Barbell Shrugged - Going From Obese To Beast W/ John Glaude

Episode Date: February 8, 2017

This week we interview John Glaude. John is not your typical athlete or coach. He is not in the Games, nor does he study myofascial release. We first caught wind of John via his youtube channel. He used to weigh over 300 pounds, throw back 2 liters of soda a day, and the only training he was getting in was a DDR session at his local arcade. A lot has changed since then, and he has since lost over 180 lbs and is hitting two a days in the gym.    We wanted to bring John on the show to talk about motivation, and hear about his journey. John is a bad ass story teller and has created a brand called Obese To Beast where he shares his journey to help others create change like he did.    He is a humble dude, but also has a lot to say. If you have any friends who are just getting started on their fitness journey or would benefit from hearing John's story, this episode is a great one to share.   Enjoy the Show,   -Mike

But the thing that's crazy is I remember I was thinking to myself like, okay, tomorrow I'm going to wake up and I'm going to do this. So I finished my food and my soda and I was like, no, I'm going to finish this. This is the last thing. And I'm going to wake up and like, I'm going to, this is it. Like, this is it. And I remember I can't explain how insane of a feeling it was and like just how amazing I felt when I woke up the next day. And I like, I just was like, do it like this is it this is it for me and I went and I got a haircut and I bought water in a sandwich because I was like I don't know what's healthy All right, welcome to Barbell Shrugged. I'm Mike Bledsoe here with Doug Larson and Kenny Kane. We have traveled down to CrossFit Darkside, which is actually really cool. It's a fucking killer gym. I first heard the name and I was like, what is going on? And then they have all the branding for like Star Wars themed stuff. It's amazing.

There are stormtroopers, literal. Yeah. Stormtroopers in the bathroom. Our guest today is... We got the Darth Vader face right here on the rower. It's amazing. There are stormtroopers literal. Yeah. Stormtroopers in the bathroom. Our guest today is... We got the Darth Vader face right here on the rower. We have John Glaude. And this is where John trains. Yes. Which is...

Well, you chose this place because you were like shopping for CrossFit gyms in San Diego. Pretty much, yeah. And then I saw the name and I went on the website and then I saw the Star Wars branding, and I had to check it out. So it's literally the name is what got me to come here. It worked. It did.

One thing I want you guys to know, or many things I want you to know, I don't know, several things, many, several, few things about John Glock. You used to weigh 360 pounds. Yes. Yeah, the heaviest I was 360 pounds when I was 20 years old. So, yeah, that's a lot of person for that age. I was a big man. What motivated you to want to weigh 360 pounds?

What was the driving factor there? Food just tasted so good. And exercise sounded so bad. So, mission accomplished. You met your goal. You got there by age 21. Faster than a lot of people do. I was just really, really into bodybuilding, and I just knew that if I bulked up to 360, I would just have so much muscle.

That's how you do it. You go up, and then you cut. Yeah, exactly, right? The 20-year bulk. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. I usually do like six months. No, I went 20 years.

I was really committed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So four years ago, something changed that made you want to – what was your life like, I guess, before you decided to make a change and start training and changing your diet? Yeah. So for me, something that I always say when I was 360 pounds, you're no longer living. You're just kind of existing in the world. And everything was about, it was just about getting back home really honestly. Like it was like, I have to go to work to go to work to make money. And then I just want to come back home and

sit in my room and be by myself. And so like, obviously I was gaining weight throughout my whole life. Like when I was younger, it was more like, oh, you'll grow out of it. You'll just get taller. And then once I hit, like, middle school and then obviously into high school, I was, like, the biggest kid in the school. And then once I left high school was when, I mean, I was already probably 300-something pounds in high school. But once I left high school, I gained more weight, you know. You were the biggest guy in high school. How much did you weigh in high school? I was probably, I would say about like three 10 maybe was the highest that

I weighed. Um, I don't know exactly. I did not weigh myself at all. Like I always, and the thing is, is like, I always say three 60 because when I first started losing weight, I didn't weigh myself. So I didn't know how much I weighed then. Um, but when I did weigh myself, it was after I think I had lost probably in my head. I was like, Oh, I probably lost. Um, but when I did weigh myself, it was after I think I had lost probably in my head. I was like, Oh, I probably lost about 25, 30 pounds. And at that point it said three 30. So I just say I was three 60. Um, I might have been more than that, honestly, but I just three 60 is what I've always said. Um, but yeah, so when you're, when you're that heavy, it's not, you're just, at least for me, I don't want to speak for everybody, but for me, I was

no longer living anymore. I was existing. And you just feel like, what, is this what life is going to be like for the rest of my life? Like, do I, am I going to be able to do things? And I genuinely thought that I was going to die from a heart attack before I was 40 years old. Like, there was no doubt in my mind. Like, what 20-year-old is, I was literally afraid when I would be alone in my house that I was going to have a heart attack and there was going to be nobody there to help me. Like, literally, I was, what 20-year-old feels like that?

I did. I felt like that. And, like, it just gets to a point when you're like, obviously, I had always wanted to lose weight. You always want to lose weight. You try to lose weight. And you get, you just start to think, I can't. Like, there's no way for me to do it. And you start to see people that are on TV that have lost weight,

like The Biggest Loser. You just think, that's fake. Or the only way that I could lose weight is to go on to The Biggest Loser or to go on to one of these shows that do weight loss, and that's the only way I could do it because there's no way I could do it by myself. And that's kind of how I thought when I was at the heaviest. When you were growing up, were you putting on the weight like in junior high and elementary school?

I mean, were you a big kid? Yeah. So when I was really young, I wasn't big at all. And I mean like five years old, I wasn't big. And then I'm not sure if this is exactly the reason I started gaining weight, but I had a hernia when I was really young, like right here. And I had to get surgery to get it out. And during surgery I was after the surgery I was bedridden for like two weeks and that's when I started putting on weight again like I said I'm not sure it might have just

been a freak accident that all kind of happened at the same time but you know being bedridden I was on medication that's when I kind of started gaining weight and then like becoming husky you know my mom would call me husky you know and so that was like elementary school like i said i was just kind of a husky kid but then in middle school it was like i was fat you know i was more overweight than most of the kids there i wasn't the most overweight and then you get into high school and the thing that was weird was like i've always kind of liked being active like in high school i i used to skate like i thought skating skateboarding was going to be my life like i loved it. And I skated everywhere. And I remember I loved being the fat kid that could skate. Because people would watch me.

I would skate down the street and I would see cars like, what the? Because I was so big and you didn't see people skate. And this is kind of an embarrassing fact, but it's true. I loved DDR. So you know the game that has the arrows on the ground? I was so good. I played on Expert. I was really good.

And there's this youth center. I saw you playing that the other night. Yeah. Just pause for a sec. DDR is Dance Dance Revolution. Yeah. Dance Dance Revolution. And I was in LA.

I met you like a month ago. And I started following you on Instagram. So now I follow your Instagram story. Yeah. So I was in LA recently. And the people that I was was living with they didn't believe that I used to be really good at DDR I'm not as good as I used to be but like that was really fun but I used to play DDR and like there's this youth center down the street and I would play there and like kids would be like how what and so I always loved being like the guy that could like you know move but be overweight

um but again like it was just, I was still like, that's why I thought like, man, I work out so much or like I can work out, but I still gain weight. Like what's going on. Um, so, you know, you just gain and gain and gain. And especially like in, in, in high school, like I was pretty active, but I just ate you when you eat that much, it doesn't matter how much workout you're doing. You're going to gain weight. Right. So, yeah. Yeah. So in high school, do you feel like it was like a snowball effect? You got so big. There was a point where it sounds like you were – it was a hopeless situation.

Like the only way to get out was these handful of things that you'd seen on TV or whatever. And there was – at what point did you go from, oh, I'm a husky kid to, like, I don't like this anymore? Yeah. And then it sounds like there was don't like this anymore? Yeah. And then it sounds like there was a snowball effect. Yeah. Yeah.

That was definitely in high school was when I was like, okay, like, this, I am, I'm too big to, like, I'm bigger than I would ever like to be. I actually, like, tried out for football, and I had played flag football my entire life as a kid. Like, I loved it. I loved, like, I used to watch football. Like, I kid like I loved it I loved like I used to watch football like I just I I loved it right and then I went out to to tryouts and like the kids there they just like they all like made fun of me and like I remember it just like I literally it's one of

my biggest regrets is like not just I wish I would have just been like you guys like I wish I just didn't let them get to me because I let them get me, and they made it so I didn't play football, and I just never did, all of high school, that's one of my biggest regrets, but yeah, definitely in high school was when I realized, like, I'm heavier than I want to be, and that's when I finally, like, I didn't try to lose weight in middle school, like, you know what I mean, but, like, in high school, I did, like, I actually, this is something that I've talked about on my YouTube channel, too, is, like, I almost, I went to this, it. I went to this seminar about this thing called the lap band. Basically, it's this thing that goes around your stomach that instead of getting gastric bypass where they take part of your stomach out, it just basically squeezes your stomach.

It constricts it. I almost did that. I went with my mom. It was going to be free paid for because it was something that they were doing. They were testing it on minors right that were obese and they were 100% like they loved that because I was not 100% gung-ho like I was like 80 20 I told them and they're like we love that you're not 100% with this like we love that you actually care and like you're kind of worried and because like it is a big surgery like it could slip it was like I I almost

got that surgery and I just remember thinking to myself, there were so many restrictions. When you get that surgery, your life changes no matter what, right? So I just remember thinking, man, I really want to do this on my own, but I just didn't know if I could. In regard to those surgeries, from what I understand is you get the surgery, and then you have to go into calorie restriction anyway. Exactly. You change your diet anyway.

So it seems really interesting to me that – and then I've also heard stories of people getting the surgery and then not – you know, they stick to it for a couple weeks and then they slip back into old patterns. Exactly. And then they end up just totally screwing it up. And it's like no progress whatsoever and you went under a surgery. And there's even – I mean, obviously I'm not an expert with it,

but, like, I have a couple of acquaintances that have with it, but like I've, I've, I have a couple of acquaintances that have gotten it and like, it, it really can mess up. Like, like a lot of them are losing their hair because of it. Cause you're not getting the amount of nutrients that you need to be getting from your food. Um, so I just, yeah, it was just like, I wanted to lose weight so bad, but for some reason I never got to the point where I was willing to do something like that. Um, I just, I guess I always had in the back of my head, like, I can do this if I really, really try. But I guess I was just kind of afraid to really, really try. Yeah. If that makes sense. Why would you be afraid to really, really try? I guess because that's a, that's a good question. And the best answer that

I can give to that is because I had tried a couple of times and I failed and it was really, it's, nobody wants to tell it all their friends and family they're going on a diet and have them all be really supportive and like really want you to succeed and then after two weeks you're over it but your family and friends aren't and they're asking you every time you're drinking a soda or every time you're eating bad what happened to your diet and then you have to maybe lie to them or say oh no no it's just this time like I'm doing really good but I'm just like you know this is my cheat meal and and you're just then you end up lying to your friends and family. Like

that's not fun. And then you just feel bad every time you go out to eat. But like, I wasn't going to stop eating. So I just, I just really didn't want to like tell all these people all this stuff. And like, I almost felt like I was getting people hopes up because I had a good amount of people that really did care for me. And like my mom, like she, she tells a story where she used to like come into my room and see me on the, on the bed with like my covers over me. And like, I was just this huge, like blob, I guess this is what she says. And she said like, she used to like look at me and just start crying because she felt like it was her fault that I was that big. And now I think that there, I don't ever blame my mom for, especially like once I was 18,

I was making my own decisions. And we come from a family where money was always an issue. It still is. It's not like we don't have a lot of money. So food was, it was like, what's the cheapest way to get a lot of food for a lot of people? I have a big family. So it wasn't the healthiest. And I think the reason that I eat so fast now is because we would make huge portions.

And if it was gone, it was gone. So if you wanted seconds, you had to eat really fast to get seconds and that's just how it was um so i'm not sure if that's true but um i literally like i eat faster than anyone i know it's ridiculous yeah but um so you know like that was obviously in the back of my head you know like i didn't want to you know make these people feel like they failed me or like I failed them. So I just wouldn't really talk about it or even try. Yeah. So, yeah.

Rob Wolf talks about this. We have a foraging gene that allows us to survive. And a lot of it is food dependent. And so when you see a little bit of food or a lot, you tend to aggregate it. Yeah, I would forage it and put it into my mouth. The thing that I'm really interested in and john is is what was the moment like you know there's a catalyst that obviously in the last four years there's been a transform transformation that you got hundreds of thousands of followers that have uh seen witnessed and participated in this with you and you're clearly like an energizing optimistic you're naturally

optimistic you're naturally joyful to be around as we've spent the last couple of hours around with you. But I know that there's a dark moment at some point where you're like, there's no turning back. Can you just kind of share with us what that moment was? Absolutely. And this is one of my favorite stories to tell, so I'm glad that you asked. So there's a couple of things that kind of led into this one specific point and i i feel really lucky that i can remember the point because i know a lot of people they don't remember exactly what it was but i really do so going back a little bit before the actual moment was i was invited to a wedding which i so i live in san diego the wedding was in utah so it was about a 14 hour drive there right so before the wedding though I had to find clothes and that has been one of my things

I like to kind of dress up I like to look nice I've always liked clothes even as a bigger guy and finding clothes is horrible when you're bigger you basically have to order online and you're never going to find the size never fits how you want it to it's never fun looking for clothes

so that was always something I would avoid but I I had to, right? So I ended up looking for days and days and days and days and days. Couldn't find anything. Finally, I go, if you are a bigger person, Burlington Coat Factory has like a good selection. So I went there and I finally found some stuff. And I remember I found it and I was like, man, this stuff is like sick. And I like it a lot. And it's like exactly what I wanted. So I was like super stoked about that. Right. But we end up taking the trip. It's me and my friend because it's his brother's wedding right so we take the trip with his mom and someone else and we're in the car and I remember first off in the car ride I was like eating snacks I was just drinking soda no water like I never drank water

before no water and like I just the worst diet ever right and then we finally get there after 14 hours and I remember I stepped out of the car and I literally almost had to almost fell back into it and I that's never happened to me and it freaked me out like like I was saying earlier how like you know I was always afraid of having a heart attack and stuff like I didn't think it was a heart attack but I was like there's something like I was always worried about something terrible happening to me you know physically and I remember when I was there in Utah, the whole time I was there, I was like, I was freaking out inside because like, I was like, there's something wrong with me. So we get there and I almost fall in there. Like, well, are you okay? And I'm just, no, no, no,

I'm fine. I just, you know what I mean? It's the elevation here. And I just need to drink some water. And like, can I have some Advil? Like I just, you know, cause I had a headache or whatever. So I remember that was really crazy first off. So like that, that wasn't fun. The whole trip, I was worried about that. But at the wedding, obviously there's people taking pictures, right? So we have the wedding, blah, blah, blah. It's a lot of fun. And then we drive back down.

And then I'm back for a couple, I don't know, maybe a week. And then the pictures come out. And then everyone's had kind of that moment where they see a picture of them and they're like, whoa. And I remember I'm still lucky enough to have the pictures that I saw. And I just remember I looked at how the clothes fit on me and it blows my mind because I'm pretty sure the shirt that I'm wearing is like a 5 or 6XL.

And I remember when I was at the wedding, if I would sit down with it, it would pop open. The buttons would pop open. And I was wearing a size 56 inch pant. And so the pants were just ridiculously too long for me. So they're all, I just remember thinking in my head, I look great. And then seeing the pictures and being like, wow, like that's really what I look like. Because there's no posing when there's someone taking a picture of you.

And so that really sucked. But the thing is like that wasn't my, that wasn't my click moment. That was just another moment that I kind of pushed back and just been like, it's fine. I'll live. It's okay. So fast forward, I don't remember the exact timeline. It might have been like maybe just a month. So it wasn't that long. I had been binge watching Miami Inc, which is a show all about tattoos. And it sounds silly, but like I always, so I have these two tattoos that

I have on my forearms before I'd lost weight. So I had this one and then I had this one. So I got those before I lost weight. And the reason that I got them here was because I've always seen bigger people and their forearms were never like, it's not like they got humongous and then like they had to shrink or whatever. Right. So I thought to myself, like, if I ever do lose the weight, those won't get too messed up. And I mean, it actually, it worked out. So it was a good thing. But I would be watching.

And when I say binge watching, I was watching, like, six hours a day, just, like, and every time I would see someone come on and get, like, a beautiful piece on their arm or, like, on their chest, I would, I would be, like, I want that, but I can't, like, I never wore tank tops when I was heavier. I just, I was embarrassed of my arms. I was just, you know, I would cover up as much as I could. Like, t-shirts, because I was so big, would literally come to, like, the middle of my forearm, but so I had been binge watching that, and then a guy came on the show that had lost a lot of weight and he was getting a tattoo. I'm pretty sure to like commemorate the weight loss. And they asked him like, how did you do it? And honestly, like, I don't exactly remember like what he said, but I just remember like what I was thinking when he was saying what he was saying. But I think it was something like along the lines

of, he just said like, you said, I just basically made the decision. It was my choice kind of thing. And I remember thinking in my head, as I was eating a double entree of orange chicken and chow mein with a large soda from Panda Express, those things are huge. I used to drink so much soda every day. It was crazy. So as I was eating that, I remember thinking to myself,

if he can do it, I can do it. It was literally that simple. It was like, if he can do this, why can't I do this? I was 20 years old, you know, I was, I was, I had enough money to buy my own food. So there was no excuse other than I'm doing this to myself. But the thing that's crazy is I remember I was thinking to myself, like, okay, tomorrow I'm going to wake up and I'm going to do this. So I finished my food and my soda. And I was like, no, I'm going to finish this. This is the last thing. And I'm going to wake up and like, I'm going to, this is it. Like, this is it. And I remember I can't explain how insane of a feeling it was and like just how amazing I felt when I woke up the next day. And I like, I just was like,

I'm going to do it. Like, this is it. This is it for me. And I went and I got a haircut and I bought water in a sandwich. Cause I was like, I don't know what's healthy. So I bought a sandwich at Vons and I literally, but like, it was like this crazy, like just moment of just feeling like I got this. And granted, I had no idea what I was getting myself into or I had no idea about nutrition or anything. I was so lost. Like when I started, I was a beginner, but in every sense of the word, like everything I knew about nutrition was my mom cooking me food and then fast food. That's literally all I ate. I knew nothing.

You were never taught anything in school? Nothing. The most I was taught in school was a little bit of how to read nutrition labels, which has been helpful. Obviously, I've learned a lot on my own about that, but they don't teach you about nutrition. They just teach you about math and stuff like that. This's not important i yeah exactly i'm so bad

but so that was like my my click moment and like that's the moment that i i'm i'm really thankful that i'm able to remember that and like it's something that i always think it's just crazy because of how much my mindset has changed from when i was obese to where i am now it's like i'm a different person but at the same time, I'm the exact same person. It's hard to explain, but yeah. That's awesome. Let's take a break real quick, and when we come back, I want to just find out exactly how you lost all this weight and how you got to where you are right now.

Sounds good. Yeah. Welcome back to Technique Quad. Today, we're going to talk about how to fix your jerk using tall jerks. All right, tall jerks might be new to you. They can help you get under the bar a lot faster, help you split your feet a lot quicker, and also help you keep pushing on the bar. So here's what a tall jerk looks like.

Mike can be my demo guy. You can see Mike starts with the bar right about forehead height, so about halfway in between where the bar is starting and finishing. Normally the bar starts on your shoulders and goes all the way overhead. He's about halfway, and then he's pushing himself down underneath the weight. The bar height shouldn't change that much. He's really just pushing himself down. If he even does it one more time, you'll see the bar height here is kind of where he

ends up. So the bar height doesn't change that much. It's really more about Mike pushing himself underneath the weight than it is about Mike pushing the weight harder overhead. So if you're a person that, like the three things that I pointed out earlier, has trouble getting under the bar very quickly, you have trouble locking the weight out overhead, you have trouble splitting very quickly, or maybe you short stride your split. A lot of people, the reason that they short stride and they don't step their front foot forward far enough

oftentimes is because they're rushing it and they don't feel like they can split their feet quick enough, and so they just put their foot down way too early. So the Tall Jerk is specifically designed to help people get under the weight faster, split their feet quicker. It's more of a quickness drill than it really is a pure strength drill. Sure it can help you get stronger a little bit, but it's really more about speed and precision and drilling how fast you're getting under the bar than it is about lifting super heavy weight. So as an example, Mike, he likes to, you know, to do these drills with just the bar in his

warm-up because it helps him, and I can make comments on this as well, it really helps him when he's warming up to kind of have those fast, crisp reps. That way when he does get into his heavier sets, when he's doing a full jerk, he's had those crisp fast reps during his warm up and then he's more likely to carry those over into his workout. Do you want to comment on that at all? Nope, love minimal warm ups. Okay, technique wise, here's what it's going to look like.

The start position, you have a couple of options. The variation that Mike's been showing you, he puts the bar kind of like right over his eyes, kind of mid-forehead, and then that's going to be his start position. Grip is basically the exact same that it would be wherever you're grabbing, where the bar is on your shoulders.

Right now, he's just standing there more or less neutral. Ribs are down, he's not leaning back too much. He's not hyperextending at his back. He's leaning back the absolute minimum to where the bar can be kind of straight over where it normally would be if it was coming right off of the shelf of his shoulders. So that's one variation. Another variation, he could do it from top of his head, some people like to do that. I'm not a huge fan of doing it off the top of your head, especially if it gets heavy, a lot of of doing it off the top of your head, especially if it gets heavy.

A lot of athletes will just rest the weight on their head, which I think is kind of a funny way to do it. The other way you could do it if you were doing a jerk off of your back, if you were doing a behind the neck jerk, you could just hold it right behind your head and then do the exact same drill. So you have a couple of options, kind of front, overhead, or behind you. We tend to mostly do from the front because that's where that's going to be the most similar to doing a jerk like you would do in an actual competition.

All the other points of performance are the same. If Mike jumps into a split position. We'll do another one. Another one, another one, redo. Mulligan. Okay, so he's going to jerk into a one. Another one. Redo. Mulligan. Okay, so he's going to jerk into a perfect split. Perfect.

Perfect. Again, the elbows are locked out straight. Shoulders are all the way fully flexed overhead. His ribs are down where he has a nice neutral lower back. He's on his toe, on his back foot, heels off the ground. His knee is bent. He doesn't have a locked out knee. Front foot weights on his heel or midfoot.

His shin is vertical or maybe even back a little bit and is not beyond his toe at all. And then of course he can recover like normal. Front foot back, back foot forward and then drop the weight. So, it's Marty the points of performance dolphin. Oh no. Marty is that how you jerk? So retarded. Alright so as we said before, Mike likes to do these in his warm ups a lot. You know just a couple of sets, three to five reps, just getting ready for his heavier sets. You certainly could do these as a part of your workout as assistance lifts. It's going to be hard to do them very heavy because if Mike gets into his start position

where he's holding the weight at forehead height, obviously you're not going to be able to do that very heavy. So it's going to be pretty light assistance work overall. But it's a good way to give your shoulders a little bit of extra work without just doing your kind of standard overhead presses and then you're getting extra time to work on your footwork as a part of your workout with some lightweight overhead. So there's nothing wrong with that if you want to program them after you do your heavy squats and your pulls and whatnot when you're doing your kind

of lighter assistance movements towards the end of your workout. If you want to go a little bit heavier with it, you could do more of a top-down approach. So instead of doing it normal where you would just press the weight to, instead of doing it normal like Mike's been doing where he's just pressing the weight to forehead height, if it was heavy, just set up like we normally were. Is he listening to me at all? So here's how we've been normally doing it. Just put on your shoulders and go to mid-forehead. So that's how we've been doing it, right? Where you've got to go from the bottom up. You've got to press into that position. If you wanted to go with a little bit of a heavier weight, you could just push press

the weight all the way overhead and then lower it and then go from there. So that's a variation that you can use to put a little bit of extra weight on the bar. It takes a little getting used to for sure. Some people like it, there's probably some people that don't because it's hard to get into a good position, but of course the better you get at it, the more you can use it and it'll work just fine. So I like that top down approach. If you want to go a little bit extra heavy, most beginners probably don't need

it, but for some of the intermediate and advanced lifters, it's an awesome variation. All right. Thanks for watching. If you want more videos just like this, you can always go to barbershark.com and click on the Technique WOD tab at the top of the page and more of these technique quad videos are in the library on the site also if you go to flight weightlifting calm we have a free you know 50 some odd page ebook that has links to a lot of these

types of videos again as well and then also has some sample programming and a bunch of frequently asked questions answered by our weightlifting coaches that are all part of a very awesome, comprehensive guide that's 100% free on flightweightlifting.com. So definitely check that out as well, and we will see you another day. Join the conversation every week after the episode over at barbellshrugged.com.

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And we're here. Whoa, yeah, where are we? We're back with John Glaude. And, you know, I want to dive back into. So you had this moment. You woke up the next day. Yeah. You decided you're going to be healthy.

You get water and a sandwich. Yeah. And got a haircut. Four years later, he's on barbell shrug. That's pretty much it. There's nothing really in between. Water and sandwiches for four years. You've done Ellen, but you've arrived now.

Yeah, exactly. You did Ellen? Yeah. Oh, you went on the show? Yeah. Good job. Is that on YouTube? Can we watch that?

It is. Is it? Larson from deep. This dude had surgery last week. He thinks he can get away with anything. I'm not on pain meds today. Blame it on the drugs. It's the drugs.

It's my first day off the drugs today. Is it? Well, that's a good excuse, too. That's for sure. I feel okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. First day off the drugs. One week off drugs for me, and I'm just like, ugh, on my face.

These are such extremes. So you had this big kind of mindset shift. Like, you're going to hammer down. You're going to get this done. Like, you're fully committed. You got a water and a sandwich. You're all set. At that point, like, where do you go from there?

Do you dive in deep on, like, figuring out, like, what really is healthy? Or do you just try to, like, do what you just kind of intuitively know is right, not drinking huge sodas every day and switching to water or where do you go from there you've literally explained like the first like i guess now he has nothing to say but like the first tier i guess of like my weight loss was what i call the common sense diet so i basically cut out so i was drinking and i'm not exaggerating probably over a two liter of soda a day. Because for like lunch, I would go to 7-Eleven and like their big double gulp is a two liter basically. 89 cents. Why not?

Yeah. Exactly. Right. So it's cheaper than water, which doesn't make any sense. But so I would drink one of those. And then obviously like for breakfast, I would have a soda. Like that soda was like what I drank. It was like I didn't think of anything of it.

I didn't think of the calories. You don't think of the sugar. don't think of the sugar you're just like this tastes good so i'm gonna drink this you know so i cut out soda which was huge for me like i the one thing i tell people like when you're first starting to lose weight if you drink a lot of soda just cut out soda and see what happens like you'll lose some weight most likely but so i cut out soda yeah for sure yeah it's it's crazy and like when i think about how much i used to drink like i i mean i've tried to add it up and like it's probably upwards of like 2k calories 2,000 calories soda you know like every day so like cutting that out was huge but like soda and then chips and like snacks and stuff like that and then another one that was really big for me was fast food um so just like i said the common sense diet so cut that stuff out. I would still do it all at once was like week one.

I went, the first, well at the beginning, yeah, I cut it all out at once just because like I was so excited, you know, I studied behavior change and doing that. That's a bit,

that's a huge step. That's not, that's not easy. Yeah. And it's not honestly like I, I, when I'm talking to someone that's trying to lose weight, I say like go slowly because like I said,

it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. So, but for me, like I was just so like, I want to change so bad, you know? And like, I just felt this, like, I felt so good and like, I wanted to do something. So that's what I did. I cut out, like, that was the first kind of, you know, the first step that I took. And then the coolest thing was like, I started to, cause when I tried to lose weight before, I think the most I ever actually lost was maybe 10 pounds. Like I never really got like, I never was never that person that lost like 70 and then gained 80 back. That never happened to me. I just, I never was able to stay committed enough to even lose that much weight. So I lost, like I was losing weight and

like that, that would just motivated me to change more. And now the, the thing that I talk about, I talk about this on my channel a lot is like, I wasn't, I didn't do it in the best way. And now the, the thing that I talk about, I talk about this on my channel a lot is like, I wasn't, I didn't do it in the best way. I didn't, cause I was so lost that I was, so I would see results by cutting out that stuff. And then I would think to myself, okay, I'm eating 2,500 calories a day now. What if I cut it to 2,200 calories a day? And then I'm like, okay, I'm seeing results. I'll cut it to 2000 calories a day. Okay. I'm seeing results. And like this whole time I wasn't really going to the gym I was maybe doing cardio so like the thought of like having like being able to perform in the gym that didn't matter to me right so it was just about

cutting calories so you know I'm oh I'm at 2000 oh now I'm at 1700 now I'm at oh I'm having a thousand and I'm still I'm okay like I'm feeling all right so what if I get to 700 calories a day you know I can eat just a lot of salad and like that'll fill me up. And so like that was not that's when I wasn't in the healthiest mindset. But I just all I cared about was losing weight. All like everything. My whole like identity in my mind was like, how much weight can I lose in a week? How much weight can I lose in a month?

How much can I can I go up to someone that, hey, I lost 50 pounds in two months. You know what I mean? Like that's just all I cared about was numbers and like the scale and seeing it move. And so it wasn't the healthiest way. But, yeah, like that was the first kind of thing that I did was it was just like cutting calories to an unhealthy level and just not really caring too much. And like I said, I don't recommend that to anybody. But that's what I did. And I'm not going to lie about what've done um to get to where I am um because now my whole thing that I try and do is like educate people

on how to lose it safely and and in the best way possible to so you can continue losing weight and hopefully you know maintain for the rest of your life and like that's the most important thing right so yeah at what point did training come in so so training came in i was or did you or was there a moment when you were doing it uh just with diet where you felt like you hit a wall yeah so basically i i ended up like during that whole time of me just cutting calories i ended up getting a gym membership because at first the reason i didn't go to the gym was because i literally just couldn't afford it like i just didn't have enough money to go to the gym but i like in between i don't remember how many months it was in i finally got a gym membership but what

i was doing was only cardio so i would go and do the elliptical for like 15 minutes and then i'd do the bike for 15 minutes and i do the treadmill 15 minutes and that's all i would do um because i was literally too afraid to just go on to the weights because i had no i didn't know what to do i didn't know how to use any of the machines i didn't know how to do free weight press it i just didn't know any of it so were you afraid to be there at all? Like, were you intimidated for people going to look at you and judge you and things like that? Yeah. At first I was like, the thought of going into the gym was terrifying. Cause I just figured everyone would be staring at me. Cause I'm like the big dude. And, and honestly, like I, I got really lucky because one of the, like the first few

times I went into the gym, there was this older gentleman that was there too. And like, this is something that I always talk about, like being kind to people in the gym, especially if they feel, if you can tell if someone feels uncomfortable, you can just tell. Right. And this older gentleman, I know he could tell that I felt uncomfortable. He came up to me after maybe about two weeks of me just like doing that routine that I was telling you guys about. And he just, he's like, he like kind of motioned me to take my headphones out and he was like, Hey man, I see you in here. And I just want to say like, keep it up. And I remember I literally like this, my, I just had a huge smile the rest of the day. And like, um, but so I see you in here, and I just want to say, like, keep it up. And I remember I literally, like, I just had a huge smile the rest of the day.

And, like, but so I was, like, doing that stuff, and I really wasn't doing any weights and stuff. But the reason that I started getting into, like, strength training or, like, just trying to build muscle and be able to use my body by any capacity was because I actually was thinking about joining the military because I was, like like working two jobs really not I just didn't have any plan for the future so before I was not I didn't have like being so heavy there was no way for me to join the military obviously but I was finally to a point where I

had lost enough weight that that was a possibility but when you join the military you have to be able to do like pull-ups and sit-ups and push-ups and stuff like that and I could not do that so that's when I started to look into lifting. And literally how I learned a lot of what I know or a lot of what I knew then was going on to YouTube and looking up videos. And just learning off there. And I've always been a very visual learner. I play the drums. And I learned how to play drums by watching YouTube videos.

So knowing that, how I learned how to play drums, I just thought to myself, well, if I want to to go to the gym I'll just watch YouTube videos and like there's actually a huge like it really worked it helped me out a lot and then that's when I started finally like lifting but I definitely I wasn't lifting or anything like that like when I was losing most of my weight I had pretty much lost most of it um because I was like that person that which a lot of people believe like if you if you lift or if you get like you're're going to gain weight because you're going to gain muscle. And like I said, all I cared about was the scale going down. Right. That's all I cared about.

That was the biggest motivating factor. So if that wasn't happening, motivation might wane. Yeah, exactly. Gotcha. And I would have, like that's why I think that the scale is a tool that can be helpful, but it shouldn't be like what you place your joy into and what you place your self worth is the number on the scale. Because where was the transition for you on that? Because clearly that's something you identified very strongly with. But now it seems to be that your kind of subtext is that you're communicating there's something

beyond that. Yeah. So at first it was literally like finally when I started going to the gym and lifting, I realized that I felt like crap eating the amount of calories that I was eating. So I noticed, like, I have to – I need to eat more. And it just kind of naturally – I don't even know how, but it was, like, almost like a natural thing. Like, I need to eat more to get stronger and to be able to perform in the gym. So it wasn't, like, this thing that I had to tell myself.

It's okay to eat a little bit more. Like, I just felt like I needed to eat more so I would eat more. And then it kind of, like – and then that's – like's like I said I was watching YouTube videos and then I started watching more about nutrition and understanding things and that's when I realized that I was not eating enough at all and that's when I kind of was like oh okay and I just I just felt really lucky because I found that out just by accident honestly like if I decided to eat more just by accident um because I I could only imagine like what would have happened to me if I didn't start doing the research

because at least I think I would have just kept trying to cut and feeling like I have to be thinner, I have to be thinner because I cared about being thin, I didn't care about being fit and those are two different things I cared about being as thin as possible how much does the scale say that's all I cared about

and now obviously that has completely changed and so like obviously the first style of training that i got into which i think a lot of people can relate to this was like bodybuilding stuff because that's the first thing that you see so then if all you're worried about is being thinner and your physique and how you appear yeah i mean that's the whole purpose of bodybuilding exactly yeah perfect sense and now like the first thing i was attracted to as well it's like pick up a a magazine. It's like, well, I want to look like that guy. And for me, being the person that was watching YouTube videos, there was the amount of like bodybuilding information

and bodybuilding videos was way more than any other kind of style of training. So that's kind of what I gravitated towards. What year was this? This was in the last four years? Yeah, this was in the last four years. It was probably like 2014 or 15 is when i started or i think i would say 14 um so i was like you know watching videos and then that's kind of how i learned how to um you know just do my workouts and that's when i started all in between

all of this stuff is when i decided to make like my instagram page obese to beast and and i actually like decided to start my youtube channel too because i would have so many people on instagram like ask me questions that i couldn't really answer in a post that would just be much easier said in a video. So like, that's why I started that. And I was like, I did all that. And I ended up like, you know, I really love bodybuilding and I still really enjoy doing it. I still do that style of training. Um, but I kind of, you know, I was doing bodybuilding and then I actually, um, this last June did my first ever men's physique show. Um, so if you bodybuilding and then I actually, um, this last June did my first ever men's physique show. Um, so if you don't know men's physique, it's like when you go on stage and

you have like your swim trunks on and you do like, you're all like tanned up and oiled up and you do your posing and stuff, you know? And like, that was a huge moment for me. Um, just get going, obviously going from where I was to like, it's like, you know, one side of the spectrum all the way to the other side of the spectrum you know and so how light did you get before you decided that you need to eat a little more food and that you okay you would need to eat more food to get stronger like at what point does the do you go from i want to be as thin as possible to hey i kind of want to get stronger yeah um i honestly i would say the weight it wasn't even my lowest because at that point i had no muscle. So like the, the muscle weight wasn't there. Um, I would say I was probably about like 185 and like, um, but it wasn't like a, it was a very,

like I say a floppy 185, like I didn't have any definition. Like I was very much so like the word skinny fat that people use. I was just like, I just didn't know what to do though. You know, I was like, man, what do I do? do um and then that's when i started you know finally lifting and like just trying to like understand how to lift and like i remember the first few times i would go into the gym i was i remember i was supposed to have a back day and i literally i was like what do you do for back day i didn't know that last pulldowns were for your back i didn't i didn't know anything like i was i was going so like i just I just knew nothing. But then, like, it was, like, that I just started to build the knowledge. Like, every time I would go to the gym, I would, like,

try and talk to people that were there, try and get information, you know, and, like, every time I would just try and learn a little bit more and learn a little bit more. And it really, like, it really did work out for me. And I just remember, like, being so afraid of food. And, like, that was something that I dealt with for a very long time. And I'm not going to lie. It was something that I struggled with up until not that long ago. I struggled with binge eating. That was something that I would do a lot.

So like I said, I would eat 700 calories. So I would do that for five days. It was like this cycle that was just always going on. Five days, I would eat 700 calories, binge on 3,000 to 4,000 calories. So I would be like, oh, I'm doing well. And then you'd binge. Oh, man, I hate myself. I'm a failure kind of thing.

And then you feel like that for two days. And then you start cutting your calories again, cutting your calories again. And then you can only go for so long until you binge again. And so that was a cycle that I was going through as well. How did you manage those emotional swings? It was hard, man. It honestly was like I don't even know. Like, honestly, it was just like food was like, I just, I always felt like, well, I felt for a long time that I was

always going to feel like this about food. Like I was never going to be able to be a normal person and like go out to eat with my friends and like, and be able to do all this. Like I always, I was just so food focused. And it's something that I think a lot of people deal with especially people that lose a lot of weight as at least this is something that I've noticed with people that I'm helping is that a lot of people have these issues with food and like what I say is it's like they have a really unhealthy relationship with food and that's what I said like I had a very very unhealthy relationship with food um and it was something that honestly like it was just I honestly just never thought that it would

change I thought that I was always gonna have this issue and the thing that was crazy is like at this time I was still like I had a YouTube channel and I was helping people lose weight but in the same time I'm like thinking to myself like am I lying to these people like am I being like am I being kind of a false prophet or something like that am I like am I like acting like I'm all okay but I'm really dealing with this stuff and then like I have these posts and people are saying oh you're so inspirational and like it was hard because I felt like I was a failure at the same like I was being inspiration to all these people and all these people were saying how much I've helped them and like how like everything like oh man you're so awesome but in my head I'm like I'm a liar and

like I'm not I'm struggling with this food stuff and like i don't understand what's going on and it was really really hard to deal with and but luckily like i just it was one of those things that kind of it almost worked itself out too um because i so i ended up doing that men's physique show in june and when you do one of those shows you have to be you have to count everything you're eating like i was tracking my macros like to the everything you're eating. Like I was tracking my macros, like to the, everything, like I was tracking broccoli and lettuce and like, like literally like everything. And I, so I ended up competing and like, I got to 180 pounds is my lightest weight. And honestly, like, it's one of those things that I'm very, very grateful that I did that show because like, it's, oh my gosh, the amount of work that went into that prep. And like, I honestly like that you know

that feeling that i said when i when i decided to lose weight and like that feeling when i woke up in the morning and feeling like like that breath of fresh air that's how i felt after the show was done like i remember we went to denny's and like i went home and finally showered off that disgusting spray on tan because you know they put it on the day before you're not allowed to shower so i stunk so bad and i finally showered like took stunk so bad. And I finally took it off. It was disgusting. So I finally got it off and I was driving to Denny's. And I remember I felt that same exact feeling like, oh, thank God.

I'm done with that. And honestly, that was before. I hadn't started CrossFit yet. But I have not tracked my calories or my macros since that show. And now I think that tracking macros is helpful for a lot of people, but you can definitely get obsessive, and I definitely did. But I did the show. To do a bodybuilding show, you have to be obsessive.

You have to. It's not the healthiest. It's not something you want to keep doing. It's one of those things that I'm glad that I did it. Seriously. And I'm not just saying that for the camera or whatever like i'm really glad that i did it because it taught me a lot about myself but i don't think i'll ever do it again um because of you know what i had to go through to get to where i was on stage um but yeah so i had that like feeling of just being like

relaxed after the show was done and i like i said i haven't tracked i haven't tracked any macros or like calories since the show i haven't binged since the show, which I was, like, when I say I was nervous about, like, what was going to happen afterwards because I know friends that have gained 30 pounds in, like, two weeks after their shows because they just eat and eat and eat because you're so restricted. But I remember I was, like, really serious about not doing that. Like, I would give myself treats, but I was, like, okay,

this isn't an excuse to just eat everything in the entire planet you know so i did that and then um after after the show in june i think i had about it was like two or three months and that's when i finally found crossfit and i can't even explain how much better my relationship with my food is but not just my not just food but like with my body and my body image, it's just been like, you think CrossFit's helped you? Absolutely. It's what specifically? It's helped me realize that your body isn't only about how it looks, it's about how it

performs. And being someone that first off went from being obese to not being able to do much. Now, like I said, I was able to like skateboard and stuff like that. But like when it came to like jumping and stuff, I couldn't do it. I literally couldn't jump, you know? and stuff, I couldn't do it. I literally couldn't jump. I couldn't tie my shoe. I had to take my shoe off of my foot, put it on my lap, tie it, and then put it back on.

Little things like that I couldn't do. And then going from that to bodybuilding, which is very strict and it's very rigid, and it didn't help anything, like my mobility. I didn't feel athletic. I didn't feel athletic at all. And that was something I always wanted. Like I mobility. I didn't feel athletic. I didn't feel athletic at all, right? And that was something I always wanted. Like I said, I wanted to play football.

Like I really have always wanted to be athletic. And I would watch like football movies and be like, man, I would love to be the guy that caught the touchdown pass. You know what I mean? But I was always the center. And I was like, block. So that – but I just remember like – so obviously, and then I get into CrossFit. And one of the stories I like to tell is one of the first workouts, there were box jumps. And it was just a 24-inch box.

And I remember I was with my brother. He's the guy that got me into doing CrossFit. By the way, and this needs an aside, his name is John. Yes, John. John and John. Yes, John. Wonderfully common. Exactly.

Everyone in my family calls me John David. Make it easier. You know what I mean? John David and John. John and John. Yes, John. Wonderful comma. Exactly. Everyone in my family calls me John David. Make it easier. You know what I mean? John David and John. But so there was box jumps in it. And I remember I walked up to John and I was like, hey, I don't think I can do this. And he looked at me and he was like, dude, you can jump on this box. And I was like, I don't know, man. I don't think I can.

He was like, just try it. And I remember I was scared because we only had wooden boxes at the other box that I used to go to, the other gym. And so I was like, I'm going to scrape my shins. And I remember I did it and I was like, just try it. And I remember I was scared because we only had wooden boxes at the other box that I used to go to, the other gym. And so I was like, I'm going to scrape my shins. And I remember I did it and I was like, oh. I was just like, oh, okay. And then in the workout I did like 50 of them. But that's a story that,

that's why I love CrossFit so much. I mean, everyone says, oh, you drink the Kool-Aid, you get really into it for a few months and then you kind of wane or whatever. I don't know if that's true or not, but I remember just being it's true for people who say it yeah yeah yeah right yeah everybody else is still training yeah and like for me it's like almost for the first few months like every single day i would go in i would do something that i didn't think i could do ever and like i was do i can do double unders now like i i remember the one of the the first workout there

was i had to do singles obviously because i couldn't do doubles and like my i because i was able to film it i have a video on my on my channel of my first crossfit workout they looked so bad and like i'm like like jumping everywhere and like my my knees are coming up my toes are coming up and and and now to being to where i am now it's just cool to see that progression and it's like so obvious and in bodybuilding it's very, tiny changes over a very long period of time. But with CrossFit, it's just these awesome changes that you can really track and see that you're getting better. And you can see that when you do a workout.

The first time I did Fran, I got 950 or 915. And then I just did it a month ago, and I got 628 or something like that. So seeing that progression, it's so tangible and it's so like something you can just grasp that's why i think i love it so much and and then obviously like just the the simple fact of doing things that i never thought i could do with my body and like it's just really cool and i really love it and and i love i think for me one of the coolest parts and something that a lot of people say is like the community behind it when you go into the gym it's not like people aren't sizing you up and they're not like oh man like what's this person going to be like and like because i

just got back from a trip in la for 10 days and i went to a bunch of different boxes everyone first off i'm going in with this big stupid camera that i carry with me everywhere right so that's obviously going to make people feel a little weird um but they were all cool with me to film and they were all really nice and they asked if like i needed anything or if they like if they needed to turn the music down for my for my camera and stuff like this like it's just incredible like when you go into if i go into 24-hour fitness they don't even let me film they don't even let me do it and like there's all these people that are just staring at you and it's just a different community you know it's just different and i that's another huge reason why I love it so much, I think. So what does your training look like right now?

Do you have like individualized programming or do you just kind of do whatever the workout is on the board when you drop into different boxes? Yeah, so I'm a very lucky individual to where like my job is to make content and to make YouTube videos. So I have a good – I wouldn't call it free time, but I don't have to punch a clock and like go to work for eight hours in a day.

So I actually do a lot of times I'll do two workouts in a day. Um, now the, the first workout is like my bodybuilding style workout that I do at like the corporate gym, 24 hour fitness. It's very like the same as it's always been, you know,

12 sets of, or three sets or four sets of like 10 to 12 reps, you know, chest, back legs or whatever. Um, but then like when it comes to like, like that's my time to kind of be to 12 reps, chest, back, legs, or whatever. But then when it comes to – that's my time to kind of be alone. I like to put my headphones in and just kind of be by myself and do my own thing.

But then I come into CrossFit usually later in the day at 6 or 7 because we have a 7 o'clock class here. And then I'm able to hang out with all of my friends here, and I usually just do the workout that's on the board. And then if I'm dropping in, I'll usually just do whatever they're doing um but i like to like because like i guess i really love the programming here he does a really good job cory is a programmer and he really like focuses on progression on like big lifts first and then we'll have like a metcon or something like afterwards um so i really like that and i've

been able to see myself like literally hit prs and stuff like that here and like that's obviously super motivating too um so yeah it's usually like I just do what's on the board and then in the morning I'll do like my bodybuilding style and then if I'm feeling like really run down I'll just you know I'll take a day off so it's kind of what it looks like dude you went from like 360 pounds to doing two a days I know right like it's it's crazy if you would if you would have told me right and it's one of those things that I just – I genuinely just love being in the gym. And if you would have told me that four years ago, I would have laughed at you because I was terrified to be into the gym. So it's just funny how it's kind of totally switched. Yeah.

So now you've kind of assumed the role. I mean you're a leader within this space. Like people are getting attracted to you for your individual journey. And just like you're sort of offering that stewardship by lifestyle. Where do you see yourself going from here? Cause a lot has happened in the last four years. You've compressed a lot of life and a lot of experience. Where do you see yourself sort of trajecting towards? I mean, given that much thought, I feel like you're kind of moving right now, but I don't like, I, that's something that I definitely don't do enough and that I can learn from probably other people is to think more about the future because like in this, the life that we live now, it's everything is so fast and like move fast, move fast, move fast. But I think like in

the next, like maybe like five years, I definitely, I honestly would love to be pretty much doing stuff similar to what I'm doing now, but maybe on like a more kind of like a different scale, like helping people individually, like having a coaching, like being able to coach people. And like, and because right now I really feel like I love that I'm able to help people for free. And I love that I'm,

I'm able to give people advice and stuff like that, but I only have so much time. So I would really love to be able to like set something up to where I can actually like be working with someone and give them a few hours of my day instead of just like being able to write an Instagram post and hopefully helping someone a little bit to give someone a few hours and help them hopefully change their whole entire life um that's something that I want to be doing and like I genuinely hope that I'm like you know I want to continue my training and I would love to like one of my goals is to compete in a CrossFit event that's like rx I don't have to like, you know, it's not like kind of like beginners. I've done a beginners competition and we won.

It was awesome. It was me and my brother. But it was very much so not RX, you know. John and John. Yeah. We called ourselves Oh My Glaud. Hashtag Oh My Glaud. We thought we were pretty funny with that.

But like that's something I want to do because i just genuinely love doing this and then i would love to hopefully like i'm sure i i see myself getting my l1 and hopefully like being able to because it's one thing to help people with like nutrition and i feel like for weight loss that is the most important thing is your nutrition if you're not like i can't stress it enough like something that i say all the time is weight loss happens in the kitchen fitness happens in the gym period like they people will want to mesh them together and they're one and the same, but I genuinely feel like they're different things. Like I said, I lost a lot of my weight not stepping foot into a gym. And was it the healthiest thing? No.

But I did lose weight, you know, so that's something. So I want to be able to help people with that, but then I would love to be able to actually be able to have an L1 and maybe even go a little bit higher and actually help people like inside of a gym um now i'm not sure if that's really makes sense for me for like you know the stuff that i'm doing with so many people um but i think it would be cool to have that kind of under my belt i guess you know what i mean and it's just another thing i want to learn i just love learning about this stuff so that's something i want to do Yeah, it sounds like you're seeking mastery.

Yeah. And that's a good thing. Yeah. Yeah. Earlier you said that your mom came in your room and she saw you in bed and she felt like it was her fault and she started crying and whatnot. So kind of an emotional issue for many people, not just for yourself. You've got family involved and whatnot. Where's your mom now? Is she crazy proud of you, I'd imagine?

Oh, yeah. She's like my biggest fan. She'll just sometimes come into my room and just hug me and just be like, I'm so proud of you. It's one of those things that I always say that you have to lose weight for yourself. If you're doing it for somebody else, almost always you'll end up just not doing it. Because I would have people try and help me to lose weight. Like, oh, man, I have to do it because this person is helping me. And I would eat a cheeseburger when they were looking because

they didn't know but that's been one of the things that like I don't think about it too much but like when I do think about like man my mom like that's something she she used to say like she would like it would weigh on her I guess is the best way to say it and she would feel so terrible about it and the fact that I've been just by changing my life and just making myself a better person has made her not have to worry about that. Like that's just a win-win in my, you know, in my book. And so that's something that has been really awesome. And she's like, she's definitely like, she's like my biggest fan.

She'll just be like, man, I'm just so happy for you. And it's been a really cool thing, like being able to, you know, use my knowledge. Now, obviously I wish that I could help my whole family and like like, they would all, like, see what I've done. And, like, I'm kind of throwing them under the bus right now. But, like, I wish – it's one of those things that it seems like from what I've learned, especially with other friends that have lost weight too, is, like, the people that are closest to you, it's hardest to try and help them. Yeah, for sure. Because they see you and they'll just be like – well, they understand that it's possible. But at the same time, it's like they don't – I don't know how to explain it like i wish that i could be like yo you've seen me do it

like let me help you but it's like your mom doesn't want to listen to you you know what i mean or like my my sister luckily my brother jean who i did the crossfit competition with i was able to help him lose about 30 pounds and he freaking kills it and like i'm super happy for him um so you know it's one of those things that like i've've always said, like I said just now, is like you have to do it for yourself. So there's no way I can motivate anyone in my family unless they're ready to do it. Just quickly, head to head, who wins the CrossFit workouts between you and your brother? It's actually, it's really funny. And I'm not just saying this. It's very much like he'll win one, I'll win one. He'll win one. I'm stronger than him in like overhead stuff. Like if

we're doing snatches, I kill him in that stuff. But sometimes if there's a good amount of Metcon stuff without running, because I can definitely run better than him, he'll beat me. So we did a workout yesterday, and he just destroyed me in it. There was handstand push-ups and pull-ups and then double-unders, and he just destroyed me. So it's very much like with our squats, we squat literally the same exact weight. So yeah.

Shout out to John. What would you say you're – I mean, we've covered, like, a lot of challenges that you've overcome. Are there any challenges – what are your challenges now? My challenges now, that's a good question. I think – well, the main thing that we were kind of talking about a little bit before is, like, my mobility. And, like, that's not, like, as a as a huge challenge as like losing a bunch of weight but for me right now it's like something that I am so much like I want to work on like and it's something that I want to be able to like do a clean it doesn't look terrible because right now they look horrible like they just don't look good um so that's like something that I'm really really working on and then as far as like

just trying to like do my best with making the best like videos that i can like trying to learn because with what i do with youtube like i was saying before you're your own director producer video editor filmographer you do everything so like i'm trying to like master that like be a better filmmaker and like to get better shots and like get like spend more money on the equipment that i use to film because it's for the the people you know what i mean like there's a reason that I'm spending that money. So I'm trying to get myself to get into that kind of mindset and just do a little bit better with that.

And then as far as eating and weight loss is concerned, I'm really seriously happy with where I am right now. And saying that is one of those things that kind of blows my mind because I honestly, like I said earlier, thought that I was going to be struggling with eating disorder stuff and, and just not understanding how food works and just being like, feeling like I was never going to be able to feel comfortable in a situation where like, like I keep talking about LA, but I was there for 10 days and like before I would have been so freaked out of being somewhere for so long away from my routine.

And like, I would have thought I was going to gain 30 long away from my routine. And like, I would have thought I was going to gain 30 pounds or something like that. And like, I went, it was fine. I came back. I'm totally like the same weight that I was when I left. Yeah.

Not an issue at all. You know? And like, that's something that was huge for me. So like that literally is super recent. Like I got back two days ago and that was a huge win for me. And something that I genuinely like, cause I've done this three times,

like going up to LA for a few days with a bunch of YouTubers. And the first two times I was like terrified the whole time I genuinely like, because I've done this three times, like, going up to L.A. for a few days with a bunch of YouTubers. And the first two times I was, like, terrified the whole time. And, like, I was, like, checking my weight and, like, I would, like, come home. The first thing I did when I got home was check my weight on the scale. This time I didn't even check it. Like, I checked it because, like, I was just like, oh, I wonder. And then I was like, oh, cool. You know?

And so that was something that's huge for me. But obviously, like, there's obviously I think there's always room for improvement with that stuff. And, like, just, you know, another thing I want to do is eat a little bit healthier. I'm not the best at, like, I'm not eating the healthiest right now. So it's like that's a small thing that I'm trying to work on. So when you say, I mean, it sounds like you have the weight management piece is handled. Absolutely. When you say healthier, what does that mean to you?

Yeah. So, like, just more whole foods. Like, I've been eating way too many protein bars, supplements, and stuff. Something that I know that my body feels better. And it all comes back to performance. I know I feel better. I feel less achy. I feel like I have less inflammation when I'm eating more greens

and when I'm eating more broccoli and when all my protein isn't coming from protein bars and shakes. But it's just so easy. But I just need to make myself take the time out to go to the store and buy the food and cook it. Because I know I can. I know how to make it all. It's just like it's a little bit easier to eat this protein cookie

that has 30 grams of protein in it, you know. So that's something. Slightly easier. Slightly easier. What does your meal prep look like right now then? Do you do like the big bulk meals once or twice a week type of thing or do you buy pre-made meals or do you cook multiple times a day just because you maybe have time for it or how do you do like the the big bulk meals once or twice a week type of thing or do you buy pre-made meals or do you do you cook you know multiple times a day just because you maybe have time for it or how do you do it so the way that it works like when i'm really into my routine which

has been kind of weird because like i said i was just in la for 10 days but when i'm really into my routine pretty much every single morning i have oatmeal so i just make that when i when i make it um and then usually i'll me and brother, my brother lives with me, we kind of eat about the same types of food. So we'll cook like a ton of chicken. Like I like chicken. It's just the easiest way to cook it. And it's the easiest thing to cook.

And I have like a set way that I cook it in the oven, that I can cook a bunch of it at one time. So I'll make a bunch of that. And then usually I'll either make a lot of rice or, like I said, I'm kind of lazy. And I like the Uncle Ben's ready rice. Have you seen those? You throw them in the microwave for 90 seconds. Because I hate preheated rice or like reheated rice.

It just doesn't taste that good. So I'll usually – like we'll buy like – Uncle Ben's is okay. Yeah. It is. It tastes way better. It really does. So we'll buy like 10 of those.

And then I always buy like a ton of vegetables that I'll cook usually with each meal. So that's kind of what it looks like. So that will be like lunch and stuff. And then for dinner I'll either eat the same kind of thing or I'll go out to eat or something like that. Sounds pretty good. Three-year vision. I definitely want to – so I'll start with like the smaller things first. So obviously I want to work on mobility.

I want to like, you know, just not feel like I'm super unable to do things. So that's something that I want to work on. You were saying earlier, like you, you have issues doing full range motion squats and things like that still, even though like you're, you're super fit and you kind of look the way you want and you're eating healthy, your mobility is not where it needs to be. Yeah. It's, it's annoying because like when I, when I do weighted squats, if I do back squats or even front squats, the weight will push me into position.

But if it's a light squat or something like that, it just – and the YouTube comments, people, and I'm like, I always say, I'm working on it. And they're just like, you're not hitting depth. I'm like, I know I'm not. I'm trying. The dude leaving that comment doesn't ever squat. Yeah, exactly, right?

Yeah, yeah. But that's something that I'm working on. Just ask other people to post their videos. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. People start talking to you. I'm like, let me see your video. Let me see your video. Yeah. Um, so that, that's something that I want to work on, which is like a small thing, but, um, you know, obviously I would love to work on, just get better at CrossFit in general and just be more fit. But another thing I want to work on, like I said earlier, was I would love to, you know, start like a coaching business. Mainly, it would be mainly weight loss related, not as much like because I know that I have a ton more to learn about,

like coming into the gym and learning about movements and learning about like. So I'm not even going to try and, you know, go to that because I don't I don't want to have someone pay me and then me not even feel like I'm ready. Sounds like weight loss is where your passion's at anyway. Exactly. It is. So I want to start like a, um, you know, like a diet coaching thing like that. And like the way that that would work, it was, I don't want to set it to where I, here's your plan. And like, I give my plan to 50 people. It'd be very personalized. So I want to get that started. Um, and then I just want to honestly like continue building. Um, I've, I've kind of had a vision. So the vision that I kind of have that

i've talked to friends about is i would love to set up a coaching that would be called like obese obese coaching and obviously i would be the main person that's doing it but then i would i would be able to have like other people that i trust that have lost a lot of weight too that are like kind of like figure like you said ambassadors you said figurehead right like that are in the same kind of like they have a following on instagram and And like obviously they would have to have their certification and stuff like that. But they would like be with me too. And then we have a group. Because obviously I can only do so much by myself, right?

So if I have a group of people helping even more people, I think that would be really cool. So that's like something that I want to do. Have you thought about the DDR World Championships? Or entering a hip-hop battle? I'm working on that. Yeah, I'm trying. I need to get better. But, yeah, that's going to be in like the next two years. I mean without the weight, I'm sure you can move even better now. I'm working on that. Yeah, I'm trying. I need to get better. But yeah, that's going to be in like the next two years.

I mean, without the weight, I'm sure you can move even better now. Oh, yeah, I know. Yeah, definitely. So yeah, that's kind of what I've thought about. Like I said, it's definitely something I need to do more thinking about and I need to get better at thinking about future things. But yeah, that's kind of where I'm at right now. When you're ready, Mike's been working on his dance.

I've been a longtime dancer. So we're ready for knock it out. Jean-Claude episode two. Groups of three. Let's do it. Where can people find you? So I'm on pretty much all social media. On Instagram, it's obese underscore T-O underscore beast.

Someone already took obese to beast without the underscores. Son of a bitch. I know. I know i know man and he gets so many followers because they don't know but it's okay um so that's where i am on instagram on twitter it's the same thing as my instagram so with the underscores and then on youtube it's just www.youtube.com slash obese to beast no underscores and then snapchat is obese to beast fit yeah i'm pretty much on everything you know. Those are the main ones that I use, though. Excellent.

Yeah. Give John a follow. Yeah. Thank you for joining us. That was awesome. Honestly, it really is an honor to be on this. I can't explain how much I fanboyed when we talked at the Reindeer Games. You guys walked away.

I was with my brother, and I was like, oh, my gosh, this is crazy. So I'm like really really honored to be on the show well this is like such an easy interview we were just talking about that on the break just sort of like

we lob a question you're like let me smash that I can talk yeah I can talk it's great it's awesome it's a blessing

and a curse it's a gift keep it up yeah man it was fun having you John thank you thanks dude