Matt Joseph Diaz

Matt Joseph Diaz

Bio

Matt Joseph Diaz is a public speaker and social media activist tackling the issues of body image and self love. Matt has been working in social media since the age of 15, and has a long history of creating online content for entertainment and educational purposes. Matts videos have accrued over 120 million views in countries all over the world as well as being featured in People, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, Upworthy and numerous other news websites. He now spend a lot of his time traveling and speaking on self love at conferences, colleges and public events. Matt Joseph Diaz currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.   

Matt Joseph Diaz Articles

Love is the only thing we try to claim is beautiful because it lasts forever.

It’s Time To Redefine What We Call A “Successful Relationship"

I've long considered myself a collector of failed relationships. From the girlfriend I asked out during a bar crawl and dated for eight days to the conservative Christian who thought her love was “saving me from a life of debauchery,” I actually gained a little pride from my list of failed love affairs. However, while these relationships were problematic, what made them “failures?”

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Take yourself on a date. Image: Thinkstock.

5 Things To Do When You Feel Bad About Being Single

You aren’t half of something waiting to be made whole — you’re a complete human being with your own important thoughts and ideas, looking for someone to add to your life. You're neither incomplete nor missing out on anything just because you’re single.

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For me, losing weight was about learning what I needed to do and gradually forming a positive relationship with my body. Image: Matt Joseph Diaz

I Lost 270 Pounds. Here Are 3 Reasons I Don't Share My Weight-Loss “Secrets.”

Being asked about my weight-loss “secrets” make me uncomfortable. It feels very different from people wanting to know about my story. It feels like being asked to provide a shortcut.

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I'm sorry that I've allowed you to become an example.

An Apology To Myself At 500 Pounds

Dear 16-Year-Old, 500 Pound Matt,

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Everyone's gotta say sorry sometimes. (Image Credit: Flickr / The Wandering Faun)

5 Steps To Giving A Sincere Apology

Everyone messes up, so you can bank on future opportunities to apologize. When the time comes for owning up to your own mistakes, these tips will help ensure you make the most of making amends.

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Your feelings are valid. Image: Thinkstock.

Having A Mental Illness Doesn't Make Your Feelings Invalid

People who live with mental illness are aware of how our brains work differently. Because of this, we constantly go the extra mile to try to validate what we’re feeling within ourselves before even considering voicing an opinion out loud.

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Life is not a perfect linear story plot. (Image Credit: Think Stock)

If At First You Don't Succeed, That's OK. That's Life.

Success is an uphill climb, but it’s rarely a directly uphill climb. There are cliffsides and plateaus, there are points where you have to adapt and change in order to make things work. These are not steps backwards, nor are they indicative of your failure—they’re simply a byproduct of life. More often than not, this ability to work with the circumstances in order to get by will take you farther than certain “skills” ever could.

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"The body positive movement strives to put forth one idea: that all body types are valid, regardless of their shape, size, or disability." Image: Thinkstock

Your Body Positivity Needs To Include More Than Just You.

It’s pretty easy to see why people would want to rebel against [our current standard of beauty] — it’s unattainable, and even for those who manage to reach something close to it, it’s often unsustainable. However, in rebelling against the oppressive system, we run into situations where people denigrate others who happen to more closely fit the description of what we recognize as the ideal.

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She was my Mr. Miyagi — except she was a cute young woman and there was a lot less karate.

4 Things I Learned From Dating A Professional Dominatrix

In the spring of 2013, I met a woman on OKCupid. She was petite, with a kind smile and a voice so soft that it could melt all your troubles away. Her shock of red curls went down to her shoulders — and because of this, and the fact that we no longer speak, let's call her Ann.

Ann was a few years older than I, wise and mature. She also, it turned out, spent her professional life beating up strangers for their sexual satisfaction.

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