Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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
(00:23):
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
(00:46):
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 everybody,
welcome back to Shut Up and
Choose.
We cut through all the bullshitand noise from the diet
industry and we talk about realsolutions and how you can lose
weight and keep it off long term.
As you know, I lost over 140pounds and I'm still going, and
that's the.
There's only one way to loseweight and that's in a calorie
deficit.
But we don't get hung up onthat.
(01:33):
So, anyway, today I did say I'dread a couple emails and I'm
not going through today becauseI want to get into this
important topic, because I thinkit's something that a lot of
people need to hear and it's anexcuse that a lot of people use.
I know I used it, and so todaywe're going to talk about why
busy executives need to ditchthe excuses and really start
their weight loss journey today.
(01:54):
So if you're a busy guy, ifyou're a busy girl, if you're a
busy executive, chances areyou've been through this thought
process more than once.
I went through it a hundredtimes.
But the bottom line is youalways say to yourself I just
don't have the time to focus onlosing weight right now.
I mean, work is crazy and thelast thing I could think about
is hitting the gym or mealprepping.
I guess I'll get started whenthings calm down.
(02:20):
And that statement alone.
I don't have time to thinkabout hitting the gym and meal
prepping.
Well, with the way I did it, Ididn't think about meal prepping
or hitting the gym either.
I really focused on small,smart choices.
But if that kind of excuse ofthat hey, I'll do it when work
slows down sounds familiar, well, I'm going to break it to you.
I guess the only way I know toThings aren't going to calm down
.
As a busy executive, you live ina world where deadlines are
(02:41):
always looming, meetings arealways stacked up back to back
and stress levels hit newheights every single day.
There's never going to be thequote-unquote perfect time to
start focusing on your weight.
But here's the catch Waitinguntil you have more time isn't
going to help.
It's about making time and notfinding it.
It's about making this fit intoyour life, not taking it over
(03:03):
and not finding it.
It's about making this fit intoyour life, not taking it over.
So today we're going to talkabout some of the most common
excuses that executives use toavoid starting their weight loss
journey, why the excuses arecosting you more than your
health, and practical tips onhow to integrate weight loss
into your already busy lifewithout letting it take your
life over.
So let's talk about the commonexcuses.
Number one the biggest one lackof time.
(03:26):
I don't have the time.
If you're busy, you often feellike there aren't enough hours
in the day to juggle your work,your personal life, your health
and all the other stuff that youwant to do.
But here's the thing and I knowthis is going to be no
revelation, but everyone has thesame 24 hours.
The real issue here isn't time,it's priorities.
You always seem to be able tomake time for the things that
(03:46):
you value the most.
If there's something you wantto do, no matter how busy you
are, you find a way to fit thatin, and your health should be
the most important thing,because without your health,
you're not going to be able todo all of those things in the
future that you really want todo.
Number two is I'm too stressedout.
That's just such a bullshitexcuse.
(04:08):
I get it.
Demands of running a businessor working your job or managing
a team or hitting your salestargets can definitely distress
and inconsistent habits for sure.
I know that.
I've been there, I've done thatI'm a poster child for that,
but a lot of us use stress as areason not to start your weight
loss journey, believing that youdon't have the mental space to
(04:30):
add something else to your plate, and that's again just a
bullshit excuse.
If it's something you reallywant to do, you'll find the
mental space, and I'm nottalking about a weight loss
journey.
If you really wanted to go tothe beach this weekend, you'd
find a way to fit that injourney.
If you really wanted to go tothe beach this weekend, you'd
find a way to fit that in.
Or if it was something that wasreally important to you, you
(04:51):
always find the way to fit thatin.
So again, you're too stressedout is a bullshit excuse.
Another one I used a lot was Itravel too much.
Well, we all travel for work.
Where a lot of us travel forwork, we are hopping on planes,
going to conferences and,honestly, living out of a
suitcase in hotels.
So the unpredictability of lifeon the road makes it feel
impossible to stick to a routine, especially to a fad diet, one
(05:14):
of those things where you have astrict range of it and you have
to eat this and do that, and sopeople always say you know what
, I'll start once I'm back homefor good.
And you know what, if you're abusy executive, being back home
for good might not be a reality.
You need to find a way to loseweight Again, I know I've said
this before, but a way that fitsinto your life, the life that
you're living right now, notthat takes it over and you have
(05:36):
to go do a whole new routine andmake massive changes to your
life.
That's never going to work andthat time is never going to come
.
Another thing that I don't knowthat.
I really thought this, but it'sdefinitely an excuse.
There's a group of people outthere who believe they've
reached the top in business andthink well, I've already
(05:58):
achieved success in my career,so who cares if I put on a few
pounds?
I guess I've thought that, butthe mindset overlooks the
connection really between yourhealth and your professional
success.
Staying healthy isn't justabout looking good.
It's about longevity, mentalclarity, energy.
It's about all those thingsthat wane when you're overweight
and it's harder to move andit's harder to think, and it's
just.
It's a bullshit excuse.
(06:18):
Yes, you're successful, but youshould really be focused on
being successful on your healthjourney, your weight loss
journey.
That's where the rest of yourlife comes in.
And the last one.
I could give you 15 more, butthe last one I'm going to do is
I've tried it all before and itdidn't work.
That's like the total quittermentality, right?
So that excuse comes from thefrustration with past failed
(06:39):
attempts.
And I tell you all the time Iwould say I had been on 100
different diets in my life, andI'm not saying that figuratively
, I'm saying that literally.
I guarantee I've been on ahundred different diets and
we've all tried diets and signedup for the gym and maybe even
hired a personal trainer, guilty.
I did all of those things butthe weight.
When the weight didn't come offas fast as I wanted it to, I
(07:00):
gave up.
It was just okay.
It was easier to quit than toactually stay the course.
So a lot of people feel likethey've already failed at weight
loss and assume that they'redoomed to keep failing and that
nothing could be further fromthe truth.
I will tell you I was there thislast time.
I was laying in the hospitaland I was.
I need to lose over a hundredpounds and that thought was just
(07:21):
overwhelming.
How the fuck could I possiblylose that much weight.
It just seemed so difficultthat I was ready to give up.
And then I came to therealization and you need to come
to the realization that forgetabout all the distractions you
think are more important rightnow.
Obviously, I didn't havedistractions when I was laying
in a hospital bed other than Iwanted to live, but I realized
(07:42):
that my health was the singlemost important thing in my life
and it's the single mostimportant thing in your life.
I don't care who you are, whatyou do, where you live.
It's the single most importantthing in your life.
It's more important than yourjob and it's more important than
getting a promotion.
It's more important than makingpartner at the law firm.
It's more important than buyinga nice car and it's more
important than upgrading to abigger house.
(08:03):
You know what all those thingshave in common.
You need to be alive andhealthy to enjoy them.
That was a realization that Icame to laying in the hospital
bed.
Right, it didn't matter whatelse was going on in my life.
If I wasn't alive, nothingreally mattered.
So really, success meansnothing without help and as busy
business owners and executives,we get caught up in chasing
(08:25):
success.
I know I was completely caughtup in it.
We're climbing the corporateladder Not for me.
I was an, I was an, I am anentrepreneur, building my
business, nailing that big dealor sometimes just getting
bragging rights at the nextoffice event or with your
friends.
But what's the point ofaccumulating that wealth or
achieving those great milestonesif your body is literally
(08:46):
falling apart?
So imagine you work yourselfinto a corner, ignoring your
health and then one day, boom,heart attack.
We all know people who haveworked themselves into a heart
attack.
That's, unfortunately, prettycommon.
So it's not about beingdramatic, it's about being real.
Cardiovascular disease, heartissues, diabetes, blood pressure
(09:06):
they aren't future maybes,they're guarantees.
If you neglect your health longenough, I'm living proof.
I neglected myself for myhealth for I don't know how many
years and even when I got thesigns when I was getting
uncontrollable gout and I hadatrial fibrillation, I had all
these things I still felt like,hey, I could beat this, but I so
(09:32):
I felt them.
But you may not even see themyet or feel those ailments that
are building inside you, buttrust me, they're there and if
you don't have your health, youwon't be around long enough to
enjoy all the things you'reworking so goddamn hard to
achieve.
And no matter how successfulyou are, when your health goes
it's game over.
(09:53):
I was a believer that I wasearlier not when I ended up in
the hospital, but earlier.
I believed that I was fat, butI was still healthy.
So I want to address that onceand for all.
There's no such thing as fatand healthy.
Aside from being medicallyimpossible to be significantly
overweight and maintainlong-term health, it's just a
(10:15):
crazy thought.
Sure, maybe you feel okay rightnow, maybe your blood pressure
seems all right or you don'tfeel like you have any obvious
symptoms.
But trust me, that won't last.
I lived that life.
I was like, yeah, man, I'm fatand healthy, it's all good.
Yeah, I'm fat and I called mycompany Big Fat.
I embraced it and I felt fineuntil one day I didn't.
(10:36):
So carrying that excess weightputs an enormous strain on your
heart, your lungs and yourjoints.
I had uncontrollable gut.
I still have joint pain becauseof all the abuse I put my
joints through.
Over time, you're going todevelop chronic conditions,
whether it's a high bloodpressure, diabetes which I don't
know how I didn't get, but Ididn't get it or severe joint
(10:56):
pain.
Yeah, I had that, I got that.
So those are the invisiblelurking enemies, and by the time
you actually feel the problem,it's usually too late to reverse
it.
So prevention in the form ofweight loss is the only solution
.
I always say it comes down tochoices, and I guess I got to be
blunt here.
Not that I'm not blunt all thetime, but your excuses are a
(11:19):
choice.
Every time you say you don'thave the time, every time you
claim it's too hard, every timeyou blame your busy schedule,
you're choosing to stayoverweight, and you know what I
say.
You're choosing to be fat.
More important, you're choosingto stay unhealthy, and here's
the kicker in all that.
You could also choose theopposite.
(11:39):
You can choose to make yourhealth a priority.
You can choose to make small,smart choices over time that
will transform your body, yourenergy levels and your overall
quality of life.
I'm living my best life rightnow just because I lost the
weight.
I can do things that I couldn'tdo.
It's a simple choice Keepmaking excuses and stay the same
(11:59):
, or stop making excuses andstart seeing real progress.
So the real question isn'twhether or not you should start
your weight loss journey, butit's critical.
It's crucial to choose to do itright now.
And just from a businessstandpoint, weight loss
definitely improves your workperformance, and let's talk
about just energy levels.
(12:20):
Carrying excess weight doesn'tjust affect your physical
appearance which it does andthat definitely affects your
mental feelings about yourself,but it does affect your mental
performance.
Studies have shown that peoplewho lose weight experience
increased energy, better focusedand improved productivity.
I can tell you firsthand theguy that did it I did.
(12:43):
I got all three of those thingsincreased energy, better
focused and improvedproductivity because I could do
more.
You're at your sharpest whenyou feel healthy and confident.
I'm still on my journey, butevery day I feel I'm just doing
better at everything.
I'm still on my journey, butevery day I feel I'm just doing
better at everything.
So imagine how much better youcould perform if you weren't
dragging through your 3 pmmeeting with some low-energy
brain fog because your body islike whoa hey, take it easy, pal
(13:06):
.
And by taking control of yourhealth, you're also taking
control of your professionalperformance.
So if that's what you need tothink, if that's what you need
to understand, then do it.
I never really lacked the nextthing, which is confidence.
Executives are expectedbusinessmen, busy people are
expected to exude confidence,whether it's in the boardroom or
(13:26):
even at a social event.
But when you don't feel goodabout how you look, that
confidence can start to fade.
I told you this in my book andI told you this on previous
episodes of the podcast fade.
I told you this in my book andI told you this on previous
episodes of the podcast.
I avoided certain socialsituations because I felt like I
looked well.
Once I realized how fuckingdisgusting I looked, I started
to avoid that stuff.
(13:47):
So confidence isn't aboutvanity.
That's not what it's about.
It's about how you presentyourself.
Feeling good about your bodyallows you to stand taller, to
speak more clearly and tohonestly to handle challenges
with greater self-assurance andconfidence.
We're talking about confidence.
The bottom line health is wealth.
You didn't get to where you areby being careless in the
(14:10):
business world.
In your executive career.
You likely have strategies forbuilding your business, for your
finances and for career growth,but what's your strategy for
health?
As the saying goes, health iswealth.
I know that's corny, but Ilearned that it's the truth.
Man, health is wealth.
If you don't take care of yourbody, all the success that
(14:32):
you've achieved won't matter inthe long run and as a
businessman or a businesswoman,you know the importance of
long-term planning.
Treat your health the same wayyou would in your business.
I'm investing it now, so youcan reap the rewards later.
Excess weight leads to increasedrisk of heart disease, diabetes
we talked about this and a tonof other chronic conditions,
(14:53):
many of which I had that candrastically affect the quality
of your life and your ability tokeep working.
I talked a little bit aboutsocial life, but work is only
part of the picture here, right?
How is your social life whenyou're carrying extra weight and
I was carrying an extra over100 pounds?
It impacts how you feel aboutyourself in social settings,
(15:14):
whether it's at a networkingevent, with your family or even
in romantic relationships.
So by prioritizing your health,you not only feel more
comfortable in your skin, butyou can also be more present in
your social and personal life.
When you look and feel good, itenhances every aspect of your
life.
All right, all right.
So now that we've establishedthat you need to start, how do
(15:37):
you actually fit weight lossinto a busy executive or a busy
business life without feelinglike it's another full-time job?
If that becomes the case,you're not going to do it.
I know I didn't do it, becausefollowing those plans and going
it just didn't work for me.
Here's the good news it'spossible to lose weight and stay
healthy without sacrificingyour career or your social life.
(15:59):
It's all about making simple,sustainable changes.
If you're waiting for theperfect minute to start, it's
never coming.
It's not going to come.
So, instead of trying tooverhaul your entire routine,
start small.
Can you fit 20 minutes ofexercise in the morning?
And when I say exercise, I'mnot talking about going to the
gym, I'm saying get up and walkaround the corner, walk around
(16:19):
your house.
If you have to Walk up and downthe steps a few times, that's
better than not walking up anddown the steps a few times.
Can you make one healthier foodchoice per meal?
That shouldn't be hard right.
One simple, good choice.
Every one of those small choicesadds up and, contrary to what
(16:39):
the diet industry would want youto believe, weight loss isn't
about quick fixes.
It's about consistency overtime.
Even the busiest businessmancan spare 20 to 30 minutes a day
to walk or do some kind ofworkout, even if it's walking,
parking further away from youroffice, whatever you can find
(17:00):
those 20 to 30 minutes, and itdoesn't all have to be in one
shot.
The important part is to start.
Don't wait for everything toline up perfectly, because it's
never going to happen.
So start small and obviously,if you can make your work
environment actually work foryou, just because you sit at a
(17:20):
desk or sit behind a computer oryou're an online guy, that
doesn't mean you have to have asedentary lifestyle.
You can find ways to incorporatemore movement into your day.
One of the things that I do isI like to talk on the phone in
the morning when I'm taking mywalk.
So take a walking meetingInstead of sitting in a
conference room or on the phonein the morning when I'm taking
my walk.
So take a walking meetingInstead of sitting in a
conference room or on the phone.
Walk with somebody and talk tothem Again.
(17:44):
That could be on the phone orin person.
You can actually this is crazy.
I started doing this and I loveit.
You can do kind of stretches andexercises at your desk.
Like I'm not telling you tokeep a resistance band at your
desk.
You know, for strength trainingthat's crazy.
But move your body, roll yourankles, move your arms, lift
your arms up over your head, getup.
I mean get up.
(18:05):
You could use a standing desk.
I don't use it, but standingfor part of your day definitely
burns more calorie and itimproves your posture.
It improves a lot of stuff.
So if you're one of thosestanding desk people, that's
great.
Believe it or not, exercise Now.
The most important part for meis mindful eating.
Right Eat fine, even whenyou're stressed out.
(18:25):
Stress eating is a hugeobstacle for people who are busy
.
Long hours, tight deadlines andthis constant pressure that you
feel can lead you to grab quick, unhealthy snacks.
But being mindful, thinkingabout every single thing you put
in your mouth, is an absolutemust Key.
Some of the ways that you canstay mindful is you can avoid
(18:49):
working lunches.
It's tempting to scarf down foodI know it was for me while
responding to emails but thatdefinitely leads to overeating
because you're not thinkingabout what you're eating.
You're really focused onobviously responding to those
emails and doing what's best foryour business, so you're not
really thinking about whatyou're eating.
So you're not mindful.
That's mindless eating.
So take a 15, 20 minute breakto eat, even if it's just to be
(19:17):
present with your food, but takea break, get away from work for
15 minutes and really thinkabout what you're putting in
your body.
Now the thing you can do is youcan.
If you go out to a client lunchor a client dinner, yeah, you
may got to make smart choices.
You don't have to sacrificeyour social or your work life,
but you can make those smallsmart choices when you're dining
outside Just stupid stuff Optfor grilled meat, veggies,
salads, over like heavieroptions, and I don't.
(19:40):
I'm not telling you thatanything is bad, but if you can
make one or two small smartchoices at every meal, you're
ahead of the game.
That's the truth and, as youknow, I didn't really exercise
for the first year I was on thisthing.
Working out to me did and doesfeel like another item on my
(20:01):
crazy, overwhelming schedule andmy to-do list.
So the trick for me was to makeit part of my routine, not some
added burden.
I go on a morning walk every day, rain or shine Rain, I will
tell you.
It's a shorter walk because Idon't like to get wet, because,
as you know, sugar melts and Iam pure sugar.
But seriously, do things firstthing in the morning.
(20:24):
Go for that morning walk.
You feel like you accomplishedsomething when you're done and
it's going to boost your energyfor the whole day.
I know if and when I've skippedthose walks.
It definitely affects my day.
And if you can't, if you don'thave 20 or 30 minutes, I say two
things.
One is you're full of shitbecause get up 20 or 30 minutes
early.
But if you don't have 20 or 30minutes, it's okay.
(20:44):
You can break it up into two 10minute walks in the morning and
the night, or whatever you want.
All the exercise doesn't have tohappen at one time.
Every time you choose the stepsover the elevator, it's a win.
Every time you stand up andwalk around your office, it's a
win.
It's easy stuff and you have tomake it enjoyable too, right.
If you hate running, don't run.
(21:05):
I hate the gym with a passion.
I hate it there.
I just hate the fucking gym.
So find something you enjoy.
It could be riding your bike,it could be hiking, it could be
dancing, who knows but the keyis to find something that
doesn't feel like a chore.
Another thing that getsoverlooked a lot is sleep.
I used to sleep.
(21:25):
I felt like I was so busy.
You know I'll sleep three orfour hours a night.
I used to sleep.
I felt like I was so busy.
You know I'll sleep three orfour hours a night and that's
good enough.
But the reality is sleep isreally important for your body.
You might think you can get byon four or five hours of sleep,
but sleep deprivation absolutely100% will slow your weight loss
down and for sure hurt yourwork performance.
So I try to prioritize this andyou should prioritize it too.
(21:48):
You should get seven to eighthours of quality sleep every
single night.
Granted, there are some nightswhen you're getting less, but
you should really focus ongetting seven to eight hours of
sleep every night.
You'll find that you have moreenergy for both work and just
your social life and just lifein general.
You'll have better mentalclarity and you'll have much
less of a tendency to overeatdue to fatigue.
(22:12):
The last one I'm going to talkabout is accountability.
Accountability is absolutelycrucial.
Just like you have metrics andgoals in your professional life,
you need to have them for yourhealth journey, for your weight
loss journey.
You could hire a personaltrainer.
I did that, but I took over theconversation.
It was about what I wanted todo, what the trainer wanted to
do.
You could join a fitness groupor you could use some kind of
(22:34):
tracking app, which I think istotal bullshit, but if that
works for you, find ways to holdyourself accountable.
What really should hold youaccountable is yourself.
You should be accountable toyou and nobody else.
Be accountable to you.
Be accountable to your family,to your husband, your wife, your
kids, whoever.
Those are the ones that you'redoing it for.
But at the end of the day,you're doing it for yourself and
(22:57):
if you want, share the goalwith a colleague or a friend or
somebody like that.
Having somebody check in on yourprogress makes it a lot harder
to fuck it up.
I used to share it with my kidsall the time.
The first I don't know eight ornine months I was doing this
thing.
I didn't tell anybody because Iwas like, oh, I'm going to fail
again.
I don't even know why I'mtelling them because I'm going
(23:19):
to fuck this up.
But then I learned you can'tfuck it up if you're making
small, smart choices.
And I told my kids after aboutI don't know, like I said, seven
or eight months.
And now that I told them, andnow that I'm 18 months into this
thing, I still feel accountable.
Of course, I feel accountableto myself, but I feel
accountable to them.
I don't want to do it.
They don't ask me about it, butI tell them all the time hey,
this is what I weigh, this iswhere I am, this is what I did,
(23:41):
because that accountability isabsolutely crucial.
So look, at the end of the day,losing weight as a business
owner, a busy executive,whatever, comes down to one
thing choices.
It's all about the choices youmake.
Every single day.
You have the choice to make asmall step forward toward better
(24:04):
health or let excuses keep youstuck in the same old cycle.
It's a choice.
People hate when I say that,but losing weight is a choice.
So stop waiting for the righttime and stop overcomplicating
it.
It doesn't have to be hard,it's easy, and stop making
excuses.
It's time to take control ofyour health and choose the path
(24:28):
that will lead you to a longer,healthier and more successful
life, both in and out of theoffice, the boardroom, wherever
it is.
These choices are simple and youdon't have to make them all at
once.
Just start with some small,smart choices.
The truth is, your health andyour weight loss do not have to
(24:49):
take over your life.
They shouldn't.
With the right mindset and Ibelieve it's all about mindset,
it's the power and ability anddesire to make those choices and
a few simple changes, a fewsmart, small choices, you can
make weight loss fit seamlesslyinto your busy life and, trust
me, your future self andprobably your career in business
(25:11):
will thank you for it.
So that's all I have really onhow business, weight loss and
your health journey really areintertwined.
And you can't be successful inyour business long term without
being healthy.
You can't be successful in yourpersonal life without being
(25:32):
healthy.
And if you do achieve that, ifyou can figure out a way to get
it done, you won't be there forlong Without your health.
You have nothing.
The choice is yours, I can'tforce you to do it.
No one else can force you to doit.
You just have to make thatsimple choice.
(25:55):
So, with that being said, I wantto thank everybody who's been
buying my book.
Thank everybody for reviewingmy book.
For those of you that don'tknow, it's called the same thing
as my podcast Shut Up andChoose Chronicles my 140 plus
pound weight loss journey, how Idid it, everything about it.
I also have created a 23 videoonline course that is just
basically me explainingeverything in detail, how I did
(26:17):
it and still ate ice cream andcake and donuts and all those
great things.
That's called live life, lovefood, lose weight.
You can find out more aboutthat at learnshutupandchoosecom.
I've been selling a lot ofsubscription.
It's not a subscription, that'sthe wrong word, because it's a
one-time payment and you have itfor life.
But I promise you, if you geton this journey, if you get on
(26:40):
this, if you choose to live ahealthier and better life, your
body, your brain and your familywill thank you for it.
So now I leave it up to you todo that.
One thing that you have to doStop making excuses and shut up
(27:02):
and choose.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
You've been listening
to Shut Up and Choose.
Jonathan's passion is to sharehis journey of shedding 130
pounds in less than a yearwithout any of the usual
gimmicks no diets, no pills andwe'll let you in on a little
secret no fucking gym.
And guess what?
(27:24):
You can do it too.
We hope you enjoyed the show.
We had a fucking blast.
If you did, make sure to like,rate and review.
We'll be back soon, but in themeantime, find Jonathan on
Instagram atJonathanWrestlerBocaRaton.
Until next time, shut up andchoose.