An Amazing Point About Body Image

Meet Matt Diaz. Matt has lost 270lbs over the past 6 years. 270lbs. Just the thought of that blows me away.

Matt has a Tumblr where he talks a lot about Body Positivity and Body Image. He shares a lot about his journey of changing his life, and the things he still struggles with.

Then he shared the video where he shows what 270 pounds worth of excess skin looks like. I’ve included it below – just hit play.

I watched the video this morning, and I could not get it out of my head all day.

Our culture acts as though women are the only ones with body issues. What I’m realizing every day is that not only is that not true, but we are teaching men out there to suffer in silence about the issues that they have.

It took a lot for Matt to put this video out there, to share his story. Not only do I applaud him for the tremendous weight loss, but also for the courage and the vulnerability this video took to make. For all the people in the world whose eyes have been opened thanks to him.

“Understand that to love yourself is to contest the negative things that were put into your head. Every smile, tattoo, bathing suit, and crop top is a small revolution. Tell yourself you’re beautiful every day, and I promise you will be.”
— Matt Diaz

Turns out us women don’t have the market cornered on negative body image after all. Isn’t it time we all started to have a conversation about this?

For more on Matt’s story, check out Upworthy – “It’s the side of extreme weight loss rarely seen, but that’s why it’s needed” and if you want to contribute to help cover the cost of the medical bills for his surgery to remove the excess skin, you can visit his GoFundMe page.