Stop Dieting and Start Choosing

Jonathan Ressler

Hey, welcome back to Shut Up and Choose, the podcast that cuts through the noise, the nonsense, and all the bullshit that the internet and Instagram influencers and TikTok influencers are throwing your way. Telling you what to eat. Telling you how to eat. Telling you when to sleep. It is all a bunch of bullshit.

The reality is none of them really know what is going on. Very few of them have ever been there themselves, in that place where you are fat and you realize you need to do something.

The diet industry is a scam. The weight loss industry is a scam. Most of the people on Instagram are scammers. Not because what they are saying is inaccurate or did not work for them, but because it does not work for most people.

Weight loss is simple. You do not need a complicated plan.

Stop Dieting. Start Choosing.

If you have been following me on social media lately, you have probably noticed a phrase I have been using a lot. Stop dieting and start choosing.

That phrase means something to me.

On this last journey, I was not on a diet for a single minute. I was choosing. I was making small, smart choices and choosing to be healthier.

When you are dieting, you are losing weight to get healthy. When you are choosing, you are getting healthy and the weight comes off.

That difference matters.

Diets work temporarily. You lose weight. Then you stop the diet, go back to living the same way, and the weight comes back. Usually with interest.

The Diet Industry Problem

If dieting worked, you would not need another one. I would not have needed another one. I did hundreds.

The weight loss industry is one of the most successful scams in modern history. Billions of dollars. Thousands of plans. And people are still stuck, still searching, still starting over.

Diets do not work long term. Not sustainably. Not for real people with real lives, stress, and responsibilities.

They sell control. Rules. Plans. Apps. Macros. Subscriptions.

The promise is simple. Follow this perfectly and you will be fixed.

The truth is you do not need more control. You need more ownership.

Dieting Versus Choosing

Dieting is outsourcing. You hand your power to a spreadsheet, a coach, or a rule book.

If you fail, you are told it is your fault. Not the system.

That is the scam.

Stop dieting and start choosing because choosing is the opposite of dieting.

Dieting gives you rules and punishes you for breaking them. Choosing gives you responsibility.

You are not a robot. You do not need to be tracked and managed.

The real problem is not carbs. Not sugar. Not the gym.

The real problem is believing someone else knows what is better for you than you do.

Why Diets Fail People

Diets are passive. Choosing is active.

Dieting follows someone else’s script. A stranger who does not know your life, stress, schedule, or cravings.

Choosing asks different questions.

What do I want today. What serves me right now. How do I want to feel tonight.

Diets are rooted in fear. Choosing is rooted in identity.

Diets ask for perfection. Choosing asks for progress.

Diets are temporary. Choosing lasts.

I am over two years in. Down over 140 pounds. Still here.

If I eat poorly today, I choose better tomorrow. I do not restart. I recommit.

The Monday Trap

Diets create the Monday mindset. Eat poorly. Feel guilty. Start over Monday.

Restriction leads to cravings. Cravings lead to binges. Binges lead to shame.

This is not a character flaw. It is a system failure.

Diets create food morality. Good foods. Bad foods. Cheat meals.

One choice becomes an identity failure.

That is why people spiral.

Every Bite Is a Choice

Every bite is a choice.

Not a failure. Not a flaw. A choice.

Dieting teaches following. Choosing teaches leading.

Once you shift from “I blew it” to “I chose that and now I choose this,” everything changes.

Building the Bounce Back Muscle

Bad choice. Big deal.

Drink water. Move. Sleep.

That is how you build resilience.

You do not need the gym. You do not need a spreadsheet. You do not need another expensive coaching package.

You need to choose. Then choose again.

I choose wrong plenty. I just do not quit.

Identity Over Dieting

You are not fat. You are not lazy. You are not broken.

You have been making choices based on stress, survival, and systems designed to keep you stuck.

Now you choose differently.

Not for the scale. For alignment.

Identity holds when willpower breaks.

Three Small, Smart Choices

Drink 24 ounces of water when you wake up.

Cut one mindless snack today.

Take a 10-minute walk instead of scrolling.

These are not rules. They are reps.

How I Lost 140 Pounds

I did not follow a meal plan.

I did not go to the gym.

I did not eat perfectly.

I chose better, repeatedly, imperfectly, and consistently.

I never waited for Monday.

I never restarted.

I just chose again.

Final Truth

You do not need a perfect plan. You need a better choice.

You already have the answer.

Not Monday. Today.

Stop dieting. Start choosing.

Shut up and choose.