Speaker 1: 0:02

If you're a whiny snowflake that can't handle the truth, is offended by the word fuck and about 37 uses of it in different forms gets ass hurt. When you hear someone speak the absolute, real and raw truth, you should leave Like right now. This is Shut Up and Choose, the podcast where we cut through the shit and get real about weight loss, life and everything in between. We get into the nitty gritty of making small, smart choices that add up to big results. From what's on your plate to how you approach life's challenges. We'll explore how the simple act of choosing differently can transform your health, your mindset and your entire freaking life. So if you're ready to cut through the bullshit and start making some real changes, then buckle up and shut up, because we're about to choose our way to a healthier, happier life. This is Shut Up and Choose. Let's do this Now. Your host, jonathan Ressler.

Speaker 2: 1:14

Welcome back to Shut Up and Choose the podcast, where we cut through the bullshit and the noise that the diet industry is spewing at you, that internet gurus and all kinds of people out there are giving you that bad info, and I'm here to cut through all that noise and help you make sense of it all. I'm Jonathan Wessel, your host, and I'm happy you're here. So today, what I want to talk about is the same thing that I talk about all the time is, if we start with that simple, brutal truth that nobody likes to hear is you're fat because you choose to be fat. Yep, I said it again and I know it stings, but the fact is, your weight is the result of the choices you made in the past and continue to make in the present. You didn't accidentally wake up one day overweight, just like you're not going to accidentally wake up one day thin. So, whether you like it or not, your health and weight are direct reflections decisions that you've made and you continue to make about how you eat, how you move and really how you just take care of yourself overall. And that's not to say that those decisions were easy, or even conscious, for that matter. Sometimes life throws shit at you, it throws it at all of us, and I'm talking about stress and a busy schedule, some emotional eating when shit's not going your way, and the availability the 24-hour, 7-day week, 365-day year, availability of convenience foods. But at the end of the day, it's not about those obstacles, it's about how you respond to them, what you do, how you act, and for too long we've been conditioned to think that we deserve the results without really working for them.

Speaker 2: 2:49

And that brings me to the main topic of what I want to talk about today, and that's the participation trophy mentality. It's all effort and no reward, and I think one of the biggest problems we face today is the participation trophy mentality that's been drilled into us. And well, maybe not I'm 60, so maybe it's not as me but it's definitely been drilled into our kids and every generation coming up. We're teaching kids that simply showing up is enough. When I was a kid, showing up wasn't enough. If you sucked, you didn't get picked, you didn't make the team, you didn't get to play whatever. But today you don't have to win or even be good at anything, you just have to show up, you just have to be there and then you get a pat on your back like that trophy as a reward for your effort.

Speaker 2: 3:34

But here's the thing On a weightless journey and really in life, just showing up isn't enough. We've trained our kids to think that the effort doesn't need to be tied to results, and that's a lie and it's fucking dangerous. It might sound harsh for all you people out there who well you know, everybody should get a fair shot. Fuck that. Life isn't built that way and we're building culture where everyone expects success without the sacrifice. Kids today grow up thinking that just because they showed up for practice or they played on a soccer team for three months, they deserve to be stars. And unfortunately, kids and all of us carry that mindset into adulthood, believing we deserve promotions at work just for clocking in whether we should be thin and healthy and in good shape just because we ate a salad for lunch.

Speaker 2: 4:20

Well, here's some bad news. Life doesn't work that way. Weight loss doesn't work that way, and the sooner we realize that and wrap our brains around it, the sooner we can start making real changes that lead to real results. Here's another truth that you might not like but losing weight isn't hard. I know people go fucking crazy when I say that, but it's not hard Really it isn't. It doesn't require hours of grueling exercise or starving yourself. That's just a myth of the diet industry is selling you.

Speaker 2: 4:49

The hardest part is being consistent, and that's where people get all tripped up. They think because they ate a salad today, they should magically weigh 10 pounds lighter tomorrow, and when that doesn't happen when they didn't lose an ounce, they quit. Consistency is where the real work comes in, and it's not the kind of work where you're sweating buckets or starving yourself. It's the kind of work that requires a word that I don't like but discipline and willpower and really a why, why you're doing it day in and day out to make better choices, not perfect choices I'm not looking for perfection but better choices every single day. Think about it like this it's like the old fable with the rabbit and the turtle. The rabbit is fast and flashy, but he burns out because he's overconfident. The turtle, on the other hand, moves slowly and steadily, but he never stops, and in the end the turtle wins the race. Why? Because he's consistent. Weight loss is a slow race.

Speaker 2: 5:48

If you go all out with some crash diet or some nutty extreme workout plan, you might lose some weight quickly. At first, I always say that diets work and those things work, but they don't last. You'll burn out just like the rabbit or the hare. But if you make small, smart, consistent decisions every day, you can eat a little bit better, move just a little bit more and stick with it over time you'll be the one that wins the race. You'll lose the weight and, more importantly, you'll keep it off. Those small, smart choices. They really add up and people like all the time. They underestimate the power of the small choices they make. They think that in order to lose weight, you need to overhaul your entire life. Just take everything, throw it out and get this on this new crazy plan that you saw on the internet. Whatever they believe, they need to completely cut out carbs. I did it they need to start running five miles a day. I would never do Well.

Speaker 2: 6:45

I shouldn't say that I don't think I'll ever do it, or spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on miracle supplements or shots. I know I'll never do that, but all that stuff it's not necessary and it's not true. In reality. The small smart choices are the things that add up. The problem is, when we don't see the results of those choices right away, we assume they're not working. So when you choose to drink water instead of soda, or you decide to take the stairs instead of the elevator, it might not feel like very much in the moment, but over time those little decisions compound. It's the same principle as compound interest in a bank account. I know I've said that before, but small investments grow into big returns if you're patient and consistency, and this is why consistency matters so much.

Speaker 2: 7:35

Look, let's say you go out and have a salad today and you feel great about it, but tomorrow you follow up that salad with a week of unhealthy eating. You're not going to see any progress. However, if you eat a little bit better every day, week after week, and make those small smart decisions they don't all have to be perfect, but just make more small smart decisions the pounds will start to come off, and that's where people often fail. They expect immediate results and when they don't see them, they just give up. But just because he can't see the progress right away doesn't mean it's not happening. Think of it like it's planting seeds. Right, you don't plant a seed today and expect to go out in the garden and see a tree tomorrow. It just doesn't happen that way. But if you water that planted tree and you give it the sunlight and you care for it consistently, and if you're a freaky, deaky, earthy crunchy, you might want to talk to it and tell it you love it, eventually that plant or that tree is going to grow. So it's about consistency, small choice, the little things that make the difference. Now, I've done some crazy shit in my life and one of the things that I did a long time ago was I got into this network marketing company and the only reason that matters is there was a guy who was one of the leaders, one of the guys that was stealing everybody's money. But anyway, he always said remember, the harder you work, the luckier you get. And let's talk about that for a second. You've probably heard it right the harder you work, the luckier you get. And a lot of people misunderstand that it's not about working yourself to death or grinding endlessly without a payoff. It's about putting in consistent effort over time and eventually that effort pays off. So the harder you work at making small, smart choices, the luckier you're going to get. You're going to get lucky because the weight's going to come off.

Speaker 2: 9:25

So think about athletes. The ones who succeed are very rarely the most naturally talented. They're the ones that put in the work day after day, even when no one's watching. A football player doesn't just show up for a game and expect to win. He's been practicing for months, maybe even years. He's preparing his body, he's studying plays and he's honing every skill he has, depending on what position he plays. When he finally gets a chance to be on the field. All that hard work makes him lucky. The same goes for weight loss. It's not about luck, it's about consistent effort.

Speaker 2: 10:00

The people who seem lucky enough to stay fit and healthy aren't just genetically blessed. They've put in the work. And by work I don't mean hours in the gym or eating nothing but kale. Notice, I didn't say quinoa because I told you last week I kind of like quinoa now. But they didn't spend hours in the gym with these crazy workouts or not eating carbs or doing whatever. They've made all these small, smart choices every day that add up to big results over time. Weight loss is not a race. If you look at it as a race, if you're looking for a quick fix, if you're looking for it to happen quickly, you're going to fail. So the principle of consistent hard work aren't just true in weight loss. They're true in every area of life.

Speaker 2: 10:48

I just talked about sports. If you look at the world of sports, you think Michael Jordan became the best basketball player. Now I know people are going to lose their shit. They're going to say that that's LeBron James, but for my generation, michael Jordan is the best basketball player in the world. Do you think he became that way by just showing up to games? No, of course not. He practiced harder than anybody else. He worked on his craft, on his skills every single day. Even when he was at the top, he never stopped improving. So if you're one of those people that freaks out and say LeBron is better, you know what? Then just substitute LeBron in where I said Michael Jordan.

Speaker 2: 11:23

The work is still the same. They're still doing the same stuff and it's not hard work because they love doing it. Or look at like in the workplace, for instance. People who get promoted aren't just the ones who clock in and clock out every day. They're the ones who go the extra mile, who learn the new skills, who take on extra responsibility.

Speaker 2: 11:41

Success at work, like success in weight loss, is about making consistent efforts over time. And here's where a lot of people get it wrong. They think just because they show up, because they put in some effort, they deserve results. But just like in sports and in work, you only get out what you put in. So if you're not willing to put in the work, you don't deserve the results. That's not being mean or being a dick, that's just reality. That's the way life works. The harder you work, the luckier you get. And if you look at even in the business world, if you look at some real life examples where people fail countless times but instead of giving up, they kept working, they learned from their mistakes and they ultimately achieved massive success, consistency and persistence are critical for any kind of long-term achievement, whether it's weight loss or career success. Consistency and persistence are critical for any kind of long-term achievement, whether it's weight loss or career success.

Speaker 2: 12:31

Look at Thomas Edison. You probably heard of him, the guy that invented the light bulb. Right, well before he invented the light bulb, I read that he failed over a thousand times. A thousand times in experiments, that's more times than I've failed on diets. But he didn't give up. Nope, his famous quote pretty much says it all I have not failed. I've just found a thousand ways that don't work. And I guess for me, when it comes to dying, I haven't failed. I just found a hundred diets that didn't give me the results I was looking for. And that's what consistency looks like. Edison kept showing up every day, making small tweaks to his process and eventually I mean I think you would agree he changed the world.

Speaker 2: 13:09

But look at Walt Disney, one of the greatest visionaries in entertainment. He was once fired from a newspaper job for lacking creativity. Imagine that Before Disney became the household name it is today, he filed for bankruptcy. He had multiple failed business ventures and plenty of rejection. His first animation studio, the first one he created before Disney, went under and he struggled to fund his early cartoons. But he didn't quit. He just kept pushing, kept creating and eventually gave us Mickey Mouse, disneyland and arguably one of the most iconic brands of all time.

Speaker 2: 13:46

It was about continuing on. It was about all time. It was about continuing on. It was about being consistent. It was about believing in what he was doing. I'll give you one more, just because we all kind of love this guy.

Speaker 2: 13:56

Colonel Sanders Name was Colonel Harlan Sanders. I don't know if he was really concerned, but he's the guy behind KFC. I don't really love KFC, but anyway, he didn't hit success until he was in his 60s. Kind of like me, I had no success in my weight loss journey until I was 59. But before that he failed in a ton of businesses. His chicken recipe was rejected over a thousand times before he found his first taker. Most people would have given up after a few rejections. I gave up a million times after every diet failed after I put the weight. Let me rephrase it every diet worked, but after I put the weight back on I quit again. But Colonel Sanders with that fabulous beard and mustache, his persistent consistency led him to one of the biggest fast food franchises in the world. Okay, I'll give you one more, because this guy is just fucking awesome.

Speaker 2: 14:47

Steve Jobs you ever heard of Apple? Of course you have. Did you know that Steve Jobs was fired from his own company in the 80s. You probably knew that it took him years of learning from his failures and starting new ventures like Pixar, and making constant and consistent efforts to innovate, before he turned to Apple and transformed it into the tech giant it is today. Imagine if Steve Jobs gave up after getting kicked out of the company he found. I mean, I wouldn't be recording this on an Apple computer, I wouldn't be using iPhone, and a lot of us who knows what would happen. But he didn't. He was persistent, he was consistent. These people, all the people that I just mentioned they're huge successes.

Speaker 2: 15:30

But what people forget is how many times they failed before they succeeded. They didn't just wake up one day at the top. I didn't just wake up one day losing 140 pounds. I was consistent. I made small, smart choices. If you failed a hundred times before, my father used to have this corny saying. He used to say to me all the time and it really makes sense he said what if the guy that created seven up quit at six up? Just because you failed in the past doesn't mean that you're going to fail this time. This time is going to be different.

Speaker 2: 16:00

Here's the part that people really struggle with. The actual work of losing weight is not hard. It's not hard to make a healthy meal, to go for a walk or to drink more water. The hard part is doing it consistently. Anyone can eat a salad today. Anyone can go for a jog or a walk once in a while, but doing it day after day, that's where the real challenge lies, and people make excuses because consistency can be tough.

Speaker 2: 16:24

I say losing weight isn't hard work, but being consistent can be hard work. People say they don't have the time. I said it all the time I don't have time for this right now. Now, or they're too tired or they'll start tomorrow. One of my favorite excuses insert any date with tomorrow, and I said it.

Speaker 2: 16:40

But excuses are going to get you the results. They're all excuses. The only thing that's going to get you results is showing up for yourself every single day and making the right choices. So so stop with the excuses. Stop blaming your schedule, your stress or the best one, my favorite the genetics. Stop thinking that Because you made one good choice today, you deserve to be thin tomorrow. You don't. Weight loss doesn't work that way. Shut up and choose. You know I love that phrase. Choose to make better decisions, not just today, but tomorrow and the next day and the day after that, every single day. And, by the way I always say it, it's not about perfection. You'll make some bad choices. I made a shitload of bad choices on my journey. I just made more good choices than bad choices. So here's the thing At the end of the day choices. So here's the thing At the end of the day.

Speaker 2: 17:36

Weight loss is about taking responsibility for your own choices. It's not about waiting for some magic diet plan or some pill or some shot that's going to save you. It's not about expecting results because you showed up for a week. I actually just hit the pause button for a minute because I had to figure this out. I had to know what the stats are, and I just Googled it and the average diet for Americans lasts four to six weeks before they quit.

Speaker 2: 18:03

Well, that makes me feel pretty damn good about myself, because I've been on this thing for now April to now probably about 18 months, and not that I was on a diet. But that just shows me how well this thing works because I consistently make small, smart choices. So the average person lasts four to six weeks on this big life-changing thing that they're going to do? I'm going to cut out carbs. I'm only going to eat meat. I'm going to figure out my macros. I'm going to take cold water plungers you got to be kidding, but anyway, that's a podcast for another day. But four to six weeks. I've been on this for 18 months and I never felt like I was dieting for a minute. So for me and for you, I hope it's not about expecting results because you showed up for your four weeks or your four hours or whatever it is.

Speaker 2: 18:56

It's about making consistent, small, smart choices every single day and yeah, it's hard to stay consistent, but when you think about it the way I do, where you're not looking for perfection, you're looking for progress, where every choice doesn't have to be a smart choice, but as long as I'm making more small smart choices than I am small bad choices, I'm winning. So, yeah, is it hard to be consistent? Yes, I guess it is. But the work itself, the daily choices you need to make, those aren't hard.

Speaker 2: 19:31

What's hard is getting out of your own way and realizing that the only person responsible for your health is you and I said this last week or a couple weeks ago, I don't remember. Health is wealth. Let me tell you. That might sound corny to you and it might sound like some stupid saying. Let me tell you, when you're laying there in a hospital bed thinking that you're going to die because you're so fat, your body is shutting down. Let me tell you something Health is wealth and there's nothing more important than your health.

Speaker 2: 20:01

I put out a reel today and said you say that you're willing to die for your family. That's nice, but are you willing to get healthy for them? I mean, think about that, right, you're, oh, i're willing to take a bullet, but you're not willing to shut your mouth to make some small smart choices. I mean, it's easy to pay lip service to this shit, but the reality is your life depends on it, and I'm not saying you were 411 pounds like I was. If you're 30 pounds overweight, the bad shit is brewing inside of you. It just hasn't showed up yet. I promise you there's no benefit, there's no health benefit to being overweight, but there are surely a shitload of downsides. So look, at the end of the day, you have the power to change your body and your life. No one else can do it for you Not some diet plan, not a personal trainer, not a gym membership. You can choose to be healthy.

Speaker 2: 21:03

I started out this podcast by saying you're fat by choice. You choose to be fat, but the great news is you can choose to lose the weight. You can choose to be fit. You can choose to be fit. You can choose to be healthy. So shut up, stop making excuses and choose to be the person that you want to be. This is all about choice. People get mad at me when I say that it's a choice, but it's a choice. Maybe that's harsh. It's a choice. People get mad at me when I say that it's a choice, but it's a choice. Maybe that's harsh. It's a choice. You choose to be fat and you can choose to be fit. You can choose to lose the weight. You can choose to do whatever you want. So now I'm really done with this topic, about this participation trophy mentality that we have. It's bullshit.

Speaker 2: 21:51

So for those of you that have bought my book and have written reviews and have sent me emails, all I can say is thank you. The book is selling phenomenally well. But, more importantly, I'm getting a ton of emails from people telling me that I'm helping them, that I changed their life, and not just in the area of weight loss but in their overall lives, where they're doing things for the first time they haven't been able to do in years, where they're having better relationships with their family and their spouses and their girlfriends and boyfriends and whatever. It's just so gratifying to know that I'm helping people. I don't there's not a lot more that I can say about that? Don't there's not a lot more that I can say about that?

Speaker 2: 22:35

I also, as you know, have this 23 video video course that I've been selling, that I launched a few weeks ago. That's really selling well, again, getting great results. People love it. It's really easy to watch every video. There's 23 videos. Each one of them is around five minutes or so. There might be one that's seven minutes, but you want you can watch the whole thing in a couple hours and it really dives deep into how I did it, what the mentality is and how you can do it, how you can make the transformation, not just lose weight, how you can transform your entire life. If you're interested in that or if you know somebody that's interested in it, it's easy to find. It's learnshutupandchoosecom. It's simple. It's easy to find. It's learnshutupandchoosecom. It's simple and I guarantee you. I guarantee you, it will change your life. So that's it for today. I don't know what else to tell you other than how I always sign off. It's up to you. You make the choice. Now it's time to shut up and choose.

Speaker 1: 23:32

You've been listening to shut up and choose. Jonathan's passion is to share his journey of shedding 130 pounds in less than a year without any of the usual gimmicks no diets, no pills, and we'll let you in on a little secret no fucking gym. And and guess what? You can do it too. We hope you enjoyed the show. We had a fucking blast. If you did, make sure to like, rate and review. We'll be back soon, but in the meantime, find Jonathan on Instagram at JonathanWrestlerBocaRaton. Until next time, shut up and choose.