Jonathan’s Story
Choice Weight Analysis
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Shut Up And Choose Book
Jonathan Ressler
Hey, welcome back to Shut Up and Choose, the podcast. And let me start by saying this straight up. All that bullshit you’re hearing from Instagram influencers and online coaches is exactly that. Bullshit.
They give you rules they don’t follow. Rules they couldn’t follow even if they tried. And then they expect you to live your life by them. That’s what I want to talk about today. Food rules. And why food rules were made to be broken.
I used to believe eating after seven o’clock would make me fat. Seriously. I watched the clock like it controlled my body. Six fifty-eight. Fine. Snack allowed. Seven oh one. Nope. Forget it. Same food. Same hunger. Suddenly it was bad.
I can’t tell you how many nights I stood in my kitchen hungry, frustrated, telling myself I was being disciplined. Telling myself I’d ruin my progress if I ate. And that’s insane.
Because the truth is, my progress was already ruined. Not by the food. By the rule.
I wasn’t failing because I ate a banana at seven fifteen. I was failing because I believed a made-up rule that had nothing to do with how my body actually works.
And I know I’m not alone.
Maybe you skipped breakfast because you heard it was the only way to burn fat. Maybe you avoided bread because carbs were labeled the enemy. Maybe you ordered salad after salad thinking you were being good, only to find out later it had more calories than the burger you actually wanted.
These rules sound scientific. They sound smart. They sound disciplined.
They’re noise.
And here’s the crazy part. They don’t help you lose weight. Most of the time they do the opposite. They keep you stuck.
Think about it. How many times have you started a new diet feeling fired up, motivated, ready to crush it? And then the rules start stacking up.
Can’t eat this. Never eat that. Only eat at certain times. Avoid carbs. Avoid sugar. Avoid living.
It’s exhausting.
And when you break one of those rules, because you will, you feel guilty. You feel like a failure. And the cycle starts again.
So let me ask you something. What if the rules are the problem?
What if the very things you were told would make weight loss easier are the exact things keeping you overweight, frustrated, and stuck year after year?
Because here’s the truth. Your body doesn’t give a shit about arbitrary rules.
Your body doesn’t know what time it is. It doesn’t know food is forbidden. It doesn’t care if something is labeled good or bad.
Your body responds to energy, movement, stress, and consistency.
When you strip away the rules, you’re left with something simpler. Choices.
That’s where the power is.
I’m not giving you another rule today. I’m here to break the ones that never worked. To help you stop letting diet culture run your life and start making choices that actually work for you.
So let’s talk about food rules.
Food rules are rigid, one-size-fits-all instructions fed to you by diets, magazines, influencers, and sometimes even well-meaning doctors.
Don’t eat carbs after dark. Always eat six small meals. Never eat more than twelve hundred calories. Avoid fat. Breakfast is mandatory. Sugar is poison.
They’re framed like commandments. Follow them and you’re good. Break them and you’ve failed.
They don’t come from science that respects individuality. They come from a system designed to control, restrict, and sell.
When you live by food rules, you create a black-and-white world. Every bite is either a win or a failure. Foods become good or bad. And you start labeling yourself the same way.
And when you break a rule, because you’re human, guilt kicks in. Shame follows. Then comes the binge.
You think you already blew it, so you might as well eat everything and start again tomorrow.
That’s not discipline. That’s a trap.
The diet industry knows this. It depends on it.
If diets worked long term, there wouldn’t be a seventy-billion-dollar industry. But when the rules fail, you blame yourself. Not the plan. Not the system.
So you buy the next fix. The next cleanse. The next miracle.
Food rules aren’t useless. They’re dangerous.
They create mental stress, emotional baggage, and physical setbacks. They take away your power and hand it to an industry that profits from your struggle.
You don’t need food rules to lose weight. You need freedom.
The freedom to make small, smart choices without guilt, shame, or someone else’s rule book.
Let’s break some of the biggest ones.
Rule one. Carbs at night make you fat.
Your body doesn’t have a curfew. Carbs at six and carbs at ten are the same thing. Fuel.
If eating late made people fat, every night-shift nurse and ER doctor would be obese. They aren’t.
This rule just makes people feel guilty for eating when they’re hungry. That leads to skipping meals and late-night binges.
The smarter move is balance. Eat the pasta. Add protein. Add vegetables. Go for a short walk. No guilt. No restriction.
Rule two. Salads are always healthy.
They’re not.
Some salads have more calories than burgers. Fried toppings, cheese, creamy dressings. It adds up fast.
This rule teaches people to outsource decisions. Order the salad and assume safety.
Health isn’t a category. It’s a choice.
If you want the burger, sometimes the smartest move is to eat the burger instead of pretending you’re satisfied.
Rule three. Skipping breakfast boosts weight loss.
Intermittent fasting works for some people. Not everyone.
Skipping breakfast isn’t magic. For some, it simplifies eating. For others, it leads to crashes and overeating.
The rule isn’t skip breakfast. The rule is pay attention.
Rule four. Clean eating is the only way.
This one does real damage.
Food doesn’t have morality. You’re not good because you ate kale. You’re not bad because you ate cookies.
Most of the time, moralizing food leads to guilt and binge cycles.
Eat mostly real food. Enjoy the rest. That balance works.
Rule five. Eating fat makes you fat.
Dietary fat doesn’t automatically turn into body fat.
Healthy fats help hormones, brain function, and satisfaction. The issue isn’t fat. It’s excess.
Rule six. You need cheat days.
Cheat days swing you between restriction and bingeing.
Stop cheating. Build flexibility into your life.
When you allow foods you love regularly, you don’t need a blowout day.
See the pattern?
Rules sound simple. Real life breaks them.
Choosing works because it adapts.
When you stop dieting and start choosing, you take control back.
You stop asking if you’re breaking a rule. You start asking what’s the smartest move right now.
That shift is everything.
That’s how I lost 140 pounds and kept it off. Not by perfection. By stacking small, smart choices.
Dessert isn’t failure anymore. It’s a decision.
No guilt. No shame. No starting over Monday.
That’s freedom.
Diets fail because they force you into someone else’s rule book. Choosing works because it fits your life.
Rules restrict. Choices empower.
Rules make weight loss temporary. Choosing makes it permanent.
Run your health like a business. Flexible. Strategic. Adaptive.
Rigid companies fail. Rigid diets fail.
Smart choices compound.
So here’s the takeaway.
Pick one food rule you’ve been living by. Break it. Replace it with a choice that works for you.
You won’t gain eighty-five pounds. You’ll gain freedom.
Because the sooner you stop dieting and start choosing, the sooner you start living.
You already know what to do.
The only thing left is to shut up and choose.