Clearly, I’m not the only one who heard about the 32-year-old fitness fanatic and Mom of three who has caused an uproar. Maria Kang’s “fit photo”, captioned with the phrase “What’s Your Excuse?” (commonly used in fitness world) went viral and many people have something to say about it. I give credit when credit is due. I hope that I can look as great as she does after having three children. So, what’s the problem? She made healthier choices and got her “Fitness On” to achieve her goals–so she earned it, right? All to be accused of fat-shaming? Some people have called her “obnoxious” while others said she was an inspiration. Perhaps her approach was a little “in yo face” and raw for such a sensitive subject, leaving many with mixed feelings.
Maria stated on her Facebook page:
I’ve been getting an influx of new followers, emails and comments (on my profile pic) recently. Some saying I’m a bully, I’m fat-shaming and I need to apologize for the hurt I’ve caused women. I get it. SO here’s my First and Final Apology:
I’m sorry you took an image and resonated with it in such a negative way. I won’t go into details that I struggled with my genetics, had an eating disorder, work full time owning two business’, have no nanny, am not naturally skinny and do not work as a personal trainer. I won’t even mention how I didn’t give into cravings for ice cream, french fries or chocolate while pregnant or use my growing belly as an excuse to be inactive.
What I WILL say is this. What you interpret is not MY fault. It’s Yours. The first step in owning your life, your body and your destiny is to OWN the thoughts that come out of your own head. I didn’t create them. You created them. So if you want to continue ‘hating’ this image, get used to hating many other things for the rest of your life. You can either blame, complain or obtain a new level of thought by challenging the negative words that come out of your own brain.
With that said, obesity and those who struggle with health-related diseases is literally a ‘bigger’ issue than this photo. Maybe it’s time we stop tip-toeing around people’s feelings and get to the point. So What’s Your Excuse?
I can’t knock Maria and all of her hard work and efforts. She looks amazing and she’s definitely an inspiration! However, after reading a lot of the comments–many didn’t share the same sentiments. Not all of them were unhealthy, overweight, over-eaters, or lack enthusiasm for fitness, etc. they just didn’t agree with her approach. Either you like it or you love it. I know firsthand that there are a lot of people out there working hard and trying their best to reach a milestone or another goal. Maybe the results aren’t happening as fast as they would like, which can be discouraging to someone who just saw Maria’s photo come across their news feed. What if they are unable to carry out certain exercises due to physical limitations? Or, LIFE just happened. Not making excuses, just giving you something to think about. No one knows one struggle to the next.
I have fitness goals and I do my best every single day to achieve them. “NO EXCUSES” is a phrase I use in my #tags and it’s something I tell myself–OFTEN. I’m very fortunate to be surrounded around people who want to improve and live a healthy lifestyle. That’s why I love movements like Black Girls RUN!, Girl Trek, and Fit Fluential! Being a woman, especially a woman of color, it’s encouraging to see women like me getting out there–changing those statistics, putting an end to stereotypes, obesity, diabetes, and other health risks–We’re improving our overall health! We celebrate non-scale victories, hold each other accountable, support, motivate, and inspire one another. That’s what it’s all about! And–you should never apologize for wanting to make healthier choices and live a healthier life.
I wish I could look half that fantastic and be that disciplined NOW! And I have no babies. This is more of a photo of encouragement, to me, than one of discouragement.
Absolutely! When that time comes I hope I can be that disciplined and dedicated–especially with the load that she has with career, wife, children, etc. You truly have to balance that thing out!
I think this was solely to get people talking about fitness, good or bad, this was a wake up call to many. The negative reactions are if you think about it a reflection on how people feel about their efforts to have or maintain a healthy lifestyle. I like this approach because, she is just trying to give people a physical representation on what your life could be if you put in a lot of effort to maintain a healthier lifestyle. I like that there are different interpretations of this Meme. Any talk about fitness is good to me.
She definitely got the masses talking that’s for sure! I think it’s situational. Her photo was very inspiring, however her response was what got me. She’s totally entitled to feel how she wants to feel–but prepare for the backlash–and she got just that! If you’re trying to reach “certain” people, you do have to be mindful of your approach. Whether it was well received was up to the individual.
Very true.