Man bravely reveals excess skin after 270 pound weight loss in emotional video

At his heaviest at the age of 16, Matt Diaz weighed 497 pounds. Now 22, Diaz has lost 270 pounds following lap-band surgery and years of diet and exercise, but he is still dealing with the physical and emotional issues from the excess skin that remains on his body. Diaz bravely decided to take his internal struggle public by revealing his excess skin to the world in an emotional video about body image and learning to love yourself.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO (WARNING: Video contains strong language)

Although Diaz had been documenting his weight loss for years on social media, he realized that despite his messages about self-esteem and body positivity, by hiding his excess skin, he was hiding a part of who he was.

"So many people were self-conscious about their stretch marks and their excess skin that, well, I just didn't want them to feel alone anymore," he ABC in an email.

So, in a video posted to his Tumblr account this week, Diaz decided to show everyone what he had been hiding for so long.

"I've never done this before, ever," he says at the beginning of the video. "I'm really, really scared."

He then steps back to reveal the excess skin hanging from his arms and torso.

"I think it's important that I'm not ashamed about who I am because I worked really hard to get here," he says, becoming emotional. "And I still don't have the body that I want but I'm trying really hard to love myself."

"I want to be proud of who I am and I want all of you to be proud of who you are," Diaz says.

Choosing to make the video was a struggle in itself for Diaz.

"Honestly, I was beyond terrified to post that video," he wrote in a post to his Tumblr account. "I really really nearly didn't. I had to talk myself into it. I cried making the video. I cried rewatching it to make sure the quality was okay. I cried after I uploaded it to tumblr because I was so scared people would think I was ugly, now."

Diaz says the outpouring of support he has received since posting the video has been incredible.

"I was so self-conscious, and my faith in humanity has never been stronger after [the video] went up," Diaz told ABC.

Diaz has a GoFundMe page set up to help raise funds for the surgery. He's not sure what the final costs will be, but he has already raised more than $30,000.

"The kindness was incredible and the sheer amount of donations in such a short amount of time was just mind-blowing," he said. "I've never seen so many people give just to help one guy feel a little better about himself."

Diaz says he intents to use the attention to keep spreading his message on positive body image.

"As long as people are looking, I'm going to continue to write and talk about the importance of being who you are," he said in a recent Tumblr post.

You can follow Diaz's journey on his Tumblr account, MyAnnoyances.