Over the course of six years, Matt Diaz, a 22-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, has lost a stunning 270 pounds. Any way you slice it, that’s an impressive weight loss. But it’s what he has done with himself since that weight loss that should serve as an inspiration for both men and women, really for any person who has ever experienced body dissatisfaction.
In the video, Diaz says:
I lost 270 pounds in the last six years. When I was 16 years old, I weighed about 495 pounds at my heaviest weight. I’m a big advocate for body positivity, but I’ve never shown what my excess skin really looks like … I’ve never done this before ever, and I’m really, really scared.
What an amazing story. What a fearless warrior for self-love. See below:
Losing that amount of weight is no small thing. It takes discipline and so much hard work. But it is more than that, too. It takes a certain emotional mind frame. “I think it’s important that we learn to love the bodies we’re in, even if we don’t necessarily like every little thing about them,” Diaz says.
If a person wants to lose weight, it shouldn’t be about the way that others look at them. It should be about the way they look at themselves and the way that they feel. We focus so much on the cosmetic aspects of weight loss that we often forget the very real emotional components — better health, better sleep and so many other factors. These help with self-love. But a person also needs to be able to look in the mirror and like what they see. No matter what.
Diaz may not look like our picture perfect idea of what a man should look like, but he’s exposing himself and making himself vulnerable to the world to help others like him. Being thin is one thing. Doing this is something else. And it’s a far more impressive, difficult thing. Kudos. May it help all those who are struggling.
More on weight loss
‘Fat girl’ apps teach girls to hate their bodies
What we should really say to a friend calling herself ‘fat’
How to say ‘I love myself’ and really mean it
Leave a Comment