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

Your child's body is not a "problem" (Image Credit: Thinkstock)

On The Subject Of Childhood Dieting

Though it's worth noting that my weight was beginning to become a health concern, I’d never considered my body a “problem” until I heard how doctors talked about it. In the same way a hurt child won’t start to cry until he sees the worry in his parent’s face, I never felt bad about my body until the first time I felt like I was being looked at with disgust. So whatever route you decide to take with the health of a child, make sure it’s treated as a growing opportunity and not a solution to a problem. Your children are not problems — they are the foundation upon which the adults of tomorrow will be built.

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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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#MondayMotivation With Matt Joseph Diaz: Find What Fuels You

This week: Find what fuels you, and don't beat yourself up if what's fueling you right now is "surviving."

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Mondays With Matt: What Happens When Your Biggest Fears Come True?

Mondays With Matt: What Happens When Your Biggest Fears Come True?

This week, Matt talks about fear. What happens when the worst thing you can imagine happening, actually happens?

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#MondaysWithMatt: Supporting your partner through mental illness

#MondaysWithMatt: You Cannot "Cure" Your Partner's Mental Illness

Think of #MondaysWithMatt as the ultimate #MondayMotivation. Today's topic is how to handle mental health in a partner.

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Photo credit: Emma Wondra Photography "I’m starting to worry that my friends are prettier than me."

What If My Friends Are Prettier Than Me?

From a young age, people (especially women) are constantly taught that we’re in competition with one another. Whether it’s our grades, our social status, our economic status, or those creepy beauty pageants for 6 year olds, we’re immediately thrust into a world where we’re taught to view everyone as adversarial to a certain degree.

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"Our mental illnesses are not a substitute for your bland personality, nor are they buzzwords you can use because they sound more interesting than saying you’re a 'neat freak.'" Image: Thinkstock

Saying “Bipolar” And “OCD” Casually Doesn't Make You Quirky Or Edgy

I’m about to be in the midst of a depressive episode. At times like these, I’ve learned to take a step back from social media. While I do ultimately believe social media is a force for good, a means through which we can connect to, learn more about, and inform one another, there’s a real problem with how mental illness is portrayed there.

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My mother is my number-one fan, and has been since before I’d produced anything to be a fan of. Image: Matt Joseph Diaz.

How Getting Older Improved My Relationship With My Family

There’s almost definitely a better way to begin this, but I can’t think of one more appropriate. Growing up is really fucking weird. One day you’re having a great time arguing if Doctor Doom would beat Darth Vader in a fight (he would,) and next thing you know you’re worrying about taxes and whatever a “mortgage” is.

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When you’re living with roommates, almost all of the house is “communal space” in which you sort of have to be ready to interact with someone at any time. Image: Thinkstock.

5 Ways To Manage Your Mental Illness When You Live With Friends

My roommates [...] weren't aware that I live with bipolar disorder until a few weeks after I first moved in. In the month or so since, I’ve learned a lot about the way we approach our interpersonal relationships when living with mental illness, especially with those who are closest to us — both emotionally and literally.

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Image Credit: Stephen Arnold via Unsplash

On Passing Privilege & Not Belonging

For a long time, passing privilege made me feel like I didn’t deserve to call myself latino.

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