October 29, 2025 • 31 mins
Candy doesn’t control you—rigid rules do. We break the holiday panic cycle and show how Halloween can prove you’re in charge by trading restriction for intention. Jonathan unpacks why willpower collapses under real-life stress and how a choice-based mindset lets you enjoy the candy without the guilt, the spiral, or the Monday reset. This is about presence over perfection, awareness over autopilot, and ownership over all-or-nothing thinking.
We dig into the core shift from obeying to deciding: a dieter says I can’t, a chooser says I can, but do I want it? From there, we turn philosophy into practice with seven simple moves you can use immediately—choosing candy like a critic, eating before the sugar storm, delaying decisions to cool cravings, setting boundaries instead of rules, removing guilt from the equation, designing an environment that supports your goals, and rewarding yourself with next-day momentum. Each strategy reinforces self-trust, so one deliberate choice leads to the next and your identity starts to shift from dieter to owner.
Jonathan shares the moment Halloween stopped being a landmine and became just another day with candy in it. The takeaway: food has no moral value, and progress doesn’t require perfection. When mistakes become data—not drama—you recover faster, stay consistent, and turn holidays, birthdays, and random Tuesday cravings into chances to practice control without suffering. If you’re ready to stop surviving the season and start living it, hit play, choose on purpose, and stack small wins into real transformation. If you found this valuable, follow, rate, and share the show—and tell us the one boundary or choice you’ll make this week.
Stop Dieting. Start Choosing.
Let’s get one thing straight — I’m not a coach. I’m a Transformation Guide. Coaches give you meal plans and pep talks. I help you change the damn game. The diet industry doesn’t want that — they want you hooked, hungry, and miserable enough to keep swiping your credit card.
I lost 140 pounds without starving, obsessing, or living in the gym — because weight loss isn’t about willpower, it’s about choices. Smart ones. Real ones. The kind that actually last.
👉 Get my free weekly tips at JonathanRessler.com/weekly-tips
🎧 Like what you heard? Leave a review — it helps real people find real answers.
💬 Questions, stories, or strong opinions? Hit me up at Jonathan.Ressler@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (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 hurtwhen you hear someone speak the
absolute real and raw truth, youshould leave.
Like right now.
This is shut up and shoes.
(00:23):
The podcast where we cut throughthe shit and get real about
weight loss, life, andeverything in between, we get
into the nitty-gritty of makingsmall, smart choices that add up
to big results.
From what's on your plate andhow you approach life's
challenges, we'll explore howthe simple act of choosing
(00:43):
differently can transform yourhealth, your mindset, and your
entire freaking life.
So, if you're ready to cutthrough the bullshit and start
making some real changes, thenbuckle up and shut it up,
because we're about to chooseour way to a healthier, happier
life.
This is Shut Up and Choose.
(01:05):
Let's do this.
Now your host, Jonathan Russell.
SPEAKER_00 (01:14):
Welcome back to Shut Up and Choose, the podcast
cutching the noise and thenonsense, and all the bullshit
that the diet industry isthrowing your way and trying to
convince you that you don't knowwhat you're doing, that you
can't trust yourself, thatyou're not in control of your
own body, and that the only wayyou can lose weight is to listen
to the industry or some idiotinfluencer, some moron online,
(01:35):
but the truth is you're incomplete control.
So look, it's the end of themonth, and Halloween is coming.
And let's be honest for asecond.
Halloween is the fat person'sfavorite holiday.
Always has been, always will be.
Why?
Because it's the one day of theyear when you can shovel candy
into your mouth and no onejudges you.
(01:55):
It's socially acceptable to walkaround with a pumpkin bucket
full of sugar bombs.
You can even wear a mask whileyou do it.
That's genius! Everywhere youlook, temptation is dressed up
in orange and black.
Your office desk turns into asugar graveyard, mini Snickers,
Reese's cups, Twix bars.
I personally love Juju fruits,but all those little bastards
waiting to ambush your goodintentions.
(02:16):
If you have kids, they come homewith pillowcases full of candy
and somehow half of itmysteriously disappears after
they go to bed.
And at the checkout one, Iforget it, those pumpkin-shaped
Reese's and those the Cadburycream eggs, oh, they're
practically screaming your name.
Now, like I said, with Halloweencoming up, I thought this was an
(02:36):
important topic.
Because for a lot of people whoare trying to lose weight, this
time of year feels like thestart of a slippery slope.
Halloween rolls intoThanksgiving, which bleeds into
Christmas, and suddenly byJanuary, you're Googling detoxes
and pretending it's all going tobe different this year.
It's not.
Not if you keep doing the sameold thing.
Because here's the thing thatmost people miss Halloween isn't
(02:58):
the problem.
Candy isn't the problem.
You aren't even the problem.
The problem is the way you thinkabout it.
Diet culture has trained you tobelieve that food has moral
value, that candy is bad andyou're good if you resist it.
But that's bullshit.
Candy is just candy.
The only thing that gives itpower is the way you react to
(03:21):
it.
And that's where my philosophycomes in.
Stop dieting, start choosing.
Because dieting throughHalloween is a recipe for
failure.
It's a disaster.
The second you tell yourself youcan't have any, your brain
becomes obsessed with it.
You start negotiating withyourself.
I'll have just one, which, youknow, turns into five, which
(03:41):
turns into fuck it.
I'll start again on Monday.
If that sounds familiar, guesswhat?
That's not discipline failingyou.
That's a bad system.
When you start choosing insteadof dieting, everything changes.
You take back control.
You decide if candy is worth it.
You decide when to stop.
You decide how to move on.
(04:01):
No guilt, no shame, just power.
So today, I'm not going to tellyou to throw out your kids'
candy or avoid Halloweenparties.
That's just fucking stupid.
What I am going to do is showyou how to walk into Halloween
like someone who's in control,not someone who's trying to
survive it because this holidaydoesn't have to derail you.
It can actually be proof thatyou're winning.
So here's the truth aboutHalloween and weight loss.
(04:25):
It's not really about candy.
It's about control, or moreaccurately, the illusion of
control.
For most people trying to loseweight, Halloween feels like a
setup.
The candy bowl is basically abooby trap.
You are surrounded by sugar, andevery diet really you've ever
memorized starts shouting inyour head, don't do it.
Don't eat that.
You'll ruin everything.
(04:45):
But let me ask you a question.
Has that ever actually worked?
Because I've never met anyonewho's white knuckled their way
through a holiday and said, wow,I feel so empowered and balanced
right now.
What usually happens?
You resist it for a little bit,maybe a day or two, and then you
cave.
And when you do, the guilt hitsharder than the sugar crash.
(05:05):
You tell yourself, you've blownit.
You feel weak, you spiral, thenyou swear you'll get back on
track next week and the cyclestarts again.
This is the trap.
And it's not your fault.
It's the diet mindset.
Diets operate on the idea ofcontrol through restriction.
They tell you that success meansavoiding temptation, that if you
just had a little morewillpower, you'd be fine.
(05:28):
But that's not how real lifeworks.
You have a job, maybe some kids,we all have stress, and a
thousand decisions that arehitting you every single day.
Your mental energy is alreadyspent before you even see that
first can you wrap it.
So when the temptation shows up,your brain grabs what's ever
easier.
That's not weakness, that'shuman biology.
The reason that diets failduring Halloween or any holiday
(05:51):
for that matter is because theyteach you how to fear food
instead of understand it.
They teach you to obey insteadof choose.
And when you're obeying, you'renot really in control, you're
just following orders.
Now here's the big shift.
Choosers don't obey.
Choosers decide.
A dieter says, I can't eatcandy, but a chooser says, I
(06:12):
can, but do I really want it?
One response is fear-based andthe other is power-based.
One feels like punishment andthe other one feels like
freedom.
That difference changeseverything because when you
approach Halloween as a chooser,you're no longer playing
defense.
You're on offense.
You're deciding in real timewhat serves you and what
(06:33):
doesn't.
You can enjoy a few pieces ofcandy without guilt because you
know exactly what you're doingand you're doing it on purpose.
This is what people don'tunderstand about weight loss
that actually lasts.
It's not about being perfect,it's about being present.
When you choose consciously,every situation, even Halloween,
(06:54):
becomes an opportunity topractice control without
suffering.
So instead of dreading the candybowl this year, use it as a
training.
See it as your gym for decisionmaking.
Because if you can master yourchoices on Halloween, you can
pretty much handle anything.
I I'll never forget my firstHalloween after I lost all the
weight.
For most of my life, Halloweenmeant one thing: permission.
(07:15):
Permission to binge, to jokeabout it, hide behind.
It's just once a year.
I'd buy the big bags of candy,you know, the for the
trick-or-treater ones, and openthem a week early.
By the time the actual kidshowed up, I was already on bag
number three.
And I'd laugh about it.
I call it my cheat week, pretendit was no big deal.
But deep down it was because Iwasn't choosing.
I was escaping.
(07:36):
So if we fast forward to thatHalloween after the
transformation, I was acompletely different person.
And I'm not just sayingphysically, but mentally.
I remember standing in front ofthe same candy aisle at the
grocery store, same brand, samebright wrappers, but this time
it felt different.
The candy didn't owe me anymore.
That night I had a few pieces.
(07:57):
That's it.
I didn't overthink it.
I didn't spiral into guilt.
I didn't promise myself I'd doan extra workout the next day
because I don't go to the gym.
I just enjoyed it and I movedon.
And in that moment, not theweight loss, not the before and
after photo, not the number onthe scale, that moment was when
I realized that I'd actuallychanged because that's called
life.
And what this whole thing issupposed to be about.
(08:19):
Not living in fear of food, notfeeling like you have to earn
your candy, not punishingyourself for being human.
It's about freedom, realfreedom, the kind that comes
when you finally stop dietingand start choosing.
So when people ask me how Istayed consistent after losing
weight, I tell them it wasn'tdiscipline.
It was ownership.
I owned my choices.
I stopped pretending food hadpower over me.
(08:41):
I stopped giving candy theability to ruin my day.
Halloween became just anotherday, not a landmine, not a
trigger, and definitely not atest.
Just a day with fucking candy init.
And that's what I want everyonelistening to understand.
The goal isn't to never eat thecandy.
The goal is to be able to eat itwithout guilt, to know you're in
(09:01):
control and to move on withoutthe emotional hangover that used
to follow it.
That's the true transformation.
It's not the pounds you lose,it's the control that you gain.
So when people panic aboutHalloween, I get it.
I've been there, but trust me,it's not about the sugar, the
calories, or the wrappers.
It's about reclaiming your powerone small, smart choice at a
(09:24):
time.
But here's the thing about theholidays.
They expose the truth aboutwhatever system you're currently
using.
If you're dieting, holidays showyou how weak that system
actually is.
Because let's be honest, lifedoesn't give a shit about your
meal plan.
Halloween doesn't care aboutyour macros.
Thanksgiving doesn't care thatyou're apptled you've hit your
(09:44):
sugar limit for the day.
Life is unpredictable.
It's busy, it's messy, it'semotional.
So if your weight loss strategycollapses the minute someone
offers you a mini Snickers, it'sdefinitely not a good strategy.
That's what I learned afteryears of living in the diet
loop.
Every holiday season was thesame.
(10:05):
I go in with good intentions.
This year's gonna be different.
I prep meals, I'd make promises,I plan to be good.
But the moment something wentoff my plan, a party, a
stressful day, a craving to hitout of nowhere, I break the
rule.
And once I broke it, I figured Imight as well break them all.
That's the trap.
Diets are all or nothing systemsin an all-over the place world.
(10:27):
They demand perfection, but lifeguarantees imperfection, which
means you're always just onesecond away from failure.
Holidays amplify that pressure.
You're surrounded by food andfamily and stress and nostalgia.
You're you're tired, distracted.
Last thing you want is anotherrule.
So when you finally give in, theguilt doesn't just hit, it
(10:48):
fucking crushes you.
And that guilt leads to shame,which leads to punishment, which
leads to more eating.
You don't fail the diet, thediet fails you.
Here's what I wish someone hadtold me years ago.
Rules are fragile.
Choices are flexible.
When you live by rules, you feelpowerful right up until you
(11:08):
break one.
Then you feel powerless.
When you live by choices, youfeel powerful all the time.
Because even when you choosesomething indulgent, you're
still in control.
That's why diets fall apartaround the holidays.
They rely on control throughrestriction.
Don't eat that, avoid this, staystrong.
But the more you strict, themore your brain rebels.
(11:28):
I mean, you know that.
It's wired for survival, notstarvation.
When you tell yourself you can'thave something, your mind starts
obsessing over it.
It's like telling a kid not totouch the red button.
You just made that buttonirresistible.
That's why I built my wholeapproach around stop dieting,
start choosing.
Because choosing doesn't meanperfection, it means power.
(11:51):
It means you can go to theHalloween party, have the candy,
and still wake up the next dayproud of yourself, not ashamed.
I want people to understandthis.
Holidays aren't tests ofwillpower.
They're opportunities topractice awareness.
They're where you learn how tolive, not how to restrict.
Because here's what life aftertransformation actually looks
(12:13):
like.
It's not constant discipline orendless clean eating.
It's navigating real life.
Birthdays, vacations,celebrations, holidays, all that
shit without guilt, withoutcollapse, and definitely without
starting over every fuckingMonday.
So if Halloween scares you, it'snot because of the candy.
It's because your system dependson perfection and you know
(12:37):
perfection doesn't exist.
But when you switch from dietingto choosing, Halloween becomes
proof that you've changed.
You can eat candy and still feelproud.
You can enjoy the party and stayon track.
You can live like a normal humanbeing and still lose weight or
maintain weight.
That's the freedom no diet willever give you because diets are
(13:00):
about control and choice isabout ownership.
So you don't need to avoidHalloween, you just need to own
it.
And when you start doing that,really doing it, every holiday
becomes easier because you stoptrying to survive them and you
start living through them.
I know that was a lot of talk,but now it's time to get
practical because while I love agood rant about die culture, I
(13:23):
also believe in giving youactual tools, things you can use
today to make Halloween not justsurvivable, but actually
enjoyable.
These aren't rules, they'rechoices.
Seven small, smart, doablechoices that put you back in
control.
Because Halloween isn't aboutsaying no, it's about saying yes
on purpose.
So the first rule is choose yourcandy like a critic.
(13:46):
Let's start with the obvious.
If you're gonna eat candy, makeit count.
Don't waste your choices on junkyou don't even love.
Half the reason people feelguilty is because they eat
mindlessly.
So here's the deal (13:56):
only eat what you truly enjoy.
Not what's sitting there, notwhat's fun sides, not what's
left over.
If you're gonna have candy, makeit your favorite candy.
For me, well, there's so many,but for me, probably juju fruits
or Reese's.
But so savor it, appreciate it,because one piece of something
amazing is worth 10 pieces ofsomething you don't even like.
I've eaten more candy that Idon't like just because it was
(14:18):
there than I could even discuss.
But so think of it this way: you're a food critic, not a (14:19):
undefined
scavenger.
Choosers eat with intention,dieters eat with fear.
Number two is eat before thesugar storm.
So you know what guarantees abinge?
Showing up to Halloween hungry.
That's when every piece of candyfeels irresistible.
So eat some real food first.
I'm talking about protein andfiber, something that actually
(14:42):
fills you up and stabilizes yourblood sugar.
Some chicken, some steak, someveggies, even a protein shake.
Anything that makes you feelgrounded before you're
surrounded by Kit Cats.
When you're satisfied, you makebetter choices.
And when you're starving, youmake excuses.
Rule number three is delay thedecision.
One of my favorite strategies,don't say no, say later.
(15:06):
When you see the candy ball,don't declare war.
Just tell yourself, I'll havesome later.
That tiny delay gives your brainsome time to cool off.
Nine times out of ten, thatcraving passes.
And if it doesn't, then you eata piece intentionally, not
impulsively.
That small pause is your power.
You're not depriving yourself,you're deciding.
(15:26):
Rule number four, chooseboundaries, not rules.
Rules say don't.
Boundaries say decide.
This might be the biggest shiftof all.
Set your own parameters.
Ones that make sense for yourlife.
Maybe it's I'll have threepieces and stop.
Maybe it's I'll have candy onlyafter dinner.
Maybe it's uh I'm keeping onefavorite and giving the rest
away.
Whatever it is, boundaries giveyou freedom with structure.
(15:49):
Rules give you anxiety andguilt.
And the best part, when youchoose your own boundaries,
you're far more likely to keepthem because they came from you,
not from some diet jerk or bookwritten by a guy who's never
been fat a day in his life.
Number five is ditch the guiltcostume you're wearing.
You didn't ruin anything, youdidn't cheat.
(16:09):
You made a choice.
This is where peopleself-destruct.
They eat candy, feel guilty, andthen double down with a binge
because the day's ruined.
It's not ruined, it's it's justreal life.
You are not your food choices.
You're the person who makesthem.
So stop dressing up as guilt forHalloween.
If you have some candy, great.
Own it.
(16:30):
Move on.
The people who lose weight andkeep it off aren't the ones who
never slip.
They're the ones who refuse toturn a slip into a slide.
Rule number six, this should beobvious, but for a lot of it's
not.
Don't keep candy in the house.
Let's be real.
Willpower is wildly overrated.
You can't resist what'sconstantly staring at you.
(16:52):
So don't make it harder than itneeds to be.
Don't buy candy for thetrick-or-treaters two weeks
early.
Don't keep a ball on the counterand don't set yourself up to
fight the same battle 50 times aday.
Environment beats willpowerevery single time.
Make your surroundings matchyour goals, not your
temptations.
And then the seventh and lastone is reward yourself with some
(17:14):
momentum.
Here's how you win every dayafter Halloween.
You wake up and keep going.
You drink water, you eatbreakfast, you move, you act
like a person who's already incontrol because that's the real
reward.
Not the candy, not the sugarhit, but the pride that comes
from that consistency.
Moment feels much better thanMM's.
(17:34):
I'm still convincing myself ofthat, but it does.
And confidence tastes muchbetter than chocolate.
That one happens to be true.
When you treat every small winas proof of your progress, you
start stacking them.
And when you stack them up, theyturn into transformation.
The point of these seven choicesisn't to make Halloween safe,
it's to make it yours.
(17:54):
You don't need to avoid thecandy, you just need to stop
surrendering to it.
You don't need rules, you needawareness.
You don't need restriction, youneed ownership.
And when you live like that,Halloween becomes just another
day where you choose power overautopilot.
That's how to stop dieting andstart choosing, even when the
(18:15):
world is covered in chocolate,like it is on Halloween.
But here's the thing about allthis it's never just about
candy.
It never was.
Candy is the easy example, thevisible symptom.
But underneath it, it's aboutchoice.
It's about identity.
It's about whether you're livinglife on autopilot or actually
(18:36):
driving.
Because Halloween is just onenight.
But if we're being honest here,there's always another Halloween
around the corner.
The birthday party, the officesnacks, the vacation buffet, the
random Tuesday night stressbinge.
You don't fail once a year.
You get tested every single day.
So when you practice thesechoices during Halloween, you're
(18:58):
not learning how to survive asugar holiday.
You're learning how to live assomeone who's in control.
Someone who doesn't need a listof rules taped to the
refrigerator.
Someone who can walk into anysituation, like a party or a
dinner or trip, and decidewhat's worth it.
That's real power.
And once you've felt that, youdon't go back.
See, people think transformationis about food or exercise or
(19:19):
willpower.
It's not.
It's about awareness.
Awareness of what you eat,awareness of what you're
feeling, awareness of whenyou're using food to fill a void
that can't be filled that way.
Diets teach you to suppress thatawareness.
They say, just follow the plan.
Don't think, don't question,don't feel.
But when you numb awareness, younumb choice.
When you numb choice, you losecontrol.
(19:42):
Choosing, on the other hand,forces you to wake up, to pause,
to ask, what do I actually wantright now?
Sometimes the answer is aReese's, and that's fine.
Sometimes it's a walk or waterasleep.
That's the point.
You get to choose.
When I lost 140 pounds, peopleassumed I found the perfect
plan.
But there was no plan.
(20:02):
There was just choice, onesmall, smart choice after
another.
And what I learned is that onceyou stop dieting, life starts
opening up.
You stop waiting for someday tofeel good in your body, you
start living now.
And that's what I want foreveryone listening because food
shouldn't be your enemy.
It shouldn't be the thing thatruins your holidays or defines
your self-worth.
(20:22):
Food is just food.
It's your mindset that gives itmeaning.
You can't control everysituation, but you can always
control your next choice.
That's what separatestransformation from torture.
Dieters fight reality.
Choosers work with it.
And here's the best part (20:40):
every time you choose differently,
even once your identity shifts alittle, you start being the
person who tries to lose weight,and you start becoming the
person who decides to livedifferently.
That's not motivation, that'sownership.
So as Halloween comes and goes,remember this it's not about
(21:02):
being perfect, it's about beingintentional.
You're not aiming to win everybattle.
You're learning and stopfighting the wrong war.
Candy will come and go.
Holidays will come and go.
But your ability to choose, tostay in control, to live with
awareness, to own your ownstory, that's the thing that
(21:22):
lasts.
Because at the end of the day,sustainable weight loss and real
transformation isn't aboutsaying no.
It's about saying yes.
Yes to living your life withoutguilt, without rules, and
without shame.
That's the big picture.
That's freedom.
That's what it means to stopdieting and start choosing.
So we have to talk a little bitabout mindset because all the
(21:45):
strategies, tricks, candy hacksin the world don't mean a
fucking thing if your head isn'tright.
This is where a lot of peopleget stuck.
They treat every decision likeit's a moral report card.
I was good today.
I was bad today.
I earned my treat.
I blew my diet.
Sound familiar?
That language is poison.
It keeps you stuck in thisexhausting game of punishment
(22:06):
and reward as if eating a pieceof candy somehow determines your
worth as a person.
Here's a news flash.
It doesn't.
It never has.
So let's reframe that once andfor all.
You are not what you eat.
You are what you choose.
That's the whole point of stopdieting, start choosing.
Because once you realize yourpower comes from the decisions
(22:26):
you make, not the rules youfollow, you stop giving the food
the ability to control you.
Now here's the truth (22:31):
no one in the diet industry wants to
admit.
You will fuck up.
You will eat things you didn'tplan to eat.
You will have days that don't goas planned.
You will have moments where youfeel weak or tired or emotional,
and the candy wins.
And that's okay.
You're human.
You're not a robot.
You're not broken.
You're living.
(22:52):
The difference between peoplewho transform and people who
stay stuck isn't perfection.
It's recovery speed.
It's how quickly you get back upafter you fall.
Dieters fall and say, Oh, I blewit.
Chooses fall and say, All right,big fucking deal.
That happened.
What's next?
That's the mindset shift thatchanges everything.
You have to learn to forgiveyourself faster than you judge
(23:14):
yourself.
You have to learn to see data,not drama.
Every mistake, honestly, isfeedback.
It's a message from your body oryour brain saying, hey,
something's off.
Maybe you're hungry, you'restressed, you're tired, bored,
who knows?
Okay, good to know.
Learn from it, adjust, and moveon.
The goal is not to never fall.
(23:36):
It's to fall forward.
When you take the emotion out ofit and just see it for what it
is, a choice, an outcome, and anopportunity to choose
differently next time, youbecome unstoppable.
That's what true freedom lookslike.
Freedom from guilt, freedom fromfood anxiety, freedom from the
constant negotiation in yourhead.
You can still love food, you canstill enjoy holidays, you can
(23:59):
still have a Reese's or ahandful of candy corn or one of
those cadbury cream.
Oh, those things are so good.
What you can't do, what you'redone doing, is letting that
define you because you're not ona diet anymore.
You're in charge now.
That's what makes this approachso powerful.
It's not about sticking to aplan, it's about developing a
(24:19):
mindset of someone who doesn'tneed one.
Once you've built that trustwith yourself, that unshakable
belief that you can make goodchoices and recover from bad
ones, you're free.
You don't need to get back ontrack because there is no track.
There's just life.
And life is messy, but it's alsobeautiful when you stop fighting
(24:40):
it.
So this Halloween and everyholiday after it, remember, it's
not about willpower orrestriction or perfection.
It's about grace.
It's about awareness, it's aboutaccountability.
Make the next best choice.
That's it.
That's how you build confidence.
That's how you buildconsistency.
That's how you build a life thatfeels good.
(25:03):
Not because you follow diet, butbecause you took back control.
So I want to turn this from talkinto action because insight
without action is just morenoise, and the world already has
enough of that fucking noise outthere.
So here's your Halloweenchallenge.
It's simple but powerful.
Make one small, smart choicethis week on purpose.
That's it.
I don't care what the choice is.
(25:23):
I don't care if it's tiny.
I just care that it'sintentional.
Maybe your choice is that you'lleat your favorite candy and stop
at two pieces.
Maybe it's that you'll actuallysit down and enjoy the candy
instead of sneaking it standingover the counter.
Guilty.
Maybe it's that you drink aglass of water before you reach
for anything sweet.
Maybe it's that you'll eat areal meal before you dive into
the party snacks.
(25:44):
I don't know.
It doesn't have to be dramatic.
It just has to be deliberatebecause every time you make that
conscious choice, you build themuscle that keeps you free.
You stop reacting, you startdeciding.
And that's where the power is.
That's how you'll train yourbrain to trust you again.
And trust me for a second, thattrust is everything.
When you've spent yearspromising yourself, I'll start
(26:06):
Monday, I'll just have one, I'lldo better tomorrow.
You stop believing your ownwords.
That's what makes weight lossfeel impossible.
It's not the food and it's notyour body, it's that lack of
trust.
Every time you make one small,smart choice and follow through,
you're rebuilding that trust.
You show yourself, hey, I can dothis.
And the next time it's eveneasier.
(26:28):
That's what transformationreally is.
Not one massive decision, butthousands of small ones stacked
together until they become whoyou really are.
So pick your choice.
Write it down, say it out loudif you need to.
Tell someone, or you know, tellme, tag me on Instagram at
Jonathan WrestleFat Los and letme know what you chose.
It doesn't matter.
Because this isn't about beingperfect on Halloween.
(26:50):
It's about being present.
It's about walking away fromanother holiday season, finally
feeling like you're in control.
This year, when you look at thatcandy bowl, don't think, I can't
have that.
Think I get to choose becausethat's who you are now.
A chooser, not a dieter, not avictim, not someone waiting for
the perfect time to get itright.
You're already doing it.
(27:11):
So go live your life, eat yourfucking candy, and make one
small, smart choice that movesyou forward.
That's the challenge.
That's the work.
That's the win.
So here's the real takeaway Iwant you to walk away with this
Halloween.
Candy doesn't control you, dietsdo.
Halloween is not the enemy.
The candy is not plottingagainst you.
(27:33):
The problem is the belief thatyou have to be perfect to make
progress.
You don't.
You just have to keep choosing.
You're not on a diet anymore.
You're on a mission to live yourlife fully, freely, and
consciously.
That means taking your powerback from every piece of food
that ever made you feel weak,guilty, ashamed, or like a piece
(27:54):
of shit.
You can eat candy and still loseweight.
You can go to parties and stillmake progress.
You can live a real life withbirthdays and stress and
holidays, and yeah, evenchocolate and donuts and still
transform your health.
You just have to stop waitingfor the perfect plan and start
trusting yourself.
That's exactly why I wrote mybook, Shut Up and Choose.
(28:14):
The book isn't another dietmanual.
It's a rebellion against all ofthem.
It's the framework that helpedme lose 140 pounds and keep it
off, not by eating less, but bythinking differently.
It's it's raw, it's honest, alittle uncomfortable because it
forces you to take ownership,but it's also freeing as hell.
It's also an Amazon bestseller.
So if you're done being lied toby the diet industry, if you're
(28:37):
tired of starting out everyMonday, if you're ready to
finally stop negotiating withyourself, this book is where you
need to start.
It's not about food, it's aboutchoice, it's about power, it's
about remembering that youalready know what to do.
You just need to stop givingyour power away and start
choosing again.
And if you're not ready for thebook yet, start with my free
(28:58):
tips at jonathanwrestler.com.
That's my website.
They're short, they're direct,they're no BS reminders to cut
through the noise and keep youfocused.
I send them straight to you fromme, practical, real, and built
for busy people who want resultswithout obsession.
Because this isn't aboutmotivation, it's about momentum.
You don't need to overhaul yourlife.
(29:19):
You just need to make one small,smart choice and then another.
Those choices stack on eachother.
They build confidence, theybuild consistency, and before
you know it, they build the lifeyou've been waiting for.
So this Halloween, don'toverthink it, don't restrict,
don't feel guilty, eat thefucking candy, own the choice,
and then move on.
(29:40):
Because this isn't aboutdieting, it's about deciding.
It's about living.
It's about you finally realizingthat freedom doesn't come from
saying no.
It comes from knowing that youcould and still choosing what's
right for you.
So this Halloween and every dayafter it, remember this you
don't need perfection, you needawareness.
You don't need another plan.
(30:02):
You just need the courage tomake one small, smart choice at
a time.
That's how real transformationhappens.
That's how freedom feels.
And that's how you shut up andchoose.
SPEAKER_01 (30:15):
You've been listening to Shut Up and Choose.
Jonathan's passion is to sharehis journey of shedding 130
pounds in less than a yearwithout any of the usual
gimmicks.
No diets, no pills, and we'lllet you in on a little secret.
No fucking gym.
And guess what?
(30:36):
You can do it too.
We hope you enjoyed the show.
We had a fucking blast.
If you did, make sure to like,rate, and review.
We'll be back soon.
But in the meantime, findJonathan on Instagram at
Jonathan Wrestler Boca Ratan.
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 hurtwhen you hear someone speak the
absolute real and raw truth, youshould leave.
Like right now.
This is shut up and shoes.
(00:23):
The podcast where we cut throughthe shit and get real about
weight loss, life, andeverything in between, we get
into the nitty-gritty of makingsmall, smart choices that add up
to big results.
From what's on your plate andhow you approach life's
challenges, we'll explore howthe simple act of choosing
(00:43):
differently can transform yourhealth, your mindset, and your
entire freaking life.
So, if you're ready to cutthrough the bullshit and start
making some real changes, thenbuckle up and shut it up,
because we're about to chooseour way to a healthier, happier
life.
This is Shut Up and Choose.
(01:05):
Let's do this.
Now your host, Jonathan Russell.
SPEAKER_00 (01:14):
Welcome back to Shut Up and Choose, the podcast
cutching the noise and thenonsense, and all the bullshit
that the diet industry isthrowing your way and trying to
convince you that you don't knowwhat you're doing, that you
can't trust yourself, thatyou're not in control of your
own body, and that the only wayyou can lose weight is to listen
to the industry or some idiotinfluencer, some moron online,
(01:35):
but the truth is you're incomplete control.
So look, it's the end of themonth, and Halloween is coming.
And let's be honest for asecond.
Halloween is the fat person'sfavorite holiday.
Always has been, always will be.
Why?
Because it's the one day of theyear when you can shovel candy
into your mouth and no onejudges you.
(01:55):
It's socially acceptable to walkaround with a pumpkin bucket
full of sugar bombs.
You can even wear a mask whileyou do it.
That's genius! Everywhere youlook, temptation is dressed up
in orange and black.
Your office desk turns into asugar graveyard, mini Snickers,
Reese's cups, Twix bars.
I personally love Juju fruits,but all those little bastards
waiting to ambush your goodintentions.
(02:16):
If you have kids, they come homewith pillowcases full of candy
and somehow half of itmysteriously disappears after
they go to bed.
And at the checkout one, Iforget it, those pumpkin-shaped
Reese's and those the Cadburycream eggs, oh, they're
practically screaming your name.
Now, like I said, with Halloweencoming up, I thought this was an
(02:36):
important topic.
Because for a lot of people whoare trying to lose weight, this
time of year feels like thestart of a slippery slope.
Halloween rolls intoThanksgiving, which bleeds into
Christmas, and suddenly byJanuary, you're Googling detoxes
and pretending it's all going tobe different this year.
It's not.
Not if you keep doing the sameold thing.
Because here's the thing thatmost people miss Halloween isn't
(02:58):
the problem.
Candy isn't the problem.
You aren't even the problem.
The problem is the way you thinkabout it.
Diet culture has trained you tobelieve that food has moral
value, that candy is bad andyou're good if you resist it.
But that's bullshit.
Candy is just candy.
The only thing that gives itpower is the way you react to
(03:21):
it.
And that's where my philosophycomes in.
Stop dieting, start choosing.
Because dieting throughHalloween is a recipe for
failure.
It's a disaster.
The second you tell yourself youcan't have any, your brain
becomes obsessed with it.
You start negotiating withyourself.
I'll have just one, which, youknow, turns into five, which
(03:41):
turns into fuck it.
I'll start again on Monday.
If that sounds familiar, guesswhat?
That's not discipline failingyou.
That's a bad system.
When you start choosing insteadof dieting, everything changes.
You take back control.
You decide if candy is worth it.
You decide when to stop.
You decide how to move on.
(04:01):
No guilt, no shame, just power.
So today, I'm not going to tellyou to throw out your kids'
candy or avoid Halloweenparties.
That's just fucking stupid.
What I am going to do is showyou how to walk into Halloween
like someone who's in control,not someone who's trying to
survive it because this holidaydoesn't have to derail you.
It can actually be proof thatyou're winning.
So here's the truth aboutHalloween and weight loss.
(04:25):
It's not really about candy.
It's about control, or moreaccurately, the illusion of
control.
For most people trying to loseweight, Halloween feels like a
setup.
The candy bowl is basically abooby trap.
You are surrounded by sugar, andevery diet really you've ever
memorized starts shouting inyour head, don't do it.
Don't eat that.
You'll ruin everything.
(04:45):
But let me ask you a question.
Has that ever actually worked?
Because I've never met anyonewho's white knuckled their way
through a holiday and said, wow,I feel so empowered and balanced
right now.
What usually happens?
You resist it for a little bit,maybe a day or two, and then you
cave.
And when you do, the guilt hitsharder than the sugar crash.
(05:05):
You tell yourself, you've blownit.
You feel weak, you spiral, thenyou swear you'll get back on
track next week and the cyclestarts again.
This is the trap.
And it's not your fault.
It's the diet mindset.
Diets operate on the idea ofcontrol through restriction.
They tell you that success meansavoiding temptation, that if you
just had a little morewillpower, you'd be fine.
(05:28):
But that's not how real lifeworks.
You have a job, maybe some kids,we all have stress, and a
thousand decisions that arehitting you every single day.
Your mental energy is alreadyspent before you even see that
first can you wrap it.
So when the temptation shows up,your brain grabs what's ever
easier.
That's not weakness, that'shuman biology.
The reason that diets failduring Halloween or any holiday
(05:51):
for that matter is because theyteach you how to fear food
instead of understand it.
They teach you to obey insteadof choose.
And when you're obeying, you'renot really in control, you're
just following orders.
Now here's the big shift.
Choosers don't obey.
Choosers decide.
A dieter says, I can't eatcandy, but a chooser says, I
(06:12):
can, but do I really want it?
One response is fear-based andthe other is power-based.
One feels like punishment andthe other one feels like
freedom.
That difference changeseverything because when you
approach Halloween as a chooser,you're no longer playing
defense.
You're on offense.
You're deciding in real timewhat serves you and what
(06:33):
doesn't.
You can enjoy a few pieces ofcandy without guilt because you
know exactly what you're doingand you're doing it on purpose.
This is what people don'tunderstand about weight loss
that actually lasts.
It's not about being perfect,it's about being present.
When you choose consciously,every situation, even Halloween,
(06:54):
becomes an opportunity topractice control without
suffering.
So instead of dreading the candybowl this year, use it as a
training.
See it as your gym for decisionmaking.
Because if you can master yourchoices on Halloween, you can
pretty much handle anything.
I I'll never forget my firstHalloween after I lost all the
weight.
For most of my life, Halloweenmeant one thing: permission.
(07:15):
Permission to binge, to jokeabout it, hide behind.
It's just once a year.
I'd buy the big bags of candy,you know, the for the
trick-or-treater ones, and openthem a week early.
By the time the actual kidshowed up, I was already on bag
number three.
And I'd laugh about it.
I call it my cheat week, pretendit was no big deal.
But deep down it was because Iwasn't choosing.
I was escaping.
(07:36):
So if we fast forward to thatHalloween after the
transformation, I was acompletely different person.
And I'm not just sayingphysically, but mentally.
I remember standing in front ofthe same candy aisle at the
grocery store, same brand, samebright wrappers, but this time
it felt different.
The candy didn't owe me anymore.
That night I had a few pieces.
(07:57):
That's it.
I didn't overthink it.
I didn't spiral into guilt.
I didn't promise myself I'd doan extra workout the next day
because I don't go to the gym.
I just enjoyed it and I movedon.
And in that moment, not theweight loss, not the before and
after photo, not the number onthe scale, that moment was when
I realized that I'd actuallychanged because that's called
life.
And what this whole thing issupposed to be about.
(08:19):
Not living in fear of food, notfeeling like you have to earn
your candy, not punishingyourself for being human.
It's about freedom, realfreedom, the kind that comes
when you finally stop dietingand start choosing.
So when people ask me how Istayed consistent after losing
weight, I tell them it wasn'tdiscipline.
It was ownership.
I owned my choices.
I stopped pretending food hadpower over me.
(08:41):
I stopped giving candy theability to ruin my day.
Halloween became just anotherday, not a landmine, not a
trigger, and definitely not atest.
Just a day with fucking candy init.
And that's what I want everyonelistening to understand.
The goal isn't to never eat thecandy.
The goal is to be able to eat itwithout guilt, to know you're in
(09:01):
control and to move on withoutthe emotional hangover that used
to follow it.
That's the true transformation.
It's not the pounds you lose,it's the control that you gain.
So when people panic aboutHalloween, I get it.
I've been there, but trust me,it's not about the sugar, the
calories, or the wrappers.
It's about reclaiming your powerone small, smart choice at a
(09:24):
time.
But here's the thing about theholidays.
They expose the truth aboutwhatever system you're currently
using.
If you're dieting, holidays showyou how weak that system
actually is.
Because let's be honest, lifedoesn't give a shit about your
meal plan.
Halloween doesn't care aboutyour macros.
Thanksgiving doesn't care thatyou're apptled you've hit your
(09:44):
sugar limit for the day.
Life is unpredictable.
It's busy, it's messy, it'semotional.
So if your weight loss strategycollapses the minute someone
offers you a mini Snickers, it'sdefinitely not a good strategy.
That's what I learned afteryears of living in the diet
loop.
Every holiday season was thesame.
(10:05):
I go in with good intentions.
This year's gonna be different.
I prep meals, I'd make promises,I plan to be good.
But the moment something wentoff my plan, a party, a
stressful day, a craving to hitout of nowhere, I break the
rule.
And once I broke it, I figured Imight as well break them all.
That's the trap.
Diets are all or nothing systemsin an all-over the place world.
(10:27):
They demand perfection, but lifeguarantees imperfection, which
means you're always just onesecond away from failure.
Holidays amplify that pressure.
You're surrounded by food andfamily and stress and nostalgia.
You're you're tired, distracted.
Last thing you want is anotherrule.
So when you finally give in, theguilt doesn't just hit, it
(10:48):
fucking crushes you.
And that guilt leads to shame,which leads to punishment, which
leads to more eating.
You don't fail the diet, thediet fails you.
Here's what I wish someone hadtold me years ago.
Rules are fragile.
Choices are flexible.
When you live by rules, you feelpowerful right up until you
(11:08):
break one.
Then you feel powerless.
When you live by choices, youfeel powerful all the time.
Because even when you choosesomething indulgent, you're
still in control.
That's why diets fall apartaround the holidays.
They rely on control throughrestriction.
Don't eat that, avoid this, staystrong.
But the more you strict, themore your brain rebels.
(11:28):
I mean, you know that.
It's wired for survival, notstarvation.
When you tell yourself you can'thave something, your mind starts
obsessing over it.
It's like telling a kid not totouch the red button.
You just made that buttonirresistible.
That's why I built my wholeapproach around stop dieting,
start choosing.
Because choosing doesn't meanperfection, it means power.
(11:51):
It means you can go to theHalloween party, have the candy,
and still wake up the next dayproud of yourself, not ashamed.
I want people to understandthis.
Holidays aren't tests ofwillpower.
They're opportunities topractice awareness.
They're where you learn how tolive, not how to restrict.
Because here's what life aftertransformation actually looks
(12:13):
like.
It's not constant discipline orendless clean eating.
It's navigating real life.
Birthdays, vacations,celebrations, holidays, all that
shit without guilt, withoutcollapse, and definitely without
starting over every fuckingMonday.
So if Halloween scares you, it'snot because of the candy.
It's because your system dependson perfection and you know
(12:37):
perfection doesn't exist.
But when you switch from dietingto choosing, Halloween becomes
proof that you've changed.
You can eat candy and still feelproud.
You can enjoy the party and stayon track.
You can live like a normal humanbeing and still lose weight or
maintain weight.
That's the freedom no diet willever give you because diets are
(13:00):
about control and choice isabout ownership.
So you don't need to avoidHalloween, you just need to own
it.
And when you start doing that,really doing it, every holiday
becomes easier because you stoptrying to survive them and you
start living through them.
I know that was a lot of talk,but now it's time to get
practical because while I love agood rant about die culture, I
(13:23):
also believe in giving youactual tools, things you can use
today to make Halloween not justsurvivable, but actually
enjoyable.
These aren't rules, they'rechoices.
Seven small, smart, doablechoices that put you back in
control.
Because Halloween isn't aboutsaying no, it's about saying yes
on purpose.
So the first rule is choose yourcandy like a critic.
(13:46):
Let's start with the obvious.
If you're gonna eat candy, makeit count.
Don't waste your choices on junkyou don't even love.
Half the reason people feelguilty is because they eat
mindlessly.
So here's the deal (13:56):
only eat what you truly enjoy.
Not what's sitting there, notwhat's fun sides, not what's
left over.
If you're gonna have candy, makeit your favorite candy.
For me, well, there's so many,but for me, probably juju fruits
or Reese's.
But so savor it, appreciate it,because one piece of something
amazing is worth 10 pieces ofsomething you don't even like.
I've eaten more candy that Idon't like just because it was
(14:18):
there than I could even discuss.
But so think of it this way: you're a food critic, not a (14:19):
undefined
scavenger.
Choosers eat with intention,dieters eat with fear.
Number two is eat before thesugar storm.
So you know what guarantees abinge?
Showing up to Halloween hungry.
That's when every piece of candyfeels irresistible.
So eat some real food first.
I'm talking about protein andfiber, something that actually
(14:42):
fills you up and stabilizes yourblood sugar.
Some chicken, some steak, someveggies, even a protein shake.
Anything that makes you feelgrounded before you're
surrounded by Kit Cats.
When you're satisfied, you makebetter choices.
And when you're starving, youmake excuses.
Rule number three is delay thedecision.
One of my favorite strategies,don't say no, say later.
(15:06):
When you see the candy ball,don't declare war.
Just tell yourself, I'll havesome later.
That tiny delay gives your brainsome time to cool off.
Nine times out of ten, thatcraving passes.
And if it doesn't, then you eata piece intentionally, not
impulsively.
That small pause is your power.
You're not depriving yourself,you're deciding.
(15:26):
Rule number four, chooseboundaries, not rules.
Rules say don't.
Boundaries say decide.
This might be the biggest shiftof all.
Set your own parameters.
Ones that make sense for yourlife.
Maybe it's I'll have threepieces and stop.
Maybe it's I'll have candy onlyafter dinner.
Maybe it's uh I'm keeping onefavorite and giving the rest
away.
Whatever it is, boundaries giveyou freedom with structure.
(15:49):
Rules give you anxiety andguilt.
And the best part, when youchoose your own boundaries,
you're far more likely to keepthem because they came from you,
not from some diet jerk or bookwritten by a guy who's never
been fat a day in his life.
Number five is ditch the guiltcostume you're wearing.
You didn't ruin anything, youdidn't cheat.
(16:09):
You made a choice.
This is where peopleself-destruct.
They eat candy, feel guilty, andthen double down with a binge
because the day's ruined.
It's not ruined, it's it's justreal life.
You are not your food choices.
You're the person who makesthem.
So stop dressing up as guilt forHalloween.
If you have some candy, great.
Own it.
(16:30):
Move on.
The people who lose weight andkeep it off aren't the ones who
never slip.
They're the ones who refuse toturn a slip into a slide.
Rule number six, this should beobvious, but for a lot of it's
not.
Don't keep candy in the house.
Let's be real.
Willpower is wildly overrated.
You can't resist what'sconstantly staring at you.
(16:52):
So don't make it harder than itneeds to be.
Don't buy candy for thetrick-or-treaters two weeks
early.
Don't keep a ball on the counterand don't set yourself up to
fight the same battle 50 times aday.
Environment beats willpowerevery single time.
Make your surroundings matchyour goals, not your
temptations.
And then the seventh and lastone is reward yourself with some
(17:14):
momentum.
Here's how you win every dayafter Halloween.
You wake up and keep going.
You drink water, you eatbreakfast, you move, you act
like a person who's already incontrol because that's the real
reward.
Not the candy, not the sugarhit, but the pride that comes
from that consistency.
Moment feels much better thanMM's.
(17:34):
I'm still convincing myself ofthat, but it does.
And confidence tastes muchbetter than chocolate.
That one happens to be true.
When you treat every small winas proof of your progress, you
start stacking them.
And when you stack them up, theyturn into transformation.
The point of these seven choicesisn't to make Halloween safe,
it's to make it yours.
(17:54):
You don't need to avoid thecandy, you just need to stop
surrendering to it.
You don't need rules, you needawareness.
You don't need restriction, youneed ownership.
And when you live like that,Halloween becomes just another
day where you choose power overautopilot.
That's how to stop dieting andstart choosing, even when the
(18:15):
world is covered in chocolate,like it is on Halloween.
But here's the thing about allthis it's never just about
candy.
It never was.
Candy is the easy example, thevisible symptom.
But underneath it, it's aboutchoice.
It's about identity.
It's about whether you're livinglife on autopilot or actually
(18:36):
driving.
Because Halloween is just onenight.
But if we're being honest here,there's always another Halloween
around the corner.
The birthday party, the officesnacks, the vacation buffet, the
random Tuesday night stressbinge.
You don't fail once a year.
You get tested every single day.
So when you practice thesechoices during Halloween, you're
(18:58):
not learning how to survive asugar holiday.
You're learning how to live assomeone who's in control.
Someone who doesn't need a listof rules taped to the
refrigerator.
Someone who can walk into anysituation, like a party or a
dinner or trip, and decidewhat's worth it.
That's real power.
And once you've felt that, youdon't go back.
See, people think transformationis about food or exercise or
(19:19):
willpower.
It's not.
It's about awareness.
Awareness of what you eat,awareness of what you're
feeling, awareness of whenyou're using food to fill a void
that can't be filled that way.
Diets teach you to suppress thatawareness.
They say, just follow the plan.
Don't think, don't question,don't feel.
But when you numb awareness, younumb choice.
When you numb choice, you losecontrol.
(19:42):
Choosing, on the other hand,forces you to wake up, to pause,
to ask, what do I actually wantright now?
Sometimes the answer is aReese's, and that's fine.
Sometimes it's a walk or waterasleep.
That's the point.
You get to choose.
When I lost 140 pounds, peopleassumed I found the perfect
plan.
But there was no plan.
(20:02):
There was just choice, onesmall, smart choice after
another.
And what I learned is that onceyou stop dieting, life starts
opening up.
You stop waiting for someday tofeel good in your body, you
start living now.
And that's what I want foreveryone listening because food
shouldn't be your enemy.
It shouldn't be the thing thatruins your holidays or defines
your self-worth.
(20:22):
Food is just food.
It's your mindset that gives itmeaning.
You can't control everysituation, but you can always
control your next choice.
That's what separatestransformation from torture.
Dieters fight reality.
Choosers work with it.
And here's the best part (20:40):
every time you choose differently,
even once your identity shifts alittle, you start being the
person who tries to lose weight,and you start becoming the
person who decides to livedifferently.
That's not motivation, that'sownership.
So as Halloween comes and goes,remember this it's not about
(21:02):
being perfect, it's about beingintentional.
You're not aiming to win everybattle.
You're learning and stopfighting the wrong war.
Candy will come and go.
Holidays will come and go.
But your ability to choose, tostay in control, to live with
awareness, to own your ownstory, that's the thing that
(21:22):
lasts.
Because at the end of the day,sustainable weight loss and real
transformation isn't aboutsaying no.
It's about saying yes.
Yes to living your life withoutguilt, without rules, and
without shame.
That's the big picture.
That's freedom.
That's what it means to stopdieting and start choosing.
So we have to talk a little bitabout mindset because all the
(21:45):
strategies, tricks, candy hacksin the world don't mean a
fucking thing if your head isn'tright.
This is where a lot of peopleget stuck.
They treat every decision likeit's a moral report card.
I was good today.
I was bad today.
I earned my treat.
I blew my diet.
Sound familiar?
That language is poison.
It keeps you stuck in thisexhausting game of punishment
(22:06):
and reward as if eating a pieceof candy somehow determines your
worth as a person.
Here's a news flash.
It doesn't.
It never has.
So let's reframe that once andfor all.
You are not what you eat.
You are what you choose.
That's the whole point of stopdieting, start choosing.
Because once you realize yourpower comes from the decisions
(22:26):
you make, not the rules youfollow, you stop giving the food
the ability to control you.
Now here's the truth (22:31):
no one in the diet industry wants to
admit.
You will fuck up.
You will eat things you didn'tplan to eat.
You will have days that don't goas planned.
You will have moments where youfeel weak or tired or emotional,
and the candy wins.
And that's okay.
You're human.
You're not a robot.
You're not broken.
You're living.
(22:52):
The difference between peoplewho transform and people who
stay stuck isn't perfection.
It's recovery speed.
It's how quickly you get back upafter you fall.
Dieters fall and say, Oh, I blewit.
Chooses fall and say, All right,big fucking deal.
That happened.
What's next?
That's the mindset shift thatchanges everything.
You have to learn to forgiveyourself faster than you judge
(23:14):
yourself.
You have to learn to see data,not drama.
Every mistake, honestly, isfeedback.
It's a message from your body oryour brain saying, hey,
something's off.
Maybe you're hungry, you'restressed, you're tired, bored,
who knows?
Okay, good to know.
Learn from it, adjust, and moveon.
The goal is not to never fall.
(23:36):
It's to fall forward.
When you take the emotion out ofit and just see it for what it
is, a choice, an outcome, and anopportunity to choose
differently next time, youbecome unstoppable.
That's what true freedom lookslike.
Freedom from guilt, freedom fromfood anxiety, freedom from the
constant negotiation in yourhead.
You can still love food, you canstill enjoy holidays, you can
(23:59):
still have a Reese's or ahandful of candy corn or one of
those cadbury cream.
Oh, those things are so good.
What you can't do, what you'redone doing, is letting that
define you because you're not ona diet anymore.
You're in charge now.
That's what makes this approachso powerful.
It's not about sticking to aplan, it's about developing a
(24:19):
mindset of someone who doesn'tneed one.
Once you've built that trustwith yourself, that unshakable
belief that you can make goodchoices and recover from bad
ones, you're free.
You don't need to get back ontrack because there is no track.
There's just life.
And life is messy, but it's alsobeautiful when you stop fighting
(24:40):
it.
So this Halloween and everyholiday after it, remember, it's
not about willpower orrestriction or perfection.
It's about grace.
It's about awareness, it's aboutaccountability.
Make the next best choice.
That's it.
That's how you build confidence.
That's how you buildconsistency.
That's how you build a life thatfeels good.
(25:03):
Not because you follow diet, butbecause you took back control.
So I want to turn this from talkinto action because insight
without action is just morenoise, and the world already has
enough of that fucking noise outthere.
So here's your Halloweenchallenge.
It's simple but powerful.
Make one small, smart choicethis week on purpose.
That's it.
I don't care what the choice is.
(25:23):
I don't care if it's tiny.
I just care that it'sintentional.
Maybe your choice is that you'lleat your favorite candy and stop
at two pieces.
Maybe it's that you'll actuallysit down and enjoy the candy
instead of sneaking it standingover the counter.
Guilty.
Maybe it's that you drink aglass of water before you reach
for anything sweet.
Maybe it's that you'll eat areal meal before you dive into
the party snacks.
(25:44):
I don't know.
It doesn't have to be dramatic.
It just has to be deliberatebecause every time you make that
conscious choice, you build themuscle that keeps you free.
You stop reacting, you startdeciding.
And that's where the power is.
That's how you'll train yourbrain to trust you again.
And trust me for a second, thattrust is everything.
When you've spent yearspromising yourself, I'll start
(26:06):
Monday, I'll just have one, I'lldo better tomorrow.
You stop believing your ownwords.
That's what makes weight lossfeel impossible.
It's not the food and it's notyour body, it's that lack of
trust.
Every time you make one small,smart choice and follow through,
you're rebuilding that trust.
You show yourself, hey, I can dothis.
And the next time it's eveneasier.
(26:28):
That's what transformationreally is.
Not one massive decision, butthousands of small ones stacked
together until they become whoyou really are.
So pick your choice.
Write it down, say it out loudif you need to.
Tell someone, or you know, tellme, tag me on Instagram at
Jonathan WrestleFat Los and letme know what you chose.
It doesn't matter.
Because this isn't about beingperfect on Halloween.
(26:50):
It's about being present.
It's about walking away fromanother holiday season, finally
feeling like you're in control.
This year, when you look at thatcandy bowl, don't think, I can't
have that.
Think I get to choose becausethat's who you are now.
A chooser, not a dieter, not avictim, not someone waiting for
the perfect time to get itright.
You're already doing it.
(27:11):
So go live your life, eat yourfucking candy, and make one
small, smart choice that movesyou forward.
That's the challenge.
That's the work.
That's the win.
So here's the real takeaway Iwant you to walk away with this
Halloween.
Candy doesn't control you, dietsdo.
Halloween is not the enemy.
The candy is not plottingagainst you.
(27:33):
The problem is the belief thatyou have to be perfect to make
progress.
You don't.
You just have to keep choosing.
You're not on a diet anymore.
You're on a mission to live yourlife fully, freely, and
consciously.
That means taking your powerback from every piece of food
that ever made you feel weak,guilty, ashamed, or like a piece
(27:54):
of shit.
You can eat candy and still loseweight.
You can go to parties and stillmake progress.
You can live a real life withbirthdays and stress and
holidays, and yeah, evenchocolate and donuts and still
transform your health.
You just have to stop waitingfor the perfect plan and start
trusting yourself.
That's exactly why I wrote mybook, Shut Up and Choose.
(28:14):
The book isn't another dietmanual.
It's a rebellion against all ofthem.
It's the framework that helpedme lose 140 pounds and keep it
off, not by eating less, but bythinking differently.
It's it's raw, it's honest, alittle uncomfortable because it
forces you to take ownership,but it's also freeing as hell.
It's also an Amazon bestseller.
So if you're done being lied toby the diet industry, if you're
(28:37):
tired of starting out everyMonday, if you're ready to
finally stop negotiating withyourself, this book is where you
need to start.
It's not about food, it's aboutchoice, it's about power, it's
about remembering that youalready know what to do.
You just need to stop givingyour power away and start
choosing again.
And if you're not ready for thebook yet, start with my free
(28:58):
tips at jonathanwrestler.com.
That's my website.
They're short, they're direct,they're no BS reminders to cut
through the noise and keep youfocused.
I send them straight to you fromme, practical, real, and built
for busy people who want resultswithout obsession.
Because this isn't aboutmotivation, it's about momentum.
You don't need to overhaul yourlife.
(29:19):
You just need to make one small,smart choice and then another.
Those choices stack on eachother.
They build confidence, theybuild consistency, and before
you know it, they build the lifeyou've been waiting for.
So this Halloween, don'toverthink it, don't restrict,
don't feel guilty, eat thefucking candy, own the choice,
and then move on.
(29:40):
Because this isn't aboutdieting, it's about deciding.
It's about living.
It's about you finally realizingthat freedom doesn't come from
saying no.
It comes from knowing that youcould and still choosing what's
right for you.
So this Halloween and every dayafter it, remember this you
don't need perfection, you needawareness.
You don't need another plan.
(30:02):
You just need the courage tomake one small, smart choice at
a time.
That's how real transformationhappens.
That's how freedom feels.
And that's how you shut up andchoose.
SPEAKER_01 (30:15):
You've been listening to Shut Up and Choose.
Jonathan's passion is to sharehis journey of shedding 130
pounds in less than a yearwithout any of the usual
gimmicks.
No diets, no pills, and we'lllet you in on a little secret.
No fucking gym.
And guess what?
(30:36):
You can do it too.
We hope you enjoyed the show.
We had a fucking blast.
If you did, make sure to like,rate, and review.
We'll be back soon.
But in the meantime, findJonathan on Instagram at
Jonathan Wrestler Boca Ratan.
Until next time, shut up andchoose.
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