John David Glaude has over half a million followers on his YouTube channel “Obese to Beast,” and hey, he deserves the attention. The man once weighed 360 pounds and wore 5XL shirts but gradually — or as his motto (and t-shirts) say, “one rep at a time” — cut all the way down to 190 pounds.
At his largest he was eating fast food “80 percent of the time” and drinking well over two liters of soda per day. Now a devoted fitness fanatic, Glaude has built a sizable following documenting the struggles and triumphs of his fitness journey, which has included heaping doses of functional fitness.
CrossFit HQ took notice and followed him on an average day, resulting in an pretty interesting video that’s part marketing for CrossFit Darkside, part John Glaude vlog, and all inspirational. Take a look.
[Check out CrossFit Games athlete Jared Enderton’s 305lb to 193lb weight loss here!]
His first move to weight loss was landing on what he calls a “common sense diet”: no soda, no junk food, no fast food.
When you’re as heavy as I was, if you just make a small change, you’ll see a big result. I made that small change, saw a big result, was more motivated to make another change to see more results, and then it just kind of compounded and it was like a domino effect.
Eventually he decided to balance the extremity of his obesity with the extremity of a physique show but found he developed a binge eating disorder from obsessing over his calorie intake. He also noted that bodybuilding helped him change his physique but he “still never felt very functional.” Then he found CrossFit.
I just like fell in love with it. CrossFit has that community aspect, you are doing the same workout as all these other people, you’re suffering together, and it makes the gym less like an isolated thing.
Glaude’s journey and his comfort in his own skin is a great lesson that CrossFit isn’t just for the Games athletes. Or as he puts it, “I’m not saying I’ll ever be (Mat Fraser) but why can’t you get closer? If everyone at the top is getting better and better and better, why can’t the people in the middle?”
Featured image via CrossFit on YouTube.
