI didn't count calories.
(13:44):
I just ate whatever I felt like.
But there are certain thingsthat I did.
One of them is prioritizingprotein at every meal, because
protein keeps you full, itsupports muscle and it helps
control cravings.
And I'm going to tell you I atemore than this, but I would
tell you that, from a proteinstandpoint, aim for something
that's like the size of yourpalm at every single meal.
(14:07):
Now again, someone's going tosay well, you said you eat
overnight oats every morning.
Yes, I did eat overnight oatsevery single morning, or pretty
much every morning, but I alsoate a lot more protein in the
afternoon and the evening.
And if you build your mealsaround whole foods again, like
lean protein and healthy fatsand the right carbs and
vegetables, that's all you needto do.
(14:28):
80% of your meal should bewhole, nutrient-dense foods.
The other 20% could be shitthat you have for fun.
You don't have to eat perfectly.
You don't have to be perfect.
And again, this thing wasreally important for me Learn
how to practice portion controlInstead of creating rigid rules
Instead of weighing andmeasuring everything.
Learn how to practice portioncontrol instead of creating
rigid rules Instead of weighingand measuring everything.
(14:48):
Learn how to eyeball portions.
I know like fitness influencersmust be losing their shit right
now, but it's easy.
Don't fucking waste your timecounting calories.
A plate should be halfvegetables, a quarter protein
and a quarter carbs Simple, it'sthat easy.
And another one is follow the80-20 rule.
Eat the right food,nutrient-dense foods, 80% of the
(15:11):
time and leave 20% for like theother shit, for some
flexibility, like for a donutI'm not saying eat a donut with
your dinner 80%.
If you eat well, 80% of thetime you will lose weight.
That 20% is where you're goingto eat your treats.
If you're going out for asocial event, you're going to
have a few drinks.
It's real life, eating withoutthe guilt.
(15:32):
And lastly, or kind of almostlastly, but not really last but
stop seeing food as good and bad.
I talk about this all the timetoo.
One slice of pizza is not goingto ruin your fucking progress,
just like one salad is not goingto ruin your fucking progress,
just like one salad is not goingto make you fit.
Weight loss is about what youdo consistently, not what you do
once in a while, and that willhelp you develop habits, healthy
(15:55):
habits, not a temporary diet.
So creating eating habits andeating patterns that you can
actually follow for life iswhat's going to lead you to this
sustainable weight loss.
So look, bottom line, if you'reoverweight, you're not eating
like a normal person, and ifyou're on some extreme meal plan
, obsessively tracking everybite because some internet
(16:18):
jerk-off told you to do that, orsome diet doctor who knows what
the fuck they know.
Or if you're cutting out entirefood groups, you're not eating
like a normal person either.
Both extremes overeating andoverly restrictive diets are
broken systems that just don'twork long term.
Think about it If the wayyou're eating right now is
(16:40):
sustainable, you wouldn't bestruggling with your weight.
If your habits naturally led tomaintaining a healthy body, you
wouldn't be searching with yourweight.
If your habits naturally led tomaintaining a healthy body, you
wouldn't be searching for thenext diet, the next meal plan or
the secret hack to lose weight.
There is no fucking secret hack.
It's called eating normally.
The same applies if you're on aridiculously strict eating plan
.
Sure, you might lose weight fora little while, but what
(17:02):
happens when you can't keep itup and nobody can keep it up
long-term?
You go right back to your oldhabits and the weight piles back
on, and in my case, andprobably in your case as well,
you add a little bit more thanyou took off.
So the key to lasting weightloss isn't a rigid diet or some
magic food list or some extremeapproach.
It's learning how to eat in away that you can actually follow
(17:23):
for life.
Normal people don't eat massivecalorie surpluses every day,
but they also don't starvethemselves on 1,200 calories a
day.
Normal people don't binge eatfast food five nights a week,
but they also don't freak out ifthey have a burger every once
in a while.
The problem is when you'reoverweight for as long as I was,
and when you're just overweightfor a long period of time for
(17:47):
me it was 59 years you kind oflose touch with what normal
eating even looks like.
You don't know how to recognizehunger and fullness cues.
I know I sure as shit didn't.
I would just eat because it wasthere and I spent years
ignoring those cues.
You might not even know how tobuild a balanced meal, and I
think I knew how to do that, butI didn't know how to eat
something that satisfied mewithout overeating.
(18:09):
And if you've been on dietafter diet which, like I said,
I've been on a hundred of themyou might not even trust
yourself around food anymore.
Like I said, I always said I'mincapable of making good food
choices, so I used to thinkthose strict rules and meal
plans were the only thing thatkeep me under control.
I'm going to talk next weekabout, or the week I don't know
(18:30):
in the coming week, about thatfabulous weight loss advice like
just eat less and move more theworst fucking advice I've ever
heard in my life, but I'll getinto that.
But the reason I'm saying thatis because I want to tell you
now, like I say, say, eat like anormal person.
What does that actually mean?
It means that making mostlysmart choices works without
obsessing over perfection.
(18:51):
You focus on protein, fiber,whole foods most of the time,
but you don't lose your shit ifyou have a slice of pizza.
That's normal.
It means eating in a way thatmakes sense for your real life.
Okay, no one lives like theguys and the women on Instagram.
Okay, those fitness influencersspend their whole fucking life
(19:13):
in the gym.
It means that you have to eatin a way that makes sense for
your real life.
You can go out for dinner, youcan enjoy your holidays and you
could travel without falling tothis all or nothing cycle of
either binging or starvingyourself.
It also means not relying on anapp or a meal plan or a diet to
(19:33):
tell you what to eat.
You learn to eat based onhunger, balance and portion
control, not some strict, rigidset of rules.
It's just ridiculous.
And last thing is, it means nottreating food like the enemy.
You have to stop labeling foodsas good or bad and instead
focus on consistency.
(19:54):
Over time, I'm trying to figureout another episode of the
podcast where I actually flipthe script on what's good and
what's bad, because to me,fucking, donuts, that's good
food, pizza that's good food,burgers, that's good food.
It may not be good in the sensethat you're used to hearing,
but to me, damn, that's goodfood.
So don't worry about whetherfood is good or bad, just eat it
.
At the end of the day, the onlyway to lose weight and keep it
(20:15):
off is to develop a way ofeating that you can follow
forever, forever.
If you're consistently bouncingbetween eating like an
unsupervised child and thenfollowing some extreme,
miserable diet, you're nevergoing to make lasting progress.
The answer here is not morerules, it's learning how to eat
(20:37):
like a normal person again.
Yes, your meal plan might worktemporarily, but they don't
teach you the skills you need tokeep the weight off for good.
So let me give you this pieceof big news If you think you
need to cut out every bad foodto lose weight, you're setting
(20:57):
yourself up for failure.
Integrating treats into yourmeal is not just okay, it's
absolutely necessary forlong-term success.
Why do I say that?
Well, because total restrictionalways leads to rebellion,
right when I would cut outcertain food groups or certain
foods I always wanted, the more.
The more you tell yourself youcan't have pizza or ice cream or
(21:19):
burger, the more you crave it,the more I crave those things.
And when you finally give, it'snot just one slice or one
burger, it's a whole fucking pie, and that's the all or nothing
mindset.
It's exactly why most dietsfail.
So I decided that I was goingto let myself eat treats in
moderation when I really wantthem when I thought about it.
(21:42):
But when you do that, youremove that forbidden factor and
learn how to enjoy stuff likethe traditional bad foods
without any guilt.
It's just so easy.
When you stop looking at foodas good and bad, you just start
seeing it as food, somethingthat can be balanced within a
(22:03):
healthy lifestyle, makinghealthy choices.
This is how normal people eat.
They don't swear off cookiesforever.
They just don't eat an entiresleeve of Oreos in one sitting.
The key is Learning portioncontrol, making smart swaps when
necessary and available, andunderstanding that one treat
won't ruin your progress.
(22:24):
Only quitting will.
People don't need another diet.
You don't need another diet tofollow for 30 days.
You need to learn how to eat ina way that works for real life.
That way, you never have tostart over again.
So, instead of looking for someperfect meal plan because it
(22:47):
doesn't fucking exist learn howto eat smarter.
Make small, smart choices thatbuild habits that last, and stop
relying on strict rules andstart trusting yourself to make
better choices.
That's really how you win theweight loss game for good.
So there's my thought on mealplans.
(23:11):
You know I hate them.
You know I think they'resetting you up for failure.
If you want to learn how I didall this, how I changed my
mindset because this is a mentalgame you can buy my book called
Shut Up and Choose, same asthis podcast, on Amazon.
We're an Amazon bestseller.
I get emails every day frompeople telling me how it's
changed their life just byreading my book.
Again, that's available onAmazon.
(23:32):
You can also get my videocourse.
It's 20 plus videos.
It's called the EffortlessWeight Loss Academy.
It's available atlearnshutupandchoosecom
learnshutupandchoosecom and Ihate selling shit, but I will
tell you that it's $47, one-timepurchase.
I guarantee you, if you buy thecourse and go through it, you
(23:55):
will never have to spend anotherdime on weight loss again,
because it takes you through howto change your mindset, to
being in a fat loss mindset andmaking small, smart choices
every day and, most importantly,letting you forgive yourself
when you make a fucking mistake.
Get away from the meal planAgain.
(24:15):
You can get that at theEffortless Weight Loss Academy
at learnshutupandchoosecom.
So that's it for today.
That's it for my thoughts onmeal plans.
Let the hate begin Startsending me all the flames.
Let me know that why I'm wrong,why meal plans work.
I'm sure they're coming and thereality is I don't give a shit
unless you've lost a significantamount of weight.
(24:37):
Don't tell me what works andwhat doesn't work.
Let me rephrase that as long asyou've lost a significant
amount of weight and kept it off.
I'm coming up on two years.
If you've done that, then arguewith me.
Until then, I would tell youyou don't know what the fuck
you're talking about.
So now you have my thoughts onmeal plans and why they're
setting you up for failure.
You can pick and choose to eathowever you want.
(24:59):
You can do whatever it is youwant.
You have to do the thing thatworks for you.
The only thing left now to dois for you to shut up and choose
.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
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?
You can do it too.
(25:30):
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.
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.
Your host, jonathan Ressler.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hey, welcome back to Shut Up and Choose the podcast
that cuts through the noise, thenonsense and all the garbage
that all those internetjerk-offs and Instagram gurus
are throwing your way tellingyou about buy my plan.
All this shit from the dietindustry.
It's all a bunch of garbage andhopefully I'm here to help you
cut through some of that garbageand actually see what really
(01:34):
matters and what really works.
And today I want to talk aboutsomething.
I know it's going to piss a lotof people off, but I want to
talk about meal plans.
A lot of people are out therebuying meal plans from some
influencer, telling them allthis great stuff that they
should be doing and just followmy meal plan and you lose 30
pounds.
And the truth of the matter isfuck that meal plan stuff.
(01:54):
What you really need to do islearn to eat like a normal
person and, truthfully, I'm atthe point where I can't take it
anymore.
If I have to hear one moreinternet jerk-off talk about
their foolproof step-by-stepplan for weight loss, I'm going
to lose my shit.
You've definitely seen it someripped influencer flexing in
some perfect lighting with hisperfect tan, telling that if you
(02:17):
just follow their magic formula, the weight will fall off you
effortlessly.
Oh and, by the way, it onlycosts 99 bucks a month, but
they'll make the meal plan foryou to follow, not knowing what
you like to eat or anything likethat, but they'll just.
They'll make a meal plan for 99bucks a month.
But let me save you some timeand money.
It's all bullshit.
These plans don't worklong-term because they don't
(02:39):
teach you a fucking thing aboutreal life eating.
They just tell you what to eatwithout helping you learn how to
eat.
And guess what?
The second you stop followingtheir plan, you gain all the
weight back.
So today we're going to breakdown why meal plans, honestly,
are just a scam, why you need tostop looking for the perfect
(03:01):
diet and how to actually loseweight without following some
influencers' overpriced grocerylist.
Look.
For decades, the weight lossindustry has pushed meal plans
as the ultimate solution forshedding pounds.
Follow this plan for 30 daysand lose 15 pounds.
Eat exactly these foods andthese portions and you'll
finally see results.
Or just stick to this plan andyour weight loss problem will be
(03:25):
solved.
It sounds great, right?
Except it's wrong.
Meal plans are a temporary fixto a permanent problem.
They don't teach you how to eatin real life.
They just tell you what to eatfor a short period of time, for
right now, and once the plan isover, most of the people who
follow those plans are going toput the weight back.
(03:45):
Look at me I follow noexaggeration 100 different diet
plans and I always do well onthem.
But once they're over, I putthe weight back.
And why does that happen?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
The reason it happens isbecause you never actually learn
how to eat in the right way, ina way that works for your
lifestyle.
So if you're tired of bouncingfrom rigid diets, meal plan to
(04:09):
meal plan, or diet thatconstantly feel like you're
failing when you can't stick toit, this episode is definitely
for you.
So, if we kind of cut throughall the bullshit, if you're
looking for a meal plan, you'relooking for an excuse.
That's it.
If you're looking for a mealplan, you're looking for an
excuse.
You want someone else to tellyou exactly what to eat so you
(04:29):
don't have to think, you don'thave to make choices and you
don't have to takeresponsibility for your own
eating habits.
You know, for me it's all aboutsmall, smart choices and you're
trying not to make any choices.
You're hoping, if you justfollow a perfect plan, you'll
finally lose weight withoutactually having to change the
way you think about food.
For me, the biggest factor ofmy weight loss was absolutely
(04:53):
changing the way that I lookedat food.
But here's a hard truth for youMeal plans are just another way
to avoid taking control, andavoiding responsibility is
exactly why you keep failing.
You think you need that perfectmeal plan, but what you
actually need is someaccountability.
You believe that a meal plan isgoing to keep you on track, but
what you actually need is someaccountability.
(05:13):
You believe that a meal plan isgoing to keep you on track, but
what you actually need is totake ownership of your choices,
and you think that following astrict plan will make weight
loss easier.
What you actually need toaccept is that the easy way has
never worked and it never willNow.
I'm not saying that weight lossis hard, but following a meal
plan, eating shit a certain waywith certain other foods, these
(05:35):
portions it's just unworkable.
So most people who aresearching for a meal plan don't
want to admit.
The real reason they strugglewith food is they don't want to
take responsibilities for theireating habits.
They want to be told what to doinstead of figuring it out for
themselves.
I'm so guilty of this.
I can't even tell you I was soguilty.
(05:56):
But, like I said, I did over100 diets and I lost weight on
all of them, but I never reallyfigured it out for myself.
I just followed hey, cut outcarbs or eat this meal at this
time and don't combine this food, that food and it works.
I'm not saying it doesn't work,but it doesn't teach you
anything.
And, lastly, I was alwayslooking for an easy way out
instead of putting in the effortto learn how to eat for the
(06:19):
rest of my life, and that's whatI learned in this journey, so I
get it.
It's so much easier to tellyourself, if I only had the
right meal plan, I'd finallylose weight.
I mean, I said I had the rightmeal plan a hundred times Paleo,
keto, you name it and it wasalways the right meal plan until
it wasn't.
Because what happens when thatmeal plan doesn't fit your real
life?
(06:39):
Or what happens when you don'tfeel like eating what's on the
plan?
What happens when you're at arestaurant or traveling or
dealing with cravings?
You panic and you go off theplan and you quit.
And that's where it's justcrazy.
The reality is, the reason youquit is because you were never
in control.
The meal plan was in control,and that's exactly why meal
(07:01):
plans just don't work.
Look, if meal plans worked, youwouldn't be listening to this
right now and you wouldn't likeme.
You wouldn't have tried everydiet, plan after plan, only to
end up right back where youstarted, and usually with a
little bit more weight.
And the reason that I keptlooking for a meal plan was
because I wanted weight loss tobe easy.
(07:22):
I wanted someone to tell mewhat to eat, so I didn't have to
think about it.
I always say I'm incapable ofmaking good food choices.
You're looking, and I waslooking, for a set of rules so I
don't have to be responsiblefor my own choices Because, like
I said, I always said I'mincapable of making good food
choices.
And you want to believe in theend, when it fails, that the
(07:44):
plan failed, that it wasn't youthat the plan failed.
But the problem is the easy wayout never works.
And again, I'm not telling youweight loss is hard, but the
easy way of not figuring out foryourself it just never lasts.
So the truth is, until you stoplooking for the shortcuts and
start taking control, you'realways going to struggle with
food.
So that's my opinion.
(08:06):
But now let me tell you whymeal plans actually set you up
for failure, and what happenswhen they end, and how to
actually lose weight withoutneeding a fucking meal plan ever
again.
So meal plans seem helpful first, of course they do.
They remove the need fordecision-making.
I don't have to think about myfood.
You don't have to think, youjust follow the list.
But this is the real problemand I am living proof.
(08:28):
I'm sitting here and tellingyou.
I'm living proof.
No one eats that way forever.
I don't care what the meal planis, no one eats that way
forever.
And a meal plan fails becausethey tell you exactly what to
eat and they don't teach you whyyou're eating those foods.
(08:48):
You don't learn anything aboutnutrition.
You don't learn how to buildbalanced meals on your own, you
don't learn how to adjustportion size based on your
hunger and activity levels andyou don't learn what to do when
you're not following the presetplan.
So what happens when the mealplan ends?
You have no idea how to makegood choices on your own and you
convince yourself of that.
(09:08):
I convinced myself for yearsand years and years and years
that I was incapable of makinggood food choices.
Another problem with meal plansis they don't allow for any
flexibility, because life isunpredictable, like what happens
if you go out to eat and therestaurant you're in doesn't
have your quote, unquote mealapproved plans or foods, or what
happens if you're traveling andyou can't prep your meals.
(09:30):
I am dead set against mealprepping.
I think it's fucking horrible.
Unless you're a hardcorebodybuilder, then it makes sense
.
But I mean, what happens whenyou can't prep your meal?
Or what if you just don'tfucking feel like eating chicken
and broccoli for the fifth timethis weekend?
I'm not talking about Chinesechicken and broccoli, I'm
talking about bland grilledchicken and steamed broccoli.
(09:51):
What happens if you don't feellike eating it for the 11th time
this month?
Meal plans don't teach you howto adapt to real-life situations
.
So the second, somethingunexpected happens.
You feel like you failed, whenin reality here wait for it the
plan actually failed you.
And when you start to eat thesethings, when you start to eat
(10:11):
something that's not on the planI know you've all thought of
this oh man, I fucked it up, soI might as well eat everything
in style.
No, you know what?
I'll start over on Monday, I'llstart over next week, I'll
start over next month.
That's just such that all ornothing mindset is why so many
people quit completely.
The second they go off plan.
They think that one bad mealruins everything, when in
(10:32):
reality it doesn't really matterat all.
Like I said before, unlessyou're a bodybuilder prepping
for a competition, you will noteat from a structured meal plan
forever.
At some point you're going tohave a birthday dinner with some
friends or a night out whereyou just feel like eating tacos
and margaritas or craving for aburger that just won't go away
and guess what?
(10:53):
That's normal.
A good nutrition strategyshould allow you to enjoy food
and still make progress.
If your plan doesn't work in thereal world, it is not a good
plan.
Second part is let's say you'redisciplined and I hate that
word.
But let's say you'redisciplined and you follow a
meal plan for eight weeks andyou lose weight Awesome.
(11:14):
But then what do you do next?
And this is where people gowrong.
They try to stay on the planforever, and I don't have to
tell you that never works.
What's more likely is they'regoing to go back to their old
eating habits and gain all theweight back, and they start to
panic when faced with foodchoices that are outside the
plan and spiral into baddecisions.
(11:36):
You've heard my story.
I said I was paleo and I waskilling it.
Yeah, I was just losing weightand I was strict.
Then I became a little lesspaleo and then I became somewhat
paleo.
Before you know it, I waseating all the shit that I
wasn't supposed to eat on, plusa bunch of other shit.
I put all the weight back onAgain.
The problem is, meal plans don'tteach you how to eat for life.
(11:57):
I learned how to eat for life.
That's what my whole thing isabout.
But when you don't learn how toeat for life, when that plan
ends, so does the structure, andwhen the structure disappears,
people go right back to all thateating habits.
They go right off the rails andlook.
The bottom line is thisTemporary changes equal
temporary results.
You're not going to havesustainable weight loss and
(12:20):
again, I'm only blaming myselffor this, but I didn't trust
myself to make good food choices.
I kept bouncing from diet todiet, hoping the next one's
going to work or I would obsess.
I did some calorie countingwhere I was down to like 1,500
calories a day and I obsessedwith tracking calories and
fucked around macros and pointsand you all of you know what
(12:40):
points are instead of learninghow to eat naturally and
normally.
And when I was doing thosethings, I felt lost every time
that I had to make a choiceoutside that structured plan.
And the reality is most peopledon't need a meal plan.
They need to learn how to eat.
So if you don't know how tobuild a balanced meal without
needing an app, you're a fuckingidiot.
(13:01):
If you don't know how to eat inmoderation without binging,
well, I understand that one.
If you don't know how to handlecravings without guilt, I'm
going to tell you how.
And if you don't know how toeat at restaurants without
panicking, you're missing a hugepart of life.
And, by the way, no meal planis ever going to fix anything
any of those things For me.
(13:23):
I don't know how to say thisother than this I learned how to
eat like a normal person andI'm not sure what normal is, but
the way everybody else eats,the people who are fit.
So instead of obsessing whatmeal plan I was going to follow,
I focused on learning how toeat in a way that works forever,
and just some of the thingsthat I did.
Look, I have no meal plan.
I've told you a thousand timesI didn't count calories.
(13:44):
I just ate whatever I felt like.
But there are certain thingsthat I did.
One of them is prioritizingprotein at every meal, because
protein keeps you full, itsupports muscle and it helps
control cravings.
And I'm going to tell you I atemore than this, but I would
tell you that, from a proteinstandpoint, aim for something
that's like the size of yourpalm at every single meal.
(14:07):
Now again, someone's going tosay well, you said you eat
overnight oats every morning.
Yes, I did eat overnight oatsevery single morning, or pretty
much every morning, but I alsoate a lot more protein in the
afternoon and the evening.
And if you build your mealsaround whole foods again, like
lean protein and healthy fatsand the right carbs and
vegetables, that's all you needto do.
(14:28):
80% of your meal should bewhole, nutrient-dense foods.
The other 20% could be shitthat you have for fun.
You don't have to eat perfectly.
You don't have to be perfect.
And again, this thing wasreally important for me Learn
how to practice portion controlInstead of creating rigid rules
Instead of weighing andmeasuring everything.
Learn how to practice portioncontrol instead of creating
rigid rules Instead of weighingand measuring everything.
(14:48):
Learn how to eyeball portions.
I know like fitness influencersmust be losing their shit right
now, but it's easy.
Don't fucking waste your timecounting calories.
A plate should be halfvegetables, a quarter protein
and a quarter carbs Simple, it'sthat easy.
And another one is follow the80-20 rule.
Eat the right food,nutrient-dense foods, 80% of the
(15:11):
time and leave 20% for like theother shit, for some
flexibility, like for a donutI'm not saying eat a donut with
your dinner 80%.
If you eat well, 80% of thetime you will lose weight.
That 20% is where you're goingto eat your treats.
If you're going out for asocial event, you're going to
have a few drinks.
It's real life, eating withoutthe guilt.
(15:32):
And lastly, or kind of almostlastly, but not really last but
stop seeing food as good and bad.
I talk about this all the timetoo.
One slice of pizza is not goingto ruin your fucking progress,
just like one salad is not goingto ruin your fucking progress,
just like one salad is not goingto make you fit.
Weight loss is about what youdo consistently, not what you do
once in a while, and that willhelp you develop habits, healthy
(15:55):
habits, not a temporary diet.
So creating eating habits andeating patterns that you can
actually follow for life iswhat's going to lead you to this
sustainable weight loss.
So look, bottom line, if you'reoverweight, you're not eating
like a normal person, and ifyou're on some extreme meal plan
, obsessively tracking everybite because some internet
(16:18):
jerk-off told you to do that, orsome diet doctor who knows what
the fuck they know.
Or if you're cutting out entirefood groups, you're not eating
like a normal person either.
Both extremes overeating andoverly restrictive diets are
broken systems that just don'twork long term.
Think about it If the wayyou're eating right now is
(16:40):
sustainable, you wouldn't bestruggling with your weight.
If your habits naturally led tomaintaining a healthy body, you
wouldn't be searching with yourweight.
If your habits naturally led tomaintaining a healthy body, you
wouldn't be searching for thenext diet, the next meal plan or
the secret hack to lose weight.
There is no fucking secret hack.
It's called eating normally.
The same applies if you're on aridiculously strict eating plan
.
Sure, you might lose weight fora little while, but what
(17:02):
happens when you can't keep itup and nobody can keep it up
long-term?
You go right back to your oldhabits and the weight piles back
on, and in my case, andprobably in your case as well,
you add a little bit more thanyou took off.
So the key to lasting weightloss isn't a rigid diet or some
magic food list or some extremeapproach.
It's learning how to eat in away that you can actually follow
(17:23):
for life.
Normal people don't eat massivecalorie surpluses every day,
but they also don't starvethemselves on 1,200 calories a
day.
Normal people don't binge eatfast food five nights a week,
but they also don't freak out ifthey have a burger every once
in a while.
The problem is when you'reoverweight for as long as I was,
and when you're just overweightfor a long period of time for
(17:47):
me it was 59 years you kind oflose touch with what normal
eating even looks like.
You don't know how to recognizehunger and fullness cues.
I know I sure as shit didn't.
I would just eat because it wasthere and I spent years
ignoring those cues.
You might not even know how tobuild a balanced meal, and I
think I knew how to do that, butI didn't know how to eat
something that satisfied mewithout overeating.
(18:09):
And if you've been on dietafter diet which, like I said,
I've been on a hundred of themyou might not even trust
yourself around food anymore.
Like I said, I always said I'mincapable of making good food
choices, so I used to thinkthose strict rules and meal
plans were the only thing thatkeep me under control.
I'm going to talk next weekabout, or the week I don't know
(18:30):
in the coming week, about thatfabulous weight loss advice like
just eat less and move more theworst fucking advice I've ever
heard in my life, but I'll getinto that.
But the reason I'm saying thatis because I want to tell you
now, like I say, say, eat like anormal person.
What does that actually mean?
It means that making mostlysmart choices works without
obsessing over perfection.
(18:51):
You focus on protein, fiber,whole foods most of the time,
but you don't lose your shit ifyou have a slice of pizza.
That's normal.
It means eating in a way thatmakes sense for your real life.
Okay, no one lives like theguys and the women on Instagram.
Okay, those fitness influencersspend their whole fucking life
(19:13):
in the gym.
It means that you have to eatin a way that makes sense for
your real life.
You can go out for dinner, youcan enjoy your holidays and you
could travel without falling tothis all or nothing cycle of
either binging or starvingyourself.
It also means not relying on anapp or a meal plan or a diet to
(19:33):
tell you what to eat.
You learn to eat based onhunger, balance and portion
control, not some strict, rigidset of rules.
It's just ridiculous.
And last thing is, it means nottreating food like the enemy.
You have to stop labeling foodsas good or bad and instead
focus on consistency.
(19:54):
Over time, I'm trying to figureout another episode of the
podcast where I actually flipthe script on what's good and
what's bad, because to me,fucking, donuts, that's good
food, pizza that's good food,burgers, that's good food.
It may not be good in the sensethat you're used to hearing,
but to me, damn, that's goodfood.
So don't worry about whetherfood is good or bad, just eat it
.
At the end of the day, the onlyway to lose weight and keep it
(20:15):
off is to develop a way ofeating that you can follow
forever, forever.
If you're consistently bouncingbetween eating like an
unsupervised child and thenfollowing some extreme,
miserable diet, you're nevergoing to make lasting progress.
The answer here is not morerules, it's learning how to eat
(20:37):
like a normal person again.
Yes, your meal plan might worktemporarily, but they don't
teach you the skills you need tokeep the weight off for good.
So let me give you this pieceof big news If you think you
need to cut out every bad foodto lose weight, you're setting
(20:57):
yourself up for failure.
Integrating treats into yourmeal is not just okay, it's
absolutely necessary forlong-term success.
Why do I say that?
Well, because total restrictionalways leads to rebellion,
right when I would cut outcertain food groups or certain
foods I always wanted, the more.
The more you tell yourself youcan't have pizza or ice cream or
(21:19):
burger, the more you crave it,the more I crave those things.
And when you finally give, it'snot just one slice or one
burger, it's a whole fucking pie, and that's the all or nothing
mindset.
It's exactly why most dietsfail.
So I decided that I was goingto let myself eat treats in
moderation when I really wantthem when I thought about it.
(21:42):
But when you do that, youremove that forbidden factor and
learn how to enjoy stuff likethe traditional bad foods
without any guilt.
It's just so easy.
When you stop looking at foodas good and bad, you just start
seeing it as food, somethingthat can be balanced within a
(22:03):
healthy lifestyle, makinghealthy choices.
This is how normal people eat.
They don't swear off cookiesforever.
They just don't eat an entiresleeve of Oreos in one sitting.
The key is Learning portioncontrol, making smart swaps when
necessary and available, andunderstanding that one treat
won't ruin your progress.
(22:24):
Only quitting will.
People don't need another diet.
You don't need another diet tofollow for 30 days.
You need to learn how to eat ina way that works for real life.
That way, you never have tostart over again.
So, instead of looking for someperfect meal plan because it
(22:47):
doesn't fucking exist learn howto eat smarter.
Make small, smart choices thatbuild habits that last, and stop
relying on strict rules andstart trusting yourself to make
better choices.
That's really how you win theweight loss game for good.
So there's my thought on mealplans.
(23:11):
You know I hate them.
You know I think they'resetting you up for failure.
If you want to learn how I didall this, how I changed my
mindset because this is a mentalgame you can buy my book called
Shut Up and Choose, same asthis podcast, on Amazon.
We're an Amazon bestseller.
I get emails every day frompeople telling me how it's
changed their life just byreading my book.
Again, that's available onAmazon.
(23:32):
You can also get my videocourse.
It's 20 plus videos.
It's called the EffortlessWeight Loss Academy.
It's available atlearnshutupandchoosecom
learnshutupandchoosecom and Ihate selling shit, but I will
tell you that it's $47, one-timepurchase.
I guarantee you, if you buy thecourse and go through it, you
(23:55):
will never have to spend anotherdime on weight loss again,
because it takes you through howto change your mindset, to
being in a fat loss mindset andmaking small, smart choices
every day and, most importantly,letting you forgive yourself
when you make a fucking mistake.
Get away from the meal planAgain.
(24:15):
You can get that at theEffortless Weight Loss Academy
at learnshutupandchoosecom.
So that's it for today.
That's it for my thoughts onmeal plans.
Let the hate begin Startsending me all the flames.
Let me know that why I'm wrong,why meal plans work.
I'm sure they're coming and thereality is I don't give a shit
unless you've lost a significantamount of weight.
(24:37):
Don't tell me what works andwhat doesn't work.
Let me rephrase that as long asyou've lost a significant
amount of weight and kept it off.
I'm coming up on two years.
If you've done that, then arguewith me.
Until then, I would tell youyou don't know what the fuck
you're talking about.
So now you have my thoughts onmeal plans and why they're
setting you up for failure.
You can pick and choose to eathowever you want.
(24:59):
You can do whatever it is youwant.
You have to do the thing thatworks for you.
The only thing left now to dois for you to shut up and choose
.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
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?
You can do it too.
(25:30):
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.
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