March 12, 2025 • 31 mins
From failed diets to sustainable success, this raw and unfiltered episode dives deep into why intermittent fasting isn't the miracle solution it's marketed to be. After trying over 100 different weight loss methods throughout his life, Jonathan shares why intermittent fasting - despite its popularity and initial results - is ultimately just another restrictive diet destined to fail long-term.
Jonathan celebrates a milestone by reading his 1000th reader email from someone who lost 27 pounds after adopting his approach to weight management. This success story highlights the stark contrast between temporary dieting and sustainable lifestyle change. Through personal experience and brutal honesty, Jonathan reveals how the supposedly "flexible" nature of intermittent fasting masks its fundamentally restrictive approach to eating.
The episode breaks down why quick-fix solutions like designated eating windows create unhealthy psychological relationships with food rather than addressing the root causes of weight issues. Instead, Jonathan advocates for his "Live Life, Love Food, Lose Weight" philosophy - a sustainable approach that has helped him maintain a 140-pound weight loss for nearly two years without pills, surgeries, or even stepping foot in a gym.
What makes this episode particularly powerful is the straightforward, no-nonsense advice about making small, smart choices that anyone can implement immediately. Jonathan cuts through the noise of complicated diet plans and restrictive eating schedules to focus on what really matters: creating daily habits that support both physical health and psychological wellbeing. Ready to transform your relationship with food without giving up the joy of eating? This episode might just change everything you thought you knew about weight loss.
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
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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 (01:14):
Hey, welcome back to Shut Up and Choose, the podcast
that cuts the noise.
The nonsense and all thatbullshit that internet and
Instagram gurus are shovelingdown your throat telling you
it's true, and we all know noneof that.
Well, actually, that's not fair.
Most of that shit is just thatbullshit.
I'm here to give you the hardtruth and, by the way, in case
(01:34):
you don't know, I'm your host,jonathan Ressler, and last week
I said or actually, two weeksago was the first time I said it
that I was going to read mythousandth email Of someone who
got my book and who would help.
For two weeks it just didn'tcome Well.
This week I got three or fourof them, but I said I would read
number 1,000.
And this is it.
So today we're going to talkabout a couple of things, but I
(01:55):
got to deliver on my promise ofreading that thousandth email.
So here we go.
Hey, jonathan, I recentlyfinished Shut Up and Choose and
I had to reach out to you andsay thank you.
Your book wasn't just anotherweight loss guide, it was a
wake-up call.
I spent years making excuses,convincing myself that my
situation was different andspecial and that was in quotes
(02:17):
and blaming everything but myown choices.
But your no-bullshit approachforced me to face the truth.
I was choosing to stay stucksince reading shut up and choose
.
Everything changed.
I stopped over complicatingthings and started making small,
smart choices, just like youwrite in the book.
In the past two months I'velost 27 pounds.
That's fucking awesome.
That wasn't in there.
(02:38):
I just that's my own commentaryI stopped eating like an idiot.
Well, that's great.
And I finally feel in controlof my own health, maybe for the
first time ever.
But more than that, I feel freefree from the diet
rollercoaster, free from thebelief that I need to feel
motivated to take action andfree from my own excuses.
I know I still have a long wayto go, but for the first time, I
(03:01):
actually believe I'll get there.
So again, thank you.
Your book didn't just help melose weight, it helped me take
my life back.
Best Warren S from Milwaukee,wisconsin.
How fucking cool is that?
That's like getting a letterlike that.
Truthfully, it's almost betterthan me actually having lost the
weight.
I mean, it's so cool to get aletter like that or an email and
(03:25):
to know that you've actuallychanged somebody's life, that
I've helped somebody that much.
Nothing could be moregratifying than that.
I really can't think ofanything more gratifying than
that.
I'd like to say thank you toRNS, whoever you are, but, more
importantly, I'd like to shit onsome other people.
The people I'd like to shit ontoday are the intermittent
(03:45):
fasting nuts.
And I preface all this by sayingI did intermittent fasting.
It was cool.
I know a lot of people whostill do it and think that it
has these unbelievable benefitsand there are definitely
benefits and you can definitelylose weight doing it, but it's
all about restrictionsEverywhere you look and
everything you read.
Still, intermittent fasting hasgotten and is keeping a lot of
(04:09):
traction and for a lot of peopleit's a go-to method for weight
loss and what they believe isoverall health improvement.
I don't believe that.
I think it's bullshit, but it'stouted as a lifestyle change
that promises not just weightloss but also benefits like
increased mental clarity, betterdigestion and even increased
longevity.
I did it.
I definitely lost weight on it.
(04:32):
I'm not so sure that my mentalclarity was so great, because
all I could think about was howlong till I can fucking eat.
How long till I can fucking eat.
But anyway, the concept,obviously, of intermittent
fasting is pretty simple youlimit your eating to specific
windows of time and fast duringthe rest of the time.
By fast, obviously, you candrink water and coffee and clear
liquids, stuff like that, butyou're limiting your eating to
(04:53):
specific windows and fast therest of the time.
So I think the most popular onecertainly the one I did was
16-8, and that's 16 hours offasting and 8 hours of eating,
and that's 16 hours of fastingand eight hours of eating.
A lot of people do five-two,which I didn't do, but it's
eating normally for five daysand really restricting your
calories for two of the days.
(05:13):
But intermittent fasting Idon't know who markets it, but
it's been marketed as a lessrestrictive diet.
But as appealing as that soundsand it sounded great to me I
figured hey, great, I can.
Whatever, I'll fast for 16hours, eight of those.
Hopefully I'm sleeping.
That's really.
I'm only fasting 18 hours.
Shit, I could do this.
So it sounds appealing, but whenyou really peel back the layers
(05:36):
, all intermittent fasting is isjust another diet in disguise.
It's basically a structured wayof skipping meals wrapped in
this kind of this dressing orthis veneer of health benefits.
And I'm not saying it doesn'toffer some short-term results,
because it does, but it doescome with its own set of
challenges and drawbacks.
It kind of makes it difficultto sustain that in the long run.
(05:58):
For me it was fun for a while,it was kind of cool, but it
definitely has it's difficult tomaintain over the long run.
So hopefully I'm going to sharewith you why it's intermittent
fasting is just honestly justanother restrictive diet and why
the way I did it and the way Ieat and the way I choose to do
stuff is much more sustainable,and hopefully you'll learn
(06:20):
something today along the way.
But before we get deep intointermittent fasting and why
it's just another diet, I guesswe should talk a little bit
about its appeal.
I'll admit it, it was appealingto me and I think there's a few
reasons why intermittentfasting has really captured the
attention of so many people onthe internet.
And again, I know a lot of timehas gone by but people still
(06:43):
talk about intermittent fastinglike it's the greatest thing
since sliced bread and, by theway, you can eat sliced bread on
intermittent fasting.
But one of the things that theysay that makes that, I believe,
makes it so popular and whypeople like it is it's simple.
So one of the most attractiveaspects for me of intermittent
fasting was its simplicity.
(07:04):
It's not like a diet where Ihave to count my calories or
weigh my food or figure out somefucking macros or meal prep or
any of that shit.
Intermittent fasting is prettystraightforward, right, it's a
straightforward structure Eatduring your designated window
and fast the rest of the time,and I think that for me that was
a relief.
I don't like the intricacies ofdieting.
(07:25):
I never want to count calories,I don't like it.
So that was kind of cool.
The second thing that makes itso appealing is that you're kind
of flexible in your foodchoices.
Right, it doesn't dictate whatyou eat, you only eat what you
eat.
And that perceived flexibilityand I'll talk more about that
later but that perceivedflexibility makes people, lets
(07:46):
people indulge in their favoritefood during their eating window
, making it seem lessrestrictive than other diets,
and of course nobody wants tocut out their favorite foods and
you can eat whatever you wantin your window of time, in your
eating window.
So that idea that you can stillenjoy your favorite foods and
still lose weight, of coursethat's a powerful draw.
And then the third one is peopletalk about the health benefits.
(08:09):
Intermittent fasting has beenlinked not proven, but linked to
a range of potential healthbenefits beyond weight loss.
Some studies say that it canimprove your insulin sensitivity
.
Who knows?
I mean that's crucial though,if it's true, for blood sugar
control and preventing type 2diabetes.
Some people say the fastingperiods promote a process where
(08:29):
the body cleans out damagedcells and regenerates new one,
and I don't know if that's trueor not, so I'm not going to
really waste a lot of time onthat.
And then the last thing that Ithink that makes it so popular
is, truthfully, you get quickweight loss results.
The appeal of intermittentfasting really lies in its
ability to produce really fastweight loss results, and that's
(08:50):
particularly and mostly in theshort term.
By restricting the hours thatyou eat, you naturally are going
to consume fewer.
Think, if you're eating 16hours a day, you're going to eat
or you should eat more caloriesthan you are in eight hours a
day, so it definitely leads toweight loss, or you should eat
more calories than you are ineight hours a day, so it
definitely leads to weight loss.
And that immediategratification of actually seeing
the improvement on the scalewas definitely highly motivating
(09:12):
, especially if you're a personthat's struggling on a lot of
other diets.
Again, that happened to me.
I went on intermittent fasting.
I lost weight.
It was going great, I keptgoing, kept going, kept going
and then I just got fucking sickof it.
And I'm going to talk aboutwhat the drawbacks are.
So the benefits of intermittentfasting, we just talked about
it, but the downsides are thestuff that people don't talk
(09:33):
about.
And, at its core, what isintermittent fasting?
It's a form of meal skipping.
Right, it's an eating patternthat, despite how popular it is,
it definitely leads to somenegative consequences.
At the end of the day, it'sstill a restrictive diet,
despite everybody says, oh,intermittent fasting is a
lifestyle change rather than adiet.
(09:54):
Yes, I've never been on a dietwhere they didn't call it a
lifestyle change, but it's abouta lifestyle change.
But really, at the core, it'sjust fundamentally about
restriction.
By limiting your eating tospecific windows of time, you're
placing significant restraintson when you can nourish your
body.
Right, I want to eat when Iwant to eat.
(10:16):
And that rigid structure and itis a rigid structure because
you're making the choice for theday.
I believe I ate from 12 noon to8 pm.
That was my eating window, butif I wanted to eat earlier in
the morning.
If I had a meeting, it was abreakfast meeting.
I couldn't do any of that shit,so it really it didn't work for
me.
That rigid structure honestlyfor me felt almost as
restrictive as having to countcalories or cutting out food
(10:39):
groups.
The stress of adhering to thosestrict windows honestly was
draining for me, and the ideathat I couldn't eat if I was
genuinely hungry because it'soutside my quote-unquote eating
window, that definitely made mea little crazy.
I hated the idea Like, well,I'm hungry but I can't eat.
And I think it's for me, aperson like me.
(11:01):
I have a fairly unpredictableschedule, so if I want to go out
with friends at night for alate dinner, I couldn't do that
with intermittent fasting.
I mean I could, but then I feltlike I was breaking the diet
and I felt guilty.
So I don't know.
I just think that it'sfundamentally it's another
restrictive diet.
The second big thing for me isthe risk of overeating the
(11:26):
restrictive diet.
The second big thing for me isthe risk of overeating.
One of the biggest pitfalls ofintermittent fasting is the risk
of overeating during your quotedesignated eating window.
Right, oh, you can eat anythingyou want.
At this time, and after fastingfor an extended period of time,
it's natural to feel hungry,right?
I would get to that 12 o'clock.
I was counting.
Okay, I can eat in a minute, Ican eat in two minutes when you
finally sit down to eat.
For me, it really led me to eatmore, probably, than I would
(11:49):
have in a really short amount oftime without the mindfulness
and it's all about mindfulnessthat you need to listen to your
body's hunger and fullness cues.
So maybe I'm just not, I don'thave the willpower to do it and
I think willpower is overratedbut I would sit down and I would
eat something big and fast.
I was focused on making up forthis lost time during my eating
window and it was just easy forme to eat more than my body
(12:12):
actually needs.
And they say, oh, eat whateveryou want.
Well, that's not necessarilytrue, but I'll get to that.
So I just think that thatpattern of restriction followed
by overeating just creates areally unhealthy relationship
with food.
You're going back and forthbetween deprivation and
indulgence rather than findingsome kind of balance and I think
balance is the key andintermittent fasting I touched
(12:34):
on this a second ago.
It makes social situations kindof weird, right, because a lot
of times our social livesrevolve around food and that
could be lunch or dinner.
And again, that 12 to 8 windowmakes it pretty easy.
But if you're following astrict eating window you have to
sit down for dinner by 7.
I'm saying, if you're going outwith a bunch of friends and be
(12:55):
done by 8 because you can't eatat 8.01.
Yes, of course you can, or youcan't eat at 8.30.
Or you can't have a drink.
It just I don't know, it justmakes social.
For me it made the social lifevery, very difficult.
So again, if you're one ofthose people that works in an
office, you might have to skip abreakfast meeting with people
because you can't eat, declininginvitations, I don't know, to
(13:19):
morning stuff, I don't know.
I just think it makes yoursocial life kind of tough when
you have a prescribed window ofwhen you can and can't eat.
And I think any diet thatimposes strict rules around
eating is going to lead toeating disorders.
And I got crazy about it At8.01, man, I was done eating and
(13:39):
I wouldn't eat at 11.59.
I was going to wait till 12.
And that for me, created an allor nothing mindset where I
either stick to the planperfectly or I feel like I
failed, and that black and whitethinking leads to cycles of
binging and restricting.
Okay, it's 12.
I can eat whatever the fuck Iwant right now.
Well, no, that's not true.
You can only eat a certainamount of calories.
(14:00):
It doesn't matter we talkedabout this last week.
It doesn't matter if you eat1,000 calories each meal for
three meals or 3,000 caloriesone time a day.
Your body is still processing3,000 calories.
The time you eat has nothing todo with your digestion.
It has nothing to do with theamount of calories you can
(14:20):
consume.
So I don't know.
I think that it's a very toughdiet to stick to.
I also think that, like most ofthese fad diets intermittent
fasting, atkins, paleo they alllead to quick weight loss.
There's no question about it.
But every time and everyone Iknow that has been on one of
those diets and I'm specificallytalking about intermittent
(14:41):
fasting right now the effect istemporary.
Once you kind of loosen up thestrict rules, like ah, you know
what, I'll go maybe 12 to 8.30,or I'll go 11.30 to 9.
And you start to, I guess,loosen up the rules that strict
eating I'm doing.
Okay, I'm going to loosen up alittle bit and boom, before you
know it, you're right back towhere you started.
(15:02):
So that emphasis on theshort-term results rather than
the long-term sustainabilityit's a common flaw in pretty
much every diet.
Everybody wants to lose weightas fast as they can, and then
I'll worry about it when I takeit off.
I'll keep it off.
This time is different.
I said all those fucking things.
I was on over 100 diets and Ilost weight on all of them, but
eventually I always put it backon.
(15:23):
So I just think that eventhough that initial weight loss
feels great, it's an awesomefeeling, but that approach just
isn't sustainable.
You can't eat only eight hoursa day.
I think you'll find yourselfright back where you started.
And then the last part, I think,of intermittent fasting.
That, for me, just I don't know.
There really is no long-termresearch on whether or not it's
(15:47):
great.
There is definitely someevidence that says the
short-term benefits ofintermittent fasting are this,
this and that, but there is nolong-term research on its safety
or effectiveness.
Not that I give a shit aboutthe safety I've done plenty of
crazy shit in my life but theeffectiveness I do care.
I don't want to make alifestyle change that we might
find out doesn't work.
(16:07):
So I don't think that anybodyfully understands the impact of
prolonged fasting, and that iseating eight hours a day and
fasting 16 hours a day isprolonged fasting, so we don't
know what the impact is going tobe on overall health.
So I think it's tough to saywhether intermittent fasting is
safe and sustainable and reallywhat works for one person might
(16:30):
not work for another person.
My older brother doesn't reallyneed to lose weight, but he
does intermittent fastingsometimes, but he doesn't.
Sometimes he'll want to lose 10, 15 pounds or five pounds and
he doesn't.
It works for him, but then hegoes off it because he doesn't
have a weight problem, he's fitand he really doesn't need to
lose any significant amount ofweight at any point in his life.
(16:51):
So I think that probably itworks for him.
But I'm not talking to thosepeople.
I'm talking to people who are30, 50, 70, 100 or more pounds
overweight, who really need tomaintain a lifestyle that they
can actually, where they can eatand function in normal society.
I don't believe thatintermittent fasting is the one.
(17:12):
So what do I?
As you know what I did, but I'mgoing to tell you anyway,
because I just want to talkabout my live, life, love food,
lose weight philosophy, becauseI think that's really what made
the difference for me.
Now I'm coming up on two yearsand I haven't I've maintained my
weight.
I'm not losing weight as fastas I was.
(17:32):
In fact, I don't know if I'velost any weight in the last
month, month and a half, but Ihaven't put any weight on.
Or, let me rephrase it, I'msure I've put on a couple pounds
and taken off a couple pounds,but I'm maintaining right where
I want to be.
So if intermittent fasting andthe other diets just don't work
for you, they're not going togive you sustainable results.
I think my way of eating is thebest alternative.
(17:54):
It really is all about adoptinga philosophy that focuses more
than on just what or when youcan eat.
My approach is live life, lovefood, lose weight.
It's a sustainable path toachieving your health and weight
loss goals by emphasizing abalanced and enjoyable lifestyle
.
I believe you have to live lifefully.
That's the cornerstone of myphilosophy.
(18:16):
So, instead of putting yourlife on hold until you reach a
certain weight or fit into aspecific size pants or jacket or
shirt or dress my approachreally encourages you to embrace
life right now.
Don't fucking wait, because younever know when it's over.
So live your life, love what'sgoing on.
It's about finding joy ineveryday moments, building
strong relationships and reallydoing the shit that you love,
(18:39):
having passion without lettingfood or weight dictate your
happiness.
Now I get it.
If you're a big, fatmotherfucker, like I was at 411
pounds, weight did kind ofdictate my happiness, but I made
a decision that I was going toenjoy my life, that I made a
choice to lose the weight, and Ithink when I started focusing
(19:00):
on living fully, my mindsetshifted from one of, I guess,
deprivation all the things thatI couldn't do to one of
abundance, of thinking like, hey, I can do and be anything if I
want to, and you start to seethat your life is rich with
experiences and connections andopportunities and food is just
one small part of that bigpicture.
And I think that shift reallyhelped me, shifted my
(19:23):
perspective, I guess, because itnaturally just supports a
healthier lifestyle if you'renot using food as your primary
source of comfort or fulfillment.
And again, I think my way is somuch more sustainable than
anything that I've seen outthere Because it means that
you're focusing on living yourlife, not just losing weight,
(19:45):
and it helps you to build alifestyle that's about thriving,
not just surviving.
Honestly, at 411 pounds I wasjust trying to survive.
You know this.
I was on death's door.
I was in the hospital, I was onoxygen, my kidneys were failing
, I couldn't breathe.
My heart was ready to give up.
I had medicine and machines notso many machines, but I'll
(20:07):
consider the oxygen thing amachine keeping me alive.
That's not thriving, that'sbarely surviving.
So I think when you're engagedin activities that bring you joy
and satisfaction, I know for meI'm a lot less likely to turn
to food as a way to fill thoseemotional voids.
So I just think emotionaleating is a crazy thing.
(20:29):
People do it, but when you'reliving your life and really
enjoying what you're doing, ithelps you create a more balanced
relationship with food.
And then the second thing isyou got to love food.
If you're eating shit that youdon't like, you can't do that
for long term.
So it's about cultivating apositive and healthy
relationship with what you'reeating.
So instead of fearing food likeoh my God, I can't eat that or
(20:53):
seeing it as the enemy, like no,I can only eat carrots and
carrots.
No, my approach is aboutencouraging you to appreciate it
.
It's nourishment and it'senjoyment.
You can feed your soul, it'sokay.
It's okay to enjoy your food.
It shouldn't be punishment.
It's about being mindful whenyou're eating, and it's savoring
every bite and listening toyour body's hunger and fullness
(21:14):
cues and for me that was a bigone.
I would just eat because it wastime to eat, and if I could eat
one, well, what the hell?
I might as well eat two.
So it's about really thinkingabout what you're putting in
your mouth and letting go of anyguilt or shame that you might
have around food.
So, like I said, mindful eatingjust helps you become more in
tune with what's going on inyour body and it empowers you to
(21:34):
make food choices that supportyour health and well-being.
It's not about restriction ordeprivation.
It's about balance andenjoyment.
I don't know how many dietsyou've been on, but I've never
been on a diet, a fad diet or afucking exercise program that
(21:56):
that wasn't about restriction ordeprivation.
What I do is about balance andenjoyment.
When you love food, you're morelikely to choose foods that
make you feel good, bothphysically and emotionally.
Like I said before, if you needto feed your soul with some
jelly donuts, by all fuckingmeans go eat the jelly donuts,
but just think about it firstand again.
My way of eating is moresustainable.
(22:20):
When you love food which I doand I think a lot of people do
and you allow yourself to enjoyit without guilt, you're so much
more likely to make balancedand healthy choices.
Naturally, I don't need you orsomebody to tell me eat two
ounces of this and four ouncesof that here and don't make it
Fuck that.
I know it's healthy, you knowit's healthy.
We all know of that here.
And don't make it Fuck that.
I know it's healthy, you knowit's healthy.
(22:41):
We all know what we should andshouldn't be eating.
I say this all the time.
You know eating eggs forbreakfast is better than eating
a bowl of Captain Crunch.
You don't need a fucking degreeto know that.
If you don't feel deprived,you're less likely to binge and
overeat.
So if I ate a donut, I thoughtabout it.
(23:02):
I was like, wow, yeah, allright, I ate that, but now I
have to make up for it, and makeup for it is probably the wrong
word, but I have to take thatinto account because I don't
want to eat more bad shit today.
Okay, I made a small choice.
I thought about it.
Yes, I want to eat a donut, buteverything else I eat for the
rest, about that.
So I think that creates areally sustainable approach that
you can maintain for life.
Look, I don't know if I canmaintain it for life, but I've
(23:22):
been pretty goddamn good for thelast two years.
I'm not telling you I haven'tput on weight and lost weight I
have.
My weight definitely fluctuatesa little bit, but I am 140
pounds lighter than I was twoyears ago in April.
So I just think it's a muchmore sustainable approach.
And again, the way I do it noshots, no pills, no surgeries,
no gym and I know people fuckingrip me for saying I don't go to
(23:45):
the gym, but I haven't been tothe gym since I started this not
one single time.
I like to walk every day.
Honestly, for the last monthI've been pretty shitty about
that.
I am definitely not walkingevery day, but yeah, you don't
need to go to the gym andwalking every day.
But yeah, you don't need to goto the gym.
And I know people are going togo mental.
(24:06):
I'm going to start to getemails, but the reality is I
lost weight.
Naturally, it's about allowingweight loss to happen as a
natural result of living fullyand loving the food that you eat
.
So when you focus on makingsmall smart choices again,
because we all know what thebetter choices are when we're
eating you definitely know thateating chicken for lunch is
better than eating a big fatdouble-bacon cheeseburger with,
(24:26):
I don't know, oozing ranch.
Actually that sounds disgusting, but whatever, you know what
I'm talking about.
But when we make these smallsmart choices, like
incorporating more whole foodsin your diet and staying active
in ways that you actually enjoyand practicing mindful eating,
weight loss becomes a byproductof your healthy lifestyle.
It's not the sole focus and Ithink that takes the pressure
(24:47):
off the scale and it shifts theoverall focus to overall health
and well-being Instead ofobsessing over numbers.
You're encouraged to celebratethe positive changes you're
making in your life and I thinkthat's really powerful, and
those could be feeling moreenergetic, sleeping better,
simply enjoying your mealswithout stress.
There's so much positive shitto celebrate when you eat that
way.
So by making these small,manageable changes, you're
(25:08):
creating habits that stick.
So it's not like I'm going to dothis until I can't, because
you're not really thinking aboutit right.
I don't really think like okay,is it?
It's just it's become a habitfor me to know if I eat
something.
If I feed my soul in themorning, I feed my soul today.
I have to be more carefultomorrow and I think that's and
this is a scary word, a scaryphrase that's how normal people
eat.
You know people who can eatwhatever they want, whenever
(25:30):
they want, and they just theydon't seem to put on weight
because they know how to eat.
And at 411 pounds, I candefinitely tell you I had no
fucking idea how to eat.
Well, I knew how to eat, but Ididn't know how to eat right.
I didn't know how to eathealthy.
So, just bringing it back tointermittent fasting when
comparing intermittent fastingto my way, I just think that
it's painfully obvious that mymethod is a more balanced,
(25:52):
sustainable approach and itleads to weight loss and health
because, first of all, there'sno restrictive rules.
You can eat whatever you wantAgain, just use your head, you
know what to eat.
And two, you're focused onoverall well-being, not just
eating in a certain time, whenyou're focused on living a
fulfilling life.
Weight loss is, like I said,just becomes a natural byproduct
(26:13):
and it reduces the pressure toget those fast results and it
helps you build a lifestyle thatactually supports some
long-term success to get thosefast results and it helps you
build a lifestyle that actuallysupports some long-term success.
And the third thing it'smindful eating is the
cornerstone of my approach andit's what sets it apart from all
those restrictive diets likeintermittent fasting.
Instead of focusing on when youcan eat or what you can't eat,
(26:33):
mindful eating encourages you tobe present during meals.
It's simple stuff Savor everybite and pay attention to how
your body feels, and that helpsyou make healthier choices
without the need for strictrules or deprivation.
And last, I guess is thatintermittent fasting might
deliver quick results For me.
Honestly, when I started eatingmindfully and doing this, I
(26:54):
lost weight really quick, but Ihad a lot of weight to lose.
So intermittent fasting mightgive you those quick results,
but it's restrictive and bybeing restrictive, it makes it
difficult to sustain it over thelong term.
My approach, on the other hand,look, I've been doing it for
two years and I was the king ofyo-yo dieting.
I could do any diet for a fewweeks or a few months, but
sooner or later I fell off.
And now I'm coming up on twoyears and I'm still doing the
(27:19):
same thing and it's working andI'm eating stuff and I love what
I'm doing and I'm living mybest life.
I don't know how it gets betterthan that.
So, again, intermittent fastingmight offer some short-term
benefits, but at its core, it'sjust another diet that relies on
restriction and control and,like I said, it might lead to
quick weight loss, but theresults are temporary and the
approach comes with risks thatcan, in my opinion, harm your
(27:42):
relationship with food.
So, instead of jumping on thatintermittent fasting, consider
embracing a more sustainableapproach like mine, like live
life, love food and lose weight.
And I think that when you focuson making small, smart choices,
you can achieve that lastingsuccess in a way that really
enhances your life rather thanrestricting it.
So, look, my approach.
(28:03):
It's not about quick fixes.
There's no rigid rules.
It's about creating a life thatyou love.
It's one where food is a sourceof nourishment and joy, not
stress and anxiety andrestriction, and I just think,
loving your food and makingsustainable choices, you'll not
only achieve your weight lossgoal, but you'll also lead a
life that you're excited to liveevery single day, and God knows
(28:25):
I've done that over the pastcouple of years.
I'm excited and food is not mysole focus and, for whatever
it's worth, my way of eatingwill change your life in every
aspect of your life.
So that's really all I have tosay about intermittent fasting
and I know I kind of went off ona tangent talking about why my
way is better but again, I'vebeen on every single diet under
(28:46):
the sun and I can tell you thatintermittent fasting works, but
it's not sustainable.
I don't care who you are, youcan't eat in an eight-hour
window for the rest of your lifeBullshit.
I would like to speak tosomebody who's done it.
So focus on following asustainable plan, a sustainable
diet, something you can do forthe rest of your life.
It's about making small, smartchoices.
(29:07):
That's the key to losing weightand keeping it off Small, smart
choices.
You already know what to eat.
I don't have to tell you whatto eat.
Nobody has to tell you what toeat.
You don't have to measure yourfood, you don't have to meal
prep.
You know how to do this, soknock it the fuck off and do it.
So that brings me to the end ofmy rant on intermittent fasting
(29:27):
.
You can buy my book Shut Up andChoose on Amazon.
We're an Amazon bestseller.
I read you my 1,000th email, soyou know people are buying it
and loving it and seeing results.
People are also starting tocheck out my online video course
called the effortless weightloss academy.
You can get it atlearnshutupandchoosecom.
(29:51):
That's learnshutupandchoosecom20.
Some odd videos that kind oftake you through my whole
philosophy.
One.
Watch it.
If you don't lose weight, thenyou're doing something wrong,
because it's impossible not tolose weight with the Effortless
Weight Loss Academy.
It's so simple, I laid out sosimple, but anyway, I feel like
(30:13):
I'm doing a commercial.
I guess I was doing acommercial there.
So that's okay.
So there we go.
That brings me to the end of mypodcast for this week.
You can do atkins, you can dopaleo, you can do any one of
those diets, certainlyintermittent fasting, and you'll
lose weight short term.
You won't be able to sustain itfor the rest of your life.
I'm six, almost 61 years old.
(30:35):
Believe me, I've tried them all, I've been on them all, I've
succeeded on them all and Ifailed on them.
The only way to lose weight andkeep it off is by making small,
smart choices and eatingmindfully.
You have all the information.
Now.
The only thing left to do is toshut up and choose.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
You've been listening to Shut Up and Choose.
You've been listening to ShutUp 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
(31:15):
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 themeantime, find jonathan on
instagram at jonathan wrestler,boca raton.
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 (01:14):
Hey, welcome back to Shut Up and Choose, the podcast
that cuts the noise.
The nonsense and all thatbullshit that internet and
Instagram gurus are shovelingdown your throat telling you
it's true, and we all know noneof that.
Well, actually, that's not fair.
Most of that shit is just thatbullshit.
I'm here to give you the hardtruth and, by the way, in case
(01:34):
you don't know, I'm your host,jonathan Ressler, and last week
I said or actually, two weeksago was the first time I said it
that I was going to read mythousandth email Of someone who
got my book and who would help.
For two weeks it just didn'tcome Well.
This week I got three or fourof them, but I said I would read
number 1,000.
And this is it.
So today we're going to talkabout a couple of things, but I
(01:55):
got to deliver on my promise ofreading that thousandth email.
So here we go.
Hey, jonathan, I recentlyfinished Shut Up and Choose and
I had to reach out to you andsay thank you.
Your book wasn't just anotherweight loss guide, it was a
wake-up call.
I spent years making excuses,convincing myself that my
situation was different andspecial and that was in quotes
(02:17):
and blaming everything but myown choices.
But your no-bullshit approachforced me to face the truth.
I was choosing to stay stucksince reading shut up and choose
.
Everything changed.
I stopped over complicatingthings and started making small,
smart choices, just like youwrite in the book.
In the past two months I'velost 27 pounds.
That's fucking awesome.
That wasn't in there.
(02:38):
I just that's my own commentaryI stopped eating like an idiot.
Well, that's great.
And I finally feel in controlof my own health, maybe for the
first time ever.
But more than that, I feel freefree from the diet
rollercoaster, free from thebelief that I need to feel
motivated to take action andfree from my own excuses.
I know I still have a long wayto go, but for the first time, I
(03:01):
actually believe I'll get there.
So again, thank you.
Your book didn't just help melose weight, it helped me take
my life back.
Best Warren S from Milwaukee,wisconsin.
How fucking cool is that?
That's like getting a letterlike that.
Truthfully, it's almost betterthan me actually having lost the
weight.
I mean, it's so cool to get aletter like that or an email and
(03:25):
to know that you've actuallychanged somebody's life, that
I've helped somebody that much.
Nothing could be moregratifying than that.
I really can't think ofanything more gratifying than
that.
I'd like to say thank you toRNS, whoever you are, but, more
importantly, I'd like to shit onsome other people.
The people I'd like to shit ontoday are the intermittent
(03:45):
fasting nuts.
And I preface all this by sayingI did intermittent fasting.
It was cool.
I know a lot of people whostill do it and think that it
has these unbelievable benefitsand there are definitely
benefits and you can definitelylose weight doing it, but it's
all about restrictionsEverywhere you look and
everything you read.
Still, intermittent fasting hasgotten and is keeping a lot of
(04:09):
traction and for a lot of peopleit's a go-to method for weight
loss and what they believe isoverall health improvement.
I don't believe that.
I think it's bullshit, but it'stouted as a lifestyle change
that promises not just weightloss but also benefits like
increased mental clarity, betterdigestion and even increased
longevity.
I did it.
I definitely lost weight on it.
(04:32):
I'm not so sure that my mentalclarity was so great, because
all I could think about was howlong till I can fucking eat.
How long till I can fucking eat.
But anyway, the concept,obviously, of intermittent
fasting is pretty simple youlimit your eating to specific
windows of time and fast duringthe rest of the time.
By fast, obviously, you candrink water and coffee and clear
liquids, stuff like that, butyou're limiting your eating to
(04:53):
specific windows and fast therest of the time.
So I think the most popular onecertainly the one I did was
16-8, and that's 16 hours offasting and 8 hours of eating,
and that's 16 hours of fastingand eight hours of eating.
A lot of people do five-two,which I didn't do, but it's
eating normally for five daysand really restricting your
calories for two of the days.
(05:13):
But intermittent fasting Idon't know who markets it, but
it's been marketed as a lessrestrictive diet.
But as appealing as that soundsand it sounded great to me I
figured hey, great, I can.
Whatever, I'll fast for 16hours, eight of those.
Hopefully I'm sleeping.
That's really.
I'm only fasting 18 hours.
Shit, I could do this.
So it sounds appealing, but whenyou really peel back the layers
(05:36):
, all intermittent fasting is isjust another diet in disguise.
It's basically a structured wayof skipping meals wrapped in
this kind of this dressing orthis veneer of health benefits.
And I'm not saying it doesn'toffer some short-term results,
because it does, but it doescome with its own set of
challenges and drawbacks.
It kind of makes it difficultto sustain that in the long run.
(05:58):
For me it was fun for a while,it was kind of cool, but it
definitely has it's difficult tomaintain over the long run.
So hopefully I'm going to sharewith you why it's intermittent
fasting is just honestly justanother restrictive diet and why
the way I did it and the way Ieat and the way I choose to do
stuff is much more sustainable,and hopefully you'll learn
(06:20):
something today along the way.
But before we get deep intointermittent fasting and why
it's just another diet, I guesswe should talk a little bit
about its appeal.
I'll admit it, it was appealingto me and I think there's a few
reasons why intermittentfasting has really captured the
attention of so many people onthe internet.
And again, I know a lot of timehas gone by but people still
(06:43):
talk about intermittent fastinglike it's the greatest thing
since sliced bread and, by theway, you can eat sliced bread on
intermittent fasting.
But one of the things that theysay that makes that, I believe,
makes it so popular and whypeople like it is it's simple.
So one of the most attractiveaspects for me of intermittent
fasting was its simplicity.
(07:04):
It's not like a diet where Ihave to count my calories or
weigh my food or figure out somefucking macros or meal prep or
any of that shit.
Intermittent fasting is prettystraightforward, right, it's a
straightforward structure Eatduring your designated window
and fast the rest of the time,and I think that for me that was
a relief.
I don't like the intricacies ofdieting.
(07:25):
I never want to count calories,I don't like it.
So that was kind of cool.
The second thing that makes itso appealing is that you're kind
of flexible in your foodchoices.
Right, it doesn't dictate whatyou eat, you only eat what you
eat.
And that perceived flexibilityand I'll talk more about that
later but that perceivedflexibility makes people, lets
(07:46):
people indulge in their favoritefood during their eating window
, making it seem lessrestrictive than other diets,
and of course nobody wants tocut out their favorite foods and
you can eat whatever you wantin your window of time, in your
eating window.
So that idea that you can stillenjoy your favorite foods and
still lose weight, of coursethat's a powerful draw.
And then the third one is peopletalk about the health benefits.
(08:09):
Intermittent fasting has beenlinked not proven, but linked to
a range of potential healthbenefits beyond weight loss.
Some studies say that it canimprove your insulin sensitivity
.
Who knows?
I mean that's crucial though,if it's true, for blood sugar
control and preventing type 2diabetes.
Some people say the fastingperiods promote a process where
(08:29):
the body cleans out damagedcells and regenerates new one,
and I don't know if that's trueor not, so I'm not going to
really waste a lot of time onthat.
And then the last thing that Ithink that makes it so popular
is, truthfully, you get quickweight loss results.
The appeal of intermittentfasting really lies in its
ability to produce really fastweight loss results, and that's
(08:50):
particularly and mostly in theshort term.
By restricting the hours thatyou eat, you naturally are going
to consume fewer.
Think, if you're eating 16hours a day, you're going to eat
or you should eat more caloriesthan you are in eight hours a
day, so it definitely leads toweight loss, or you should eat
more calories than you are ineight hours a day, so it
definitely leads to weight loss.
And that immediategratification of actually seeing
the improvement on the scalewas definitely highly motivating
(09:12):
, especially if you're a personthat's struggling on a lot of
other diets.
Again, that happened to me.
I went on intermittent fasting.
I lost weight.
It was going great, I keptgoing, kept going, kept going
and then I just got fucking sickof it.
And I'm going to talk aboutwhat the drawbacks are.
So the benefits of intermittentfasting, we just talked about
it, but the downsides are thestuff that people don't talk
(09:33):
about.
And, at its core, what isintermittent fasting?
It's a form of meal skipping.
Right, it's an eating patternthat, despite how popular it is,
it definitely leads to somenegative consequences.
At the end of the day, it'sstill a restrictive diet,
despite everybody says, oh,intermittent fasting is a
lifestyle change rather than adiet.
(09:54):
Yes, I've never been on a dietwhere they didn't call it a
lifestyle change, but it's abouta lifestyle change.
But really, at the core, it'sjust fundamentally about
restriction.
By limiting your eating tospecific windows of time, you're
placing significant restraintson when you can nourish your
body.
Right, I want to eat when Iwant to eat.
(10:16):
And that rigid structure and itis a rigid structure because
you're making the choice for theday.
I believe I ate from 12 noon to8 pm.
That was my eating window, butif I wanted to eat earlier in
the morning.
If I had a meeting, it was abreakfast meeting.
I couldn't do any of that shit,so it really it didn't work for
me.
That rigid structure honestlyfor me felt almost as
restrictive as having to countcalories or cutting out food
(10:39):
groups.
The stress of adhering to thosestrict windows honestly was
draining for me, and the ideathat I couldn't eat if I was
genuinely hungry because it'soutside my quote-unquote eating
window, that definitely made mea little crazy.
I hated the idea Like, well,I'm hungry but I can't eat.
And I think it's for me, aperson like me.
(11:01):
I have a fairly unpredictableschedule, so if I want to go out
with friends at night for alate dinner, I couldn't do that
with intermittent fasting.
I mean I could, but then I feltlike I was breaking the diet
and I felt guilty.
So I don't know.
I just think that it'sfundamentally it's another
restrictive diet.
The second big thing for me isthe risk of overeating the
(11:26):
restrictive diet.
The second big thing for me isthe risk of overeating.
One of the biggest pitfalls ofintermittent fasting is the risk
of overeating during your quotedesignated eating window.
Right, oh, you can eat anythingyou want.
At this time, and after fastingfor an extended period of time,
it's natural to feel hungry,right?
I would get to that 12 o'clock.
I was counting.
Okay, I can eat in a minute, Ican eat in two minutes when you
finally sit down to eat.
For me, it really led me to eatmore, probably, than I would
(11:49):
have in a really short amount oftime without the mindfulness
and it's all about mindfulnessthat you need to listen to your
body's hunger and fullness cues.
So maybe I'm just not, I don'thave the willpower to do it and
I think willpower is overratedbut I would sit down and I would
eat something big and fast.
I was focused on making up forthis lost time during my eating
window and it was just easy forme to eat more than my body
(12:12):
actually needs.
And they say, oh, eat whateveryou want.
Well, that's not necessarilytrue, but I'll get to that.
So I just think that thatpattern of restriction followed
by overeating just creates areally unhealthy relationship
with food.
You're going back and forthbetween deprivation and
indulgence rather than findingsome kind of balance and I think
balance is the key andintermittent fasting I touched
(12:34):
on this a second ago.
It makes social situations kindof weird, right, because a lot
of times our social livesrevolve around food and that
could be lunch or dinner.
And again, that 12 to 8 windowmakes it pretty easy.
But if you're following astrict eating window you have to
sit down for dinner by 7.
I'm saying, if you're going outwith a bunch of friends and be
(12:55):
done by 8 because you can't eatat 8.01.
Yes, of course you can, or youcan't eat at 8.30.
Or you can't have a drink.
It just I don't know, it justmakes social.
For me it made the social lifevery, very difficult.
So again, if you're one ofthose people that works in an
office, you might have to skip abreakfast meeting with people
because you can't eat, declininginvitations, I don't know, to
(13:19):
morning stuff, I don't know.
I just think it makes yoursocial life kind of tough when
you have a prescribed window ofwhen you can and can't eat.
And I think any diet thatimposes strict rules around
eating is going to lead toeating disorders.
And I got crazy about it At8.01, man, I was done eating and
(13:39):
I wouldn't eat at 11.59.
I was going to wait till 12.
And that for me, created an allor nothing mindset where I
either stick to the planperfectly or I feel like I
failed, and that black and whitethinking leads to cycles of
binging and restricting.
Okay, it's 12.
I can eat whatever the fuck Iwant right now.
Well, no, that's not true.
You can only eat a certainamount of calories.
(14:00):
It doesn't matter we talkedabout this last week.
It doesn't matter if you eat1,000 calories each meal for
three meals or 3,000 caloriesone time a day.
Your body is still processing3,000 calories.
The time you eat has nothing todo with your digestion.
It has nothing to do with theamount of calories you can
(14:20):
consume.
So I don't know.
I think that it's a very toughdiet to stick to.
I also think that, like most ofthese fad diets intermittent
fasting, atkins, paleo they alllead to quick weight loss.
There's no question about it.
But every time and everyone Iknow that has been on one of
those diets and I'm specificallytalking about intermittent
(14:41):
fasting right now the effect istemporary.
Once you kind of loosen up thestrict rules, like ah, you know
what, I'll go maybe 12 to 8.30,or I'll go 11.30 to 9.
And you start to, I guess,loosen up the rules that strict
eating I'm doing.
Okay, I'm going to loosen up alittle bit and boom, before you
know it, you're right back towhere you started.
(15:02):
So that emphasis on theshort-term results rather than
the long-term sustainabilityit's a common flaw in pretty
much every diet.
Everybody wants to lose weightas fast as they can, and then
I'll worry about it when I takeit off.
I'll keep it off.
This time is different.
I said all those fucking things.
I was on over 100 diets and Ilost weight on all of them, but
eventually I always put it backon.
(15:23):
So I just think that eventhough that initial weight loss
feels great, it's an awesomefeeling, but that approach just
isn't sustainable.
You can't eat only eight hoursa day.
I think you'll find yourselfright back where you started.
And then the last part, I think,of intermittent fasting.
That, for me, just I don't know.
There really is no long-termresearch on whether or not it's
(15:47):
great.
There is definitely someevidence that says the
short-term benefits ofintermittent fasting are this,
this and that, but there is nolong-term research on its safety
or effectiveness.
Not that I give a shit aboutthe safety I've done plenty of
crazy shit in my life but theeffectiveness I do care.
I don't want to make alifestyle change that we might
find out doesn't work.
(16:07):
So I don't think that anybodyfully understands the impact of
prolonged fasting, and that iseating eight hours a day and
fasting 16 hours a day isprolonged fasting, so we don't
know what the impact is going tobe on overall health.
So I think it's tough to saywhether intermittent fasting is
safe and sustainable and reallywhat works for one person might
(16:30):
not work for another person.
My older brother doesn't reallyneed to lose weight, but he
does intermittent fastingsometimes, but he doesn't.
Sometimes he'll want to lose 10, 15 pounds or five pounds and
he doesn't.
It works for him, but then hegoes off it because he doesn't
have a weight problem, he's fitand he really doesn't need to
lose any significant amount ofweight at any point in his life.
(16:51):
So I think that probably itworks for him.
But I'm not talking to thosepeople.
I'm talking to people who are30, 50, 70, 100 or more pounds
overweight, who really need tomaintain a lifestyle that they
can actually, where they can eatand function in normal society.
I don't believe thatintermittent fasting is the one.
(17:12):
So what do I?
As you know what I did, but I'mgoing to tell you anyway,
because I just want to talkabout my live, life, love food,
lose weight philosophy, becauseI think that's really what made
the difference for me.
Now I'm coming up on two yearsand I haven't I've maintained my
weight.
I'm not losing weight as fastas I was.
(17:32):
In fact, I don't know if I'velost any weight in the last
month, month and a half, but Ihaven't put any weight on.
Or, let me rephrase it, I'msure I've put on a couple pounds
and taken off a couple pounds,but I'm maintaining right where
I want to be.
So if intermittent fasting andthe other diets just don't work
for you, they're not going togive you sustainable results.
I think my way of eating is thebest alternative.
(17:54):
It really is all about adoptinga philosophy that focuses more
than on just what or when youcan eat.
My approach is live life, lovefood, lose weight.
It's a sustainable path toachieving your health and weight
loss goals by emphasizing abalanced and enjoyable lifestyle
.
I believe you have to live lifefully.
That's the cornerstone of myphilosophy.
(18:16):
So, instead of putting yourlife on hold until you reach a
certain weight or fit into aspecific size pants or jacket or
shirt or dress my approachreally encourages you to embrace
life right now.
Don't fucking wait, because younever know when it's over.
So live your life, love what'sgoing on.
It's about finding joy ineveryday moments, building
strong relationships and reallydoing the shit that you love,
(18:39):
having passion without lettingfood or weight dictate your
happiness.
Now I get it.
If you're a big, fatmotherfucker, like I was at 411
pounds, weight did kind ofdictate my happiness, but I made
a decision that I was going toenjoy my life, that I made a
choice to lose the weight, and Ithink when I started focusing
(19:00):
on living fully, my mindsetshifted from one of, I guess,
deprivation all the things thatI couldn't do to one of
abundance, of thinking like, hey, I can do and be anything if I
want to, and you start to seethat your life is rich with
experiences and connections andopportunities and food is just
one small part of that bigpicture.
And I think that shift reallyhelped me, shifted my
(19:23):
perspective, I guess, because itnaturally just supports a
healthier lifestyle if you'renot using food as your primary
source of comfort or fulfillment.
And again, I think my way is somuch more sustainable than
anything that I've seen outthere Because it means that
you're focusing on living yourlife, not just losing weight,
(19:45):
and it helps you to build alifestyle that's about thriving,
not just surviving.
Honestly, at 411 pounds I wasjust trying to survive.
You know this.
I was on death's door.
I was in the hospital, I was onoxygen, my kidneys were failing
, I couldn't breathe.
My heart was ready to give up.
I had medicine and machines notso many machines, but I'll
(20:07):
consider the oxygen thing amachine keeping me alive.
That's not thriving, that'sbarely surviving.
So I think when you're engagedin activities that bring you joy
and satisfaction, I know for meI'm a lot less likely to turn
to food as a way to fill thoseemotional voids.
So I just think emotionaleating is a crazy thing.
(20:29):
People do it, but when you'reliving your life and really
enjoying what you're doing, ithelps you create a more balanced
relationship with food.
And then the second thing isyou got to love food.
If you're eating shit that youdon't like, you can't do that
for long term.
So it's about cultivating apositive and healthy
relationship with what you'reeating.
So instead of fearing food likeoh my God, I can't eat that or
(20:53):
seeing it as the enemy, like no,I can only eat carrots and
carrots.
No, my approach is aboutencouraging you to appreciate it
.
It's nourishment and it'senjoyment.
You can feed your soul, it'sokay.
It's okay to enjoy your food.
It shouldn't be punishment.
It's about being mindful whenyou're eating, and it's savoring
every bite and listening toyour body's hunger and fullness
(21:14):
cues and for me that was a bigone.
I would just eat because it wastime to eat, and if I could eat
one, well, what the hell?
I might as well eat two.
So it's about really thinkingabout what you're putting in
your mouth and letting go of anyguilt or shame that you might
have around food.
So, like I said, mindful eatingjust helps you become more in
tune with what's going on inyour body and it empowers you to
(21:34):
make food choices that supportyour health and well-being.
It's not about restriction ordeprivation.
It's about balance andenjoyment.
I don't know how many dietsyou've been on, but I've never
been on a diet, a fad diet or afucking exercise program that
(21:56):
that wasn't about restriction ordeprivation.
What I do is about balance andenjoyment.
When you love food, you're morelikely to choose foods that
make you feel good, bothphysically and emotionally.
Like I said before, if you needto feed your soul with some
jelly donuts, by all fuckingmeans go eat the jelly donuts,
but just think about it firstand again.
My way of eating is moresustainable.
(22:20):
When you love food which I doand I think a lot of people do
and you allow yourself to enjoyit without guilt, you're so much
more likely to make balancedand healthy choices.
Naturally, I don't need you orsomebody to tell me eat two
ounces of this and four ouncesof that here and don't make it
Fuck that.
I know it's healthy, you knowit's healthy.
We all know of that here.
And don't make it Fuck that.
I know it's healthy, you knowit's healthy.
(22:41):
We all know what we should andshouldn't be eating.
I say this all the time.
You know eating eggs forbreakfast is better than eating
a bowl of Captain Crunch.
You don't need a fucking degreeto know that.
If you don't feel deprived,you're less likely to binge and
overeat.
So if I ate a donut, I thoughtabout it.
(23:02):
I was like, wow, yeah, allright, I ate that, but now I
have to make up for it, and makeup for it is probably the wrong
word, but I have to take thatinto account because I don't
want to eat more bad shit today.
Okay, I made a small choice.
I thought about it.
Yes, I want to eat a donut, buteverything else I eat for the
rest, about that.
So I think that creates areally sustainable approach that
you can maintain for life.
Look, I don't know if I canmaintain it for life, but I've
(23:22):
been pretty goddamn good for thelast two years.
I'm not telling you I haven'tput on weight and lost weight I
have.
My weight definitely fluctuatesa little bit, but I am 140
pounds lighter than I was twoyears ago in April.
So I just think it's a muchmore sustainable approach.
And again, the way I do it noshots, no pills, no surgeries,
no gym and I know people fuckingrip me for saying I don't go to
(23:45):
the gym, but I haven't been tothe gym since I started this not
one single time.
I like to walk every day.
Honestly, for the last monthI've been pretty shitty about
that.
I am definitely not walkingevery day, but yeah, you don't
need to go to the gym andwalking every day.
But yeah, you don't need to goto the gym.
And I know people are going togo mental.
(24:06):
I'm going to start to getemails, but the reality is I
lost weight.
Naturally, it's about allowingweight loss to happen as a
natural result of living fullyand loving the food that you eat
.
So when you focus on makingsmall smart choices again,
because we all know what thebetter choices are when we're
eating you definitely know thateating chicken for lunch is
better than eating a big fatdouble-bacon cheeseburger with,
(24:26):
I don't know, oozing ranch.
Actually that sounds disgusting, but whatever, you know what
I'm talking about.
But when we make these smallsmart choices, like
incorporating more whole foodsin your diet and staying active
in ways that you actually enjoyand practicing mindful eating,
weight loss becomes a byproductof your healthy lifestyle.
It's not the sole focus and Ithink that takes the pressure
(24:47):
off the scale and it shifts theoverall focus to overall health
and well-being Instead ofobsessing over numbers.
You're encouraged to celebratethe positive changes you're
making in your life and I thinkthat's really powerful, and
those could be feeling moreenergetic, sleeping better,
simply enjoying your mealswithout stress.
There's so much positive shitto celebrate when you eat that
way.
So by making these small,manageable changes, you're
(25:08):
creating habits that stick.
So it's not like I'm going to dothis until I can't, because
you're not really thinking aboutit right.
I don't really think like okay,is it?
It's just it's become a habitfor me to know if I eat
something.
If I feed my soul in themorning, I feed my soul today.
I have to be more carefultomorrow and I think that's and
this is a scary word, a scaryphrase that's how normal people
eat.
You know people who can eatwhatever they want, whenever
(25:30):
they want, and they just theydon't seem to put on weight
because they know how to eat.
And at 411 pounds, I candefinitely tell you I had no
fucking idea how to eat.
Well, I knew how to eat, but Ididn't know how to eat right.
I didn't know how to eathealthy.
So, just bringing it back tointermittent fasting when
comparing intermittent fastingto my way, I just think that
it's painfully obvious that mymethod is a more balanced,
(25:52):
sustainable approach and itleads to weight loss and health
because, first of all, there'sno restrictive rules.
You can eat whatever you wantAgain, just use your head, you
know what to eat.
And two, you're focused onoverall well-being, not just
eating in a certain time, whenyou're focused on living a
fulfilling life.
Weight loss is, like I said,just becomes a natural byproduct
(26:13):
and it reduces the pressure toget those fast results and it
helps you build a lifestyle thatactually supports some
long-term success to get thosefast results and it helps you
build a lifestyle that actuallysupports some long-term success.
And the third thing it'smindful eating is the
cornerstone of my approach andit's what sets it apart from all
those restrictive diets likeintermittent fasting.
Instead of focusing on when youcan eat or what you can't eat,
(26:33):
mindful eating encourages you tobe present during meals.
It's simple stuff Savor everybite and pay attention to how
your body feels, and that helpsyou make healthier choices
without the need for strictrules or deprivation.
And last, I guess is thatintermittent fasting might
deliver quick results For me.
Honestly, when I started eatingmindfully and doing this, I
(26:54):
lost weight really quick, but Ihad a lot of weight to lose.
So intermittent fasting mightgive you those quick results,
but it's restrictive and bybeing restrictive, it makes it
difficult to sustain it over thelong term.
My approach, on the other hand,look, I've been doing it for
two years and I was the king ofyo-yo dieting.
I could do any diet for a fewweeks or a few months, but
sooner or later I fell off.
And now I'm coming up on twoyears and I'm still doing the
(27:19):
same thing and it's working andI'm eating stuff and I love what
I'm doing and I'm living mybest life.
I don't know how it gets betterthan that.
So, again, intermittent fastingmight offer some short-term
benefits, but at its core, it'sjust another diet that relies on
restriction and control and,like I said, it might lead to
quick weight loss, but theresults are temporary and the
approach comes with risks thatcan, in my opinion, harm your
(27:42):
relationship with food.
So, instead of jumping on thatintermittent fasting, consider
embracing a more sustainableapproach like mine, like live
life, love food and lose weight.
And I think that when you focuson making small, smart choices,
you can achieve that lastingsuccess in a way that really
enhances your life rather thanrestricting it.
So, look, my approach.
(28:03):
It's not about quick fixes.
There's no rigid rules.
It's about creating a life thatyou love.
It's one where food is a sourceof nourishment and joy, not
stress and anxiety andrestriction, and I just think,
loving your food and makingsustainable choices, you'll not
only achieve your weight lossgoal, but you'll also lead a
life that you're excited to liveevery single day, and God knows
(28:25):
I've done that over the pastcouple of years.
I'm excited and food is not mysole focus and, for whatever
it's worth, my way of eatingwill change your life in every
aspect of your life.
So that's really all I have tosay about intermittent fasting
and I know I kind of went off ona tangent talking about why my
way is better but again, I'vebeen on every single diet under
(28:46):
the sun and I can tell you thatintermittent fasting works, but
it's not sustainable.
I don't care who you are, youcan't eat in an eight-hour
window for the rest of your lifeBullshit.
I would like to speak tosomebody who's done it.
So focus on following asustainable plan, a sustainable
diet, something you can do forthe rest of your life.
It's about making small, smartchoices.
(29:07):
That's the key to losing weightand keeping it off Small, smart
choices.
You already know what to eat.
I don't have to tell you whatto eat.
Nobody has to tell you what toeat.
You don't have to measure yourfood, you don't have to meal
prep.
You know how to do this, soknock it the fuck off and do it.
So that brings me to the end ofmy rant on intermittent fasting
(29:27):
.
You can buy my book Shut Up andChoose on Amazon.
We're an Amazon bestseller.
I read you my 1,000th email, soyou know people are buying it
and loving it and seeing results.
People are also starting tocheck out my online video course
called the effortless weightloss academy.
You can get it atlearnshutupandchoosecom.
(29:51):
That's learnshutupandchoosecom20.
Some odd videos that kind oftake you through my whole
philosophy.
One.
Watch it.
If you don't lose weight, thenyou're doing something wrong,
because it's impossible not tolose weight with the Effortless
Weight Loss Academy.
It's so simple, I laid out sosimple, but anyway, I feel like
(30:13):
I'm doing a commercial.
I guess I was doing acommercial there.
So that's okay.
So there we go.
That brings me to the end of mypodcast for this week.
You can do atkins, you can dopaleo, you can do any one of
those diets, certainlyintermittent fasting, and you'll
lose weight short term.
You won't be able to sustain itfor the rest of your life.
I'm six, almost 61 years old.
(30:35):
Believe me, I've tried them all, I've been on them all, I've
succeeded on them all and Ifailed on them.
The only way to lose weight andkeep it off is by making small,
smart choices and eatingmindfully.
You have all the information.
Now.
The only thing left to do is toshut up and choose.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
You've been listening to Shut Up and Choose.
You've been listening to ShutUp 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
(31:15):
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 themeantime, find jonathan on
instagram at jonathan wrestler,boca raton.
Until next time, shut up andchoose.
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