joelaleyton86

[joelaleyton86]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Chewie and Rey December 18, 2015

[joelaleyton86]

I've seen how vivid God has been to me this year. It's been a tough one, six months ago I was having surgery for a tumor I had carried for 2 1/2 years and last month I was rushed to the hospital because of gallstones I had in my gallbladder and today I was operated on for that. My story is only beginning stronger than ever. Thank you everyone for your well wishes and prayers for my life and sticking it through with me this year! I missed the Hillsong worship night 😒 (at Grady Memorial Hospital)

[joelaleyton86]

Looking back at my young self I see someone who didn't know who he was. I am glad I went through these tough moments in life to teach me how valuable it is! There's always a second chance and I am super happy about this new me! So much in store but always humble. You can achieve anything you want!

[joelaleyton86]

Happy Independence Day Guatemala! The country who welcomed me almost 29 years ago. You keep going strong with faith, love and hope for a better tomorrow. I love you.

[joelaleyton86]

I've never really talked about this before but in the current events of fat shaming done on social media and what people can actually go through after being fat shamed here is my brief story. Growing up I was always the bigger kid, bigger one of my brothers, cousins and even adults. I truly never accepted myself or felt like I was worth to anyone because of the fat shaming some family members did to me. I remember when I was 9 or 10 at an uncle's house and they had a scale in the living room and he started to tell my cousins and brothers to step on this scale and I just remember feeling embarrassed because I was the heaviest one out of all of them. I also was fat shamed when an aunt and an uncle sat down with my parents and started to blame them for my weight gain when they had nothing to do with it. I was always criticized in school and bullied because of my size. Even recently after dropping most of my weight I was fat shamed by an uncle over the phone. All of these people have paid for what they did or made me feel through their personal experiences/trials in life and some even in their marriages. If you are out there still being fat shamed take it from me, do the work, lose weight and kill them with kindness. You looking good already and it will only get better boo 💪🏼😉👌🏼 (Photo taken Summer 2013)

[joelaleyton86]

[joelaleyton86]

What more can this photo say? It's been a long journey but conquering it every single day until I pick up the current shirt I'm wearing a year or two from now! #thistooshallpass #beforeandafter

[joelaleyton86]

This morning I got up and said to myself, no more feeling sorry about myself. You guys know that recovering from surgery, in my case a 12 hour surgery can be very stressful for the body but I changed my mind game today and said I got to do this. I went, I saw, I did it and I conquered all obstacles. Physically and mentally! It was also great spending time with my throwback friend @ccottsool teaching me a lot of good things to do during workout! #throwbackthursday #tbt (at Gold's Gym)

[joelaleyton86]

reblog if you a lil chubby

[joelaleyton86]

I had an awesome time reconnecting with some friends I had not seen in a while. Thank you so much @chasetheninja @kim_holbrook6489 @ccottsool @deadworld and Jessica for meeting up tonight. Thank you @safehousecoffeeroasters @huntslade3 for hosting, Safehouse looks awesome! (at Safehouse Coffee Roasters)

[joelaleyton86]

What more can I add than the photo itself? I've learned to have patience in all this, and now 3 weeks into my gym workouts I feel good about myself and the future. It's never too late!

[joelaleyton86]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joel Alexander (@jalexanderton)

I found this video I recorded when I had lost 58 pounds in my journey. I had a small blackberry curve that I used to make memories because I thought I would not be able to wake up one day. I was so scared for my life and sleep deprived as you can see. A couple months after this I was put on a cpap machine for my sleep apnea. I remember I would wake up and be tired all the time as if I never got a deep sleep. If you are in this stage, just stop and get help. Hope this inspires many to focus on your health. #flashbackfriday

[joelaleyton86]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joel Alexander (@jalexanderton)

Part 2: Gotta love my juice, I be sippin on it day and night! 😂👍🏼

[joelaleyton86]

For the longest time I didn't want to keep losing weight because I would see other successful stories about big people losing a lot of weight and having excessive skin left all over their body. After losing 190 pounds (average male) I knew this would be inevitable and I had to accept it. Look at me, I'm just a guy trying to make something so "disgusting" funny. Embrace it, the fix can come later but you losing your life can't be fixed. It will happen but it all depends on your attitude and a little bit of humor like mine 😂, you can accept yourself just as you are. LOOSE SKIN, DON'T CARE. #beard

[joelaleyton86]

[joelaleyton86]

THERE IS A WAY OUT! I love seeing all these photos at once because I am drawn to the expressions on each of them. In the beginning I was only smiling to please everyone, so I wouldn't look depressed or embarrassed. As time moves on, the excitement of seeing myself less and less was everything I had to move forward. I am not done with this journey, I have the next part which is finding my body. Seeing it go to the extremes of physical change and building the Man of Steal Yo Girl! 😂😂 #bodytransformation #obesetobeastarmy 🚫pills 🚫surgery 🚫joke