John Glaude is comfortable in his own skin.
After shedding 160 pounds, the 22-year-old El Cajon man made a YouTube video, bravely showing off his body’s loose skin.
The video went viral, amassing more than six million views, and drew the attention of the Ellen DeGeneres show. Glaude appeared on the show on Friday afternoon to reiterate his inspirational story.
“This is who I am and I’m proud of it,” he said.
Ellen was effusive in her praise.
“I love this young man. After losing an incredible 160 pounds, our next guest bravely posted a video of himself revealing his biggest insecurity,” she said.
Glaude explained how he started his weight loss journey two years out of high school. Depressed about his large size, he heard someone explain that shedding pounds really was easy as eating better and exercising.
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He lost the weight over two years' time.
He said he didn’t post the video so someone would pay for him to have skin removal surgery – he just wants to be an inspiration to others.
“I am comfortable in my skin. The skin is a battle scar from where I’ve been, where I was,” he said.
Glaude watched his appearance on Ellen at home in El Cajon with family and friends. He said he has one goal in life: to inspire anyone and everyone he can.
"I promise you, when you do lose the weight, or even when you're starting to lose the weight, your self-worth and how you feel about yourself, your eyes will open, you'll be able to, the future will be a lot brighter," he said.
As an award for his weight loss and his bravery, Ellen gave him a brand-new bright red Ford Mustang.
Here's Glaude's appearance on the Ellen Show:
