Shows
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.The Excuse You Keep Repeating That’s Keeping You FatSend us a textStop giving your excuses a microphone. We dig into the real reason weight stays stuck and show how a single language shift pulls you out of the loop: replace every “I can’t” with “I choose,” then back it with simple structures that make action automatic. No diets. No gym contract. No motivation theater. Just ownership, clarity, and boring wins that compound.We start by tearing down the most common cover stories—no time, too stressed, waiting for life to calm down—and reveal how they protect comfort, not progress. From there, we map...
2026-01-1431 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.8 Bullshit Diet Scams To Dodge In 2026Send us a textNew year, same traps—just shinier packaging. We kick off 2026 by dragging eight hot trends that promise control and deliver collapse: fasting worship 2.0, protein desserts in wellness costumes, AI diet plans that outsource your agency, hormone fixes that sell panic, punishment challenges that build shame, gut reset kits masquerading as science, magic food lists that ignore behavior, and mindful eating theater that turns excuses into rituals. The thread through all of them is simple: remove responsibility, add rules, and hand you a scapegoat when real life shows up.I’m not here...
2026-01-0733 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.If Diets Worked, You'd Be Done By NowSend us a textThe calendar doesn’t change your body—your choices do. We dive straight into the uncomfortable truth the diet industry won’t touch: rigid rules feel like discipline until real life shows up. Then they snap, and you blame yourself. We break that cycle and show you how to build control that actually survives stress, travel, late nights, holidays, and all the messy parts of a real schedule.I lay out why diets fail by design and why choosing—moment-to-moment ownership of your next smart move—wins every time. We unpack the psycho...
2025-12-3128 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Let's Not Bullshit Each Other - You’re Not Starting This Week. So Here’s What You Need for Next YearSend us a textStop pretending the last week of December doesn’t count. We cut through the holiday fog and the “January will fix me” myth to show how small, steady choices right now create a January that feels possible instead of punishing. No gimmicks. No miracle plans. Just blunt truth and five practical strategies you can carry into the new year without burning out by the second week.We start by dismantling the fake fresh start and the idea that seven chaotic days are invisible to your body or habits. Then we lay out a...
2025-12-2421 min
Designing Tomorrow: Creative Strategies for Social ImpactJonathan's Back?! Wins, Struggles, and What We Learned in 2025After months away, Jonathan Hicken returns to Designing Tomorrow — and this time, we're recording from the brand new Seymour Studios at the Seymour Center in Santa Cruz.In this episode, Eric and Jonathan take a real look back at 2025: a year that felt like a grind but delivered surprising wins across the sector. They dig into what the data actually says about giving (spoiler: it's not all doom), why the story you tell yourself shapes your reality, what it means to actually invest in storytelling instead of just talking about it, and the personal lessons they're carrying in...
2025-12-2033 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Why Shut Up and Choose Hits You Hard - And Why That’s the PointSend us a textThe fastest way to change your body is to stop acting like a bystander in your own life. Today we pull the curtain on the stories that keep people stuck—why “I barely eat,” “I’m just big and happy,” and “this plan failed me” feel comforting, yet block real progress. I share why I named the book and show “Shut Up and Choose,” how dropping 140 pounds came from decisions that fit my messy, real schedule, and why anyone can build the same control without diets, pills, or a gym membership.We challenge the “fa...
2025-12-1733 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.If You’re Waiting for January, You’re Not Serious - You're Full Of Sh*t!Send us a textEver notice how the calendar gets credit for changes your choices never made? We pull apart the January myth and show why momentum—not a date—creates real, lasting weight loss for people with jobs, families, and zero interest in living at the gym. December doesn’t doom you; it reveals you. Parties, travel, stress, and a kitchen full of “just because it’s there” snacks are not traps set by fate. They’re moments to practice ownership.We break down the predictable loop that derails the month: skipping meals, blood sugar swings...
2025-12-1026 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.You Don’t Need a New Diet — You Need to Grow a SetSend us a textReady for a hard reset on everything you’ve been told about weight loss? Jonathan pulls no punches as he explains why you don’t fail diets—diets fail you—and how the cycle of rigidity, restriction, and unreality keeps you stuck in guilt instead of building real momentum. Rather than hand you another plan, he shows you how to take back the steering wheel and create choices that actually fit your life.We dig into the hidden cost of dieting: the slow erosion of self-trust. If every plan collapses the moment l...
2025-12-0330 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Thanksgiving Didn’t F*ck You Up. Your Choices Did.Send us a textStop Dieting. Start Choosing. I’m Jonathan Ressler, Transformation Guide and author of Shut Up and Choose. I lost 140 pounds and built a movement the diet industry hopes you never find. No starvation. No obsession. No gym marathons. Real transformation starts when you stop outsourcing discipline and start leading yourself. The truth is simple: weight loss isn’t about willpower—it’s about integrity. Every time you keep a promise to yourself, you rebuild confidence. Every smart choice strengthens self-trust. That’s the foundation of lasting change. My...
2025-11-2629 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.The Biggest Lie From The Biggest Loser- Why Exercise Is Not The AnswerSend us a textShock value makes great TV, but it makes terrible health. We dig into the Netflix documentary on The Biggest Loser and trace the fallout of extreme weight loss: starvation-level calories, dehydration before weigh-ins, and punishing workouts that tanked metabolism and broke trust. The headline the show never printed is simple: you can’t out-train bad choices, and you can’t bully biology. When intensity replaces consistency, the body fights back with slower burn, louder hunger, and a rebound that feels like failure.I share why my philosophy—stop dieting, start choosing—lands di...
2025-11-1938 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.You’re Not Just Carrying Extra Weight — You’re Paying for It Every DaySend us a textThe extra 25 pounds you call “no big deal” might be costing you far more than you realize. We get brutally honest about how weight can quietly shrink your world—tugging at your confidence, narrowing your relationships, draining your energy, and numbing your joy—long before it shows up on a medical bill. No scare tactics, no gimmicks, just a clear path out: one small, smart choice at a time that rebuilds integrity and self-trust.We share the mindset shift that changed everything: confidence doesn’t come from a number on a scale; it...
2025-11-1226 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.The Weight Loss Conspiracy They Don’t Want You to Figure OutSend us a textWhat if the loudest promise in wellness—make it easy—was the most expensive lie you’ve ever bought? We pull back the curtain on the weight loss industry’s subscription model, from big-box pharmacy counters to glossy “doctor-approved” plans, and show how the business thrives on keeping you almost there. No miracle shot, cleanse, or app can sell you the only tool that actually creates lasting change: ownership.I share how desperation once had me chasing fixes and how everything shifted when I stopped renting results and started choosing. We break down t...
2025-11-0530 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.The Fat Kid’s Survival Guide to Halloween CandySend us a textCandy 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...
2025-10-2931 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.The Day I Stopped Dieting and Started Choosing To Transform My LifeSend us a textA hospital wristband, a bag of orange pill bottles, and a photo so jarring it broke years of denial—this is the moment the story turns. I walked to the edge of the “easy way” with bariatric surgery and GLP-1 drugs and realized every shortcut still demanded the same hard truth: I had to choose. Not once, not perfectly, but daily, in boring, unglamorous ways that rebuild trust from the ground up.I share how I canceled surgery twice, cleared just enough space in the fridge to breathe, and cooked a simple...
2025-10-2227 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Calories Don’t Lie — But Diet Gurus and Fitness Influencers DoSend us a textThe loudest voices in weight loss profit from confusion, shame, and false certainty—so we turn down the noise and hand you the controls. We break apart the biggest myth of all, that “calories don’t matter,” and rebuild from first principles: energy balance, metabolic adaptation, and small, smart choices that actually stick. No whiteboard lecture, no guru vibes—just plain-English science and pragmatic steps you can use today.We talk about how the industry manufactures contradictions to keep you buying, why identity labels (keto, clean, paleo) feel safe but trap you, and h...
2025-10-1529 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.No Discipline or Willpower? No Problem. That’s Not What Got You Fat AnywaySend us a textSome truths sting because they pull the mask off. The $70B diet machine thrives on your “failure,” selling restriction and then blaming your willpower when real life shreds the rules. We take a flamethrower to that narrative and replace it with something durable: design over discipline. When your environment and systems do the heavy lifting, healthy choices stop being a daily fight and start becoming your default.We walk through the psychology of decision fatigue and why busy, high-performing people hit a wall by dinnertime. From there, we get tactical. Jonathan shar...
2025-10-0923 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Food Rules Are Bullsh*t, But Keep Believing If You Like MiserySend us a textTired of being told what you can’t eat and when you’re allowed to eat it? We go straight at diet dogma—carb curfews, salad halos, cheat-day chaos—and show why rigid rules keep you stuck in guilt and rebound binges. Instead of another plan that collapses when life gets messy, we make the case for a smarter operating system built on small, repeatable choices that flex with your day and still move the needle.We break down the biggest myths with simple, actionable alternatives: why carbs at night don’t magicall...
2025-10-0427 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.By Next Summer You’ll Either Thank Me—or Hate YourselfSend us a textEver caught yourself thinking "I'll get serious about my health in January" or "I need to get beach-ready by June"? That seasonal mindset is exactly what keeps you trapped in the frustrating cycle of weight gain and panic dieting year after year.The hard truth? The diet industry has masterfully conditioned us to think health has a season. They don't make billions from people who fix their health once and for all—they profit from those hitting the reset button every spring, only to give up by fall. It's a cleverly de...
2025-09-1731 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Two Seats, One Truth- Southwest Just Did Us a FavorSend us a textReady for some raw, unfiltered truth about weight loss? In this hard-hitting episode, we tackle Southwest Airlines' customer size policy head-on and flip the script on the outrage. Far from discrimination, requiring passengers who can't fit in one seat to purchase another might be the wake-up call you never knew you needed.Drawing from personal experience of losing 140 pounds, I share why shame never works – but honesty absolutely does. There's a crucial difference between the two, and confusing them keeps millions trapped in cycles of failure. When your body physically can't fi...
2025-09-0328 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Ozempic Lawsuits? Surprise The Miracle Was BullshitSend us a textReady for the unfiltered truth about Ozempic? Brace yourself for a reality check that the pharmaceutical companies and diet industry don't want you to hear.The miracle weight loss shot that celebrities and doctors have been raving about isn't quite the revolutionary breakthrough it's been marketed to be. Behind the glossy ads and dramatic before-and-after photos lies a familiar pattern – the same one the $70 billion diet industry has been recycling for decades. From diet shakes in the 80s to Atkins in the 90s to keto meal plans in the 2010s, and no...
2025-08-2728 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Meal Plans Are Adult Lunchables for People Who Don’t Want to ThinkSend us a textReady to ditch the fantasy of perfect meal plans that inevitably collapse when life gets messy? This raw, unfiltered episode cuts through the diet industry BS to reveal why those color-coded, macro-counted meal plans fail – not because you lack willpower, but because they're fundamentally designed for robots, not real humans with complex lives.Jonathan passionately breaks down why meal plans create a false sense of security that shatters the moment life throws you a curveball. "Meal plans don't teach you how to eat. They teach you how to comply," he explains, hi...
2025-08-2028 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.The Gym Is a Waste of Time (If You're Trying to Lose Weight)Send us a textReady for some unfiltered truth that might just change everything you thought you knew about weight loss? Forget what the fitness industry has been selling you for decades – the gym is not your weight loss solution.As someone who lost 140 pounds without ever setting foot in a gym, I'm pulling back the curtain on one of the biggest myths keeping millions of people frustrated, broke, and still overweight. The hard reality? You don't have a gym problem; you have a food problem.Weight loss is fundamentally about energy balance – calo...
2025-08-1325 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Stop Dieting. Start Choosing. The Real Reason Diets Keep Failing (And What You Need to Do Instead)Send us a textWe've been sold a lie about weight loss. The billion-dollar diet industry thrives on your repeat business—creating plans that promise transformation but deliver temporary results at best. The problem isn't your willpower or motivation; it's the fundamental approach.When you diet, you're outsourcing your power to someone else's rules. You're following a script written by strangers who don't know your life, your triggers, or your unique needs. And when those one-size-fits-all approaches inevitably fail to fit into your real, complicated life, you blame yourself rather than questioning the system.
2025-08-0629 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.The Real Reason You Keep Falling Off (It’s Not What You Think)Send us a textEver found yourself saying "I was doing so well and then just fell off"? Stop blaming yourself – your weight loss plan was probably designed to fail from the start.The harsh truth is that willpower is a finite resource that gets depleted throughout your day. By the time you're staring at the fridge at 7 PM trying to choose between a healthy meal and ordering pizza, your mental battery is toast. The pizza wins every time – not because you're weak, but because your system is flawed.Most weight loss plans only...
2025-07-3030 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Fat Isn’t a Feeling—It’s a Choice You Keep MakingSend us a textEver caught yourself saying "I feel fat today"? That single phrase might be sabotaging your entire weight loss journey. In this no-holds-barred episode, we rip the emotional band-aid off this common statement and expose the dangerous language trap that's keeping you stuck.Fat isn't a feeling—it's the result of small, repeated choices that stack up over time. When you say you "feel fat," you're disconnecting from the behaviors that got you there, masking real emotions, and stripping yourself of the power to respond effectively. This episode breaks down why the wo...
2025-07-2329 min
Shut Up And Choose - STOP DIETING. START CHOOSING.Why Your Diet Is A Lying, Soul-Sucking FreakSend us a textMost weight loss approaches set you up for failure from day one—not because you lack willpower, but because they're designed to be temporary quick fixes rather than sustainable lifestyle changes. That's how the $70 billion diet industry keeps you coming back, blaming yourself instead of their broken system.The pattern is painfully familiar: excitement at the start of a new diet, early success as water weight drops, then inevitable burnout when life throws curveballs. You "fall off the wagon," feel like a failure, and promise to start over next Monday. The cy...
2025-07-1633 min