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: 1:13

Hey, welcome back to Shut Up and Choose the podcast that cuts through the noise, the nonsense and all the garbage that all those internet jerk-offs and Instagram gurus are throwing your way telling you about buy my plan. All this shit from the diet industry. It's all a bunch of garbage and hopefully I'm here to help you cut through some of that garbage and actually see what really matters and what really works. And today I want to talk about something. I know it's going to piss a lot of people off, but I want to talk about meal plans. A lot of people are out there buying meal plans from some influencer, telling them all this great stuff that they should be doing and just follow my meal plan and you lose 30 pounds. And the truth of the matter is fuck that meal plan stuff. What you really need to do is learn to eat like a normal person and, truthfully, I'm at the point where I can't take it anymore. If I have to hear one more internet jerk-off talk about their foolproof step-by-step plan for weight loss, I'm going to lose my shit. You've definitely seen it some ripped influencer flexing in some perfect lighting with his perfect tan, telling that if you just follow their magic formula, the weight will fall off you effortlessly. Oh and, by the way, it only costs 99 bucks a month, but they'll make the meal plan for you to follow, not knowing what you like to eat or anything like that, but they'll just. They'll make a meal plan for 99 bucks a month. But let me save you some time and money. It's all bullshit. These plans don't work long-term because they don't teach you a fucking thing about real life eating. They just tell you what to eat without helping you learn how to eat. And guess what? The second you stop following their plan, you gain all the weight back. So today we're going to break down why meal plans, honestly, are just a scam, why you need to stop looking for the perfect diet and how to actually lose weight without following some influencers' overpriced grocery list.

Speaker 2: 3:06

Look. For decades, the weight loss industry has pushed meal plans as the ultimate solution for shedding pounds. Follow this plan for 30 days and lose 15 pounds. Eat exactly these foods and these portions and you'll finally see results. Or just stick to this plan and your weight loss problem will be solved. It sounds great, right? Except it's wrong. Meal plans are a temporary fix to a permanent problem. They don't teach you how to eat in real life. They just tell you what to eat for a short period of time, for right now, and once the plan is over, most of the people who follow those plans are going to put the weight back. Look at me I follow no exaggeration 100 different diet plans and I always do well on them. But once they're over, I put the weight back.

Speaker 2: 3:54

And why does that happen? Well, I'm glad you asked. The reason it happens is because you never actually learn how to eat in the right way, in a way that works for your lifestyle. So if you're tired of bouncing from rigid diets, meal plan to meal plan, or diet that constantly feel like you're failing when you can't stick to it, this episode is definitely for you. So, if we kind of cut through all the bullshit, if you're looking for a meal plan, you're looking for an excuse. That's it.

Speaker 2: 4:21

If you're looking for a meal plan, you're looking for an excuse. You want someone else to tell you exactly what to eat so you don't have to think, you don't have to make choices and you don't have to take responsibility for your own eating habits. You know, for me it's all about small, smart choices and you're trying not to make any choices. You're hoping, if you just follow a perfect plan, you'll finally lose weight without actually having to change the way you think about food. For me, the biggest factor of my weight loss was absolutely changing the way that I looked at food.

Speaker 2: 4:56

But here's a hard truth for you Meal plans are just another way to avoid taking control, and avoiding responsibility is exactly why you keep failing. You think you need that perfect meal plan, but what you actually need is some accountability. You believe that a meal plan is going to keep you on track, but what you actually need is some accountability. You believe that a meal plan is going to keep you on track, but what you actually need is to take ownership of your choices, and you think that following a strict plan will make weight loss easier. What you actually need to accept is that the easy way has never worked and it never will Now.

Speaker 2: 5:28

I'm not saying that weight loss is hard, but following a meal plan, eating shit a certain way with certain other foods, these portions it's just unworkable. So most people who are searching for a meal plan don't want to admit. The real reason they struggle with food is they don't want to take responsibilities for their eating habits. They want to be told what to do instead of figuring it out for themselves. I'm so guilty of this. I can't even tell you I was so guilty. But, like I said, I did over 100 diets and I lost weight on all of them, but I never really figured it out for myself. I just followed hey, cut out carbs or eat this meal at this time and don't combine this food, that food and it works.

Speaker 2: 6:09

I'm not saying it doesn't work, but it doesn't teach you anything. And, lastly, I was always looking for an easy way out instead of putting in the effort to learn how to eat for the rest of my life, and that's what I learned in this journey, so I get it. It's so much easier to tell yourself, if I only had the right meal plan, I'd finally lose weight. I mean, I said I had the right meal plan a hundred times Paleo, keto, you name it and it was always the right meal plan until it wasn't. Because what happens when that meal plan doesn't fit your real life? Or what happens when you don't feel like eating what's on the plan? What happens when you're at a restaurant or traveling or dealing with cravings? You panic and you go off the plan and you quit. And that's where it's just crazy. The reality is, the reason you quit is because you were never in control. The meal plan was in control, and that's exactly why meal plans just don't work. Look, if meal plans worked, you wouldn't be listening to this right now and you wouldn't like me. You wouldn't have tried every diet, plan after plan, only to end up right back where you started, and usually with a little bit more weight. And the reason that I kept looking for a meal plan was because I wanted weight loss to be easy. I wanted someone to tell me what to eat, so I didn't have to think about it. I always say I'm incapable of making good food choices. You're looking, and I was looking, for a set of rules so I don't have to be responsible for my own choices Because, like I said, I always said I'm incapable of making good food choices. And you want to believe in the end, when it fails, that the plan failed, that it wasn't you that the plan failed. But the problem is the easy way out never works. And again, I'm not telling you weight loss is hard, but the easy way of not figuring out for yourself it just never lasts. So the truth is, until you stop looking for the shortcuts and start taking control, you're always going to struggle with food. So that's my opinion. But now let me tell you why meal plans actually set you up for failure, and what happens when they end, and how to actually lose weight without needing a fucking meal plan ever again.

Speaker 2: 8:16

So meal plans seem helpful first, of course they do. They remove the need for decision-making. I don't have to think about my food. You don't have to think, you just follow the list. But this is the real problem and I am living proof. I'm sitting here and telling you. I'm living proof. No one eats that way forever. I don't care what the meal plan is, no one eats that way forever.

Speaker 2: 8:37

And a meal plan fails because they tell you exactly what to eat and they don't teach you why you're eating those foods. You don't learn anything about nutrition. You don't learn how to build balanced meals on your own, you don't learn how to adjust portion size based on your hunger and activity levels and you don't learn what to do when you're not following the preset plan. So what happens when the meal plan ends? You have no idea how to make good choices on your own and you convince yourself of that. I convinced myself for years and years and years and years that I was incapable of making good food choices.

Speaker 2: 9:14

Another problem with meal plans is they don't allow for any flexibility, because life is unpredictable, like what happens if you go out to eat and the restaurant you're in doesn't have your quote, unquote meal approved plans or foods, or what happens if you're traveling and you can't prep your meals. I am dead set against meal prepping. I think it's fucking horrible. Unless you're a hardcore bodybuilder, then it makes sense. But I mean, what happens when you can't prep your meal? Or what if you just don't fucking feel like eating chicken and broccoli for the fifth time this weekend? I'm not talking about Chinese chicken and broccoli, I'm talking about bland grilled chicken and steamed broccoli. What happens if you don't feel like eating it for the 11th time this month? Meal plans don't teach you how to adapt to real-life situations.

Speaker 2: 10:01

So the second, something unexpected happens. You feel like you failed, when in reality here wait for it the plan actually failed you. And when you start to eat these things, when you start to eat something that's not on the plan I know you've all thought of this oh man, I fucked it up, so I might as well eat everything in style. No, you know what? I'll start over on Monday, I'll start over next week, I'll start over next month. That's just such that all or nothing mindset is why so many people quit completely.

Speaker 2: 10:28

The second they go off plan. They think that one bad meal ruins everything, when in reality it doesn't really matter at all. Like I said before, unless you're a bodybuilder prepping for a competition, you will not eat from a structured meal plan forever. At some point you're going to have a birthday dinner with some friends or a night out where you just feel like eating tacos and margaritas or craving for a burger that just won't go away and guess what? That's normal. A good nutrition strategy should allow you to enjoy food and still make progress.

Speaker 2: 11:00

If your plan doesn't work in the real world, it is not a good plan. Second part is let's say you're disciplined and I hate that word. But let's say you're disciplined and you follow a meal plan for eight weeks and you lose weight Awesome. But then what do you do next? And this is where people go wrong. They try to stay on the plan forever, and I don't have to tell you that never works. What's more likely is they're going to go back to their old eating habits and gain all the weight back, and they start to panic when faced with food choices that are outside the plan and spiral into bad decisions.

Speaker 2: 11:36

You've heard my story. I said I was paleo and I was killing it. Yeah, I was just losing weight and I was strict. Then I became a little less paleo and then I became somewhat paleo. Before you know it, I was eating all the shit that I wasn't supposed to eat on, plus a bunch of other shit. I put all the weight back on Again.

Speaker 2: 11:52

The problem is, meal plans don't teach you how to eat for life. I learned how to eat for life. That's what my whole thing is about. But when you don't learn how to eat for life, when that plan ends, so does the structure, and when the structure disappears, people go right back to all that eating habits. They go right off the rails and look. The bottom line is this Temporary changes equal temporary results. You're not going to have sustainable weight loss and again, I'm only blaming myself for this, but I didn't trust myself to make good food choices.

Speaker 2: 12:31

I kept bouncing from diet to diet, hoping the next one's going to work or I would obsess. I did some calorie counting where I was down to like 1,500 calories a day and I obsessed with tracking calories and fucked around macros and points and you all of you know what points are instead of learning how to eat naturally and normally. And when I was doing those things, I felt lost every time that I had to make a choice outside that structured plan. And the reality is most people don't need a meal plan. They need to learn how to eat. So if you don't know how to build a balanced meal without needing an app, you're a fucking idiot. If you don't know how to eat in moderation without binging, well, I understand that one. If you don't know how to handle cravings without guilt, I'm going to tell you how. And if you don't know how to eat at restaurants without panicking, you're missing a huge part of life. And, by the way, no meal plan is ever going to fix anything any of those things For me.

Speaker 2: 13:23

I don't know how to say this other than this I learned how to eat like a normal person and I'm not sure what normal is, but the way everybody else eats, the people who are fit. So instead of obsessing what meal plan I was going to follow, I focused on learning how to eat in a way that works forever, and just some of the things that I did. Look, I have no meal plan. I've told you a thousand times I didn't count calories. I just ate whatever I felt like. But there are certain things that I did. One of them is prioritizing protein at every meal, because protein keeps you full, it supports muscle and it helps control cravings. And I'm going to tell you I ate more than this, but I would tell you that, from a protein standpoint, aim for something that's like the size of your palm at every single meal.

Speaker 2: 14:07

Now again, someone's going to say well, you said you eat overnight oats every morning. Yes, I did eat overnight oats every single morning, or pretty much every morning, but I also ate a lot more protein in the afternoon and the evening. And if you build your meals around whole foods again, like lean protein and healthy fats and the right carbs and vegetables, that's all you need to do. 80% of your meal should be whole, nutrient-dense foods. The other 20% could be shit that you have for fun. You don't have to eat perfectly. You don't have to be perfect. And again, this thing was really important for me Learn how to practice portion control Instead of creating rigid rules Instead of weighing and measuring everything. Learn how to practice portion control instead of creating rigid rules Instead of weighing and measuring everything. Learn how to eyeball portions. I know like fitness influencers must be losing their shit right now, but it's easy. Don't fucking waste your time counting calories. A plate should be half vegetables, a quarter protein and a quarter carbs Simple, it's that easy. And another one is follow the 80-20 rule. Eat the right food, nutrient-dense foods, 80% of the time and leave 20% for like the other shit, for some flexibility, like for a donut I'm not saying eat a donut with your dinner 80%. If you eat well, 80% of the time you will lose weight. That 20% is where you're going to eat your treats. If you're going out for a social event, you're going to have a few drinks. It's real life, eating without the guilt. And lastly, or kind of almost lastly, but not really last but stop seeing food as good and bad. I talk about this all the time too. One slice of pizza is not going to ruin your fucking progress, just like one salad is not going to ruin your fucking progress, just like one salad is not going to make you fit. Weight loss is about what you do consistently, not what you do once in a while, and that will help you develop habits, healthy habits, not a temporary diet. So creating eating habits and eating patterns that you can actually follow for life is what's going to lead you to this sustainable weight loss. So look, bottom line, if you're overweight, you're not eating like a normal person, and if you're on some extreme meal plan, obsessively tracking every bite because some internet jerk-off told you to do that, or some diet doctor who knows what the fuck they know. Or if you're cutting out entire food groups, you're not eating like a normal person either. Both extremes overeating and overly restrictive diets are broken systems that just don't work long term. Think about it If the way you're eating right now is sustainable, you wouldn't be struggling with your weight. If your habits naturally led to maintaining a healthy body, you wouldn't be searching with your weight. If your habits naturally led to maintaining a healthy body, you wouldn't be searching for the next diet, the next meal plan or the secret hack to lose weight. There is no fucking secret hack. It's called eating normally. The same applies if you're on a ridiculously strict eating plan. Sure, you might lose weight for a little while, but what happens when you can't keep it up and nobody can keep it up long-term? You go right back to your old habits and the weight piles back on, and in my case, and probably in your case as well, you add a little bit more than you took off. So the key to lasting weight loss isn't a rigid diet or some magic food list or some extreme approach. It's learning how to eat in a way that you can actually follow for life. Normal people don't eat massive calorie surpluses every day, but they also don't starve themselves on 1,200 calories a day. Normal people don't binge eat fast food five nights a week, but they also don't freak out if they have a burger every once in a while. The problem is when you're overweight for as long as I was, and when you're just overweight for a long period of time for me it was 59 years you kind of lose touch with what normal eating even looks like. You don't know how to recognize hunger and fullness cues. I know I sure as shit didn't. I would just eat because it was there and I spent years ignoring those cues. You might not even know how to build a balanced meal, and I think I knew how to do that, but I didn't know how to eat something that satisfied me without overeating. And if you've been on diet after diet which, like I said, I've been on a hundred of them you might not even trust yourself around food anymore. Like I said, I always said I'm incapable of making good food choices, so I used to think those strict rules and meal plans were the only thing that keep me under control. I'm going to talk next week about, or the week I don't know in the coming week, about that fabulous weight loss advice like just eat less and move more the worst fucking advice I've ever heard in my life, but I'll get into that. But the reason I'm saying that is because I want to tell you now, like I say, say, eat like a normal person. What does that actually mean? It means that making mostly smart choices works without obsessing over perfection. You focus on protein, fiber, whole foods most of the time, but you don't lose your shit if you have a slice of pizza. That's normal. It means eating in a way that makes sense for your real life. Okay, no one lives like the guys and the women on Instagram. Okay, those fitness influencers spend their whole fucking life in the gym. It means that you have to eat in a way that makes sense for your real life. You can go out for dinner, you can enjoy your holidays and you could travel without falling to this all or nothing cycle of either binging or starving yourself. It also means not relying on an app or a meal plan or a diet to tell you what to eat. You learn to eat based on hunger, balance and portion control, not some strict, rigid set of rules. It's just ridiculous. And last thing is, it means not treating food like the enemy. You have to stop labeling foods as good or bad and instead focus on consistency. Over time, I'm trying to figure out another episode of the podcast where I actually flip the script on what's good and what's bad, because to me, fucking, donuts, that's good food, pizza that's good food, burgers, that's good food. It may not be good in the sense that you're used to hearing, but to me, damn, that's good food. So don't worry about whether food is good or bad, just eat it. At the end of the day, the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to develop a way of eating that you can follow forever, forever. If you're consistently bouncing between eating like an unsupervised child and then following some extreme, miserable diet, you're never going to make lasting progress. The answer here is not more rules, it's learning how to eat like a normal person again. Yes, your meal plan might work temporarily, but they don't teach you the skills you need to keep the weight off for good. So let me give you this piece of big news If you think you need to cut out every bad food to lose weight, you're setting yourself up for failure. Integrating treats into your meal is not just okay, it's absolutely necessary for long-term success. Why do I say that? Well, because total restriction always leads to rebellion, right when I would cut out certain food groups or certain foods I always wanted, the more. The more you tell yourself you can't have pizza or ice cream or burger, the more you crave it, the more I crave those things. And when you finally give, it's not just one slice or one burger, it's a whole fucking pie, and that's the all or nothing mindset. It's exactly why most diets fail. So I decided that I was going to let myself eat treats in moderation when I really want them when I thought about it. But when you do that, you remove that forbidden factor and learn how to enjoy stuff like the traditional bad foods without any guilt. It's just so easy. When you stop looking at food as good and bad, you just start seeing it as food, something that can be balanced within a healthy lifestyle, making healthy choices. This is how normal people eat. They don't swear off cookies forever. They just don't eat an entire sleeve of Oreos in one sitting. The key is Learning portion control, making smart swaps when necessary and available, and understanding that one treat won't ruin your progress. Only quitting will. People don't need another diet. You don't need another diet to follow for 30 days. You need to learn how to eat in a way that works for real life. That way, you never have to start over again. So, instead of looking for some perfect meal plan because it doesn't fucking exist learn how to eat smarter. Make small, smart choices that build habits that last, and stop relying on strict rules and start trusting yourself to make better choices. That's really how you win the weight loss game for good. So there's my thought on meal plans. You know I hate them. You know I think they're setting you up for failure. If you want to learn how I did all this, how I changed my mindset because this is a mental game you can buy my book called Shut Up and Choose, same as this podcast, on Amazon. We're an Amazon bestseller. I get emails every day from people telling me how it's changed their life just by reading my book. Again, that's available on Amazon. You can also get my video course. It's 20 plus videos. It's called the Effortless Weight Loss Academy. It's available at learnshutupandchoosecom learnshutupandchoosecom and I hate selling shit, but I will tell you that it's $47, one-time purchase. I guarantee you, if you buy the course and go through it, you will never have to spend another dime on weight loss again, because it takes you through how to change your mindset, to being in a fat loss mindset and making small, smart choices every day and, most importantly, letting you forgive yourself when you make a fucking mistake. Get away from the meal plan Again. You can get that at the Effortless Weight Loss Academy at learnshutupandchoosecom. So that's it for today. That's it for my thoughts on meal plans. Let the hate begin Start sending me all the flames. Let me know that why I'm wrong, why meal plans work. I'm sure they're coming and the reality is I don't give a shit unless you've lost a significant amount of weight. Don't tell me what works and what doesn't work. Let me rephrase that as long as you've lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off. I'm coming up on two years. If you've done that, then argue with me. Until then, I would tell you you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. So now you have my thoughts on meal plans and why they're setting you up for failure. You can pick and choose to eat however you want. You can do whatever it is you want. You have to do the thing that works for you. The only thing left now to do is for you to shut up and choose.

Speaker 1: 25:10

You've been listening to Shut Up and Choose. Jonathan's passion is to 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 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.