# Fit mom posts Facebook pic along with her 3 kids asking 'What's your excuse?' - Firestorm ensues **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010 "2013-10-23T04:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/1 "2013-10-23T04:47:23Z")
Interview here [Fit mom of 3 defends posting picture that asks, ‘What’s your excuse?’](http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/the-kelly-file/transcript/2013/10/21/fit-mom-3-defends-posting-picture-asks-whats-your-excuse) [Pic here](http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/maria-kang_whats-your-excuse-496x620.jpg) > [@](#): > > KELLY: Why does anybody need an excuse? > > KANG: I think a lot of people make excuses every day as to why they don’t make their health a priority. Exercise is really important right now in America. We have an issue. I’m a huge fitness enthusiast and I posted this on my public Facebook page hoping to motivate my followers. I think it did motivate a lot of people. > > KELLY: I did motivated people. It also upset people. I don’t look like you, I will confess. I asked myself the question, what is my excuse? I thought, you know, because I wasn’t obsessed during the last few months since I had my son, my third child, with getting to the gym and getting the six-pack back. In my free time I had a glass of wine with my husband and made other deposits into my health fund, some were emotional health. But you seem to judge that. [And the “favocates” also weighed in.](http://www.themilitantbaker.com/2013/10/my-excuse-im-glad-you-asked.html) ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/2 "2013-10-23T04:59:47Z")
I used to think of a green alien when I heard the word Kang, but now… ROWRRR!!! She wants a fourth, no problemo! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/3 "2013-10-23T05:18:00Z")
I admire the lady for having kids and working out. Staying in shape and keeping healthy. That photo is amazing. She has a 8 month old kid and looks like that? Wow! I like this quote. Smart lady. > [@](#): > > KANG: No, I think, “What’s your excuse?” is an open question. You can take it how you want to. Eleanor Roosevelt once said no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. So whatever I say, whether it’s, “What’s your excuse?” or, “I can do it, so can you,” or, “Mother hood can make you better,” which is what I used after the caption, you know, it doesn’t matter people will take it how they want to. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/4 "2013-10-23T05:40:00Z")
What’s her excuse for having three kids in four years? What’s her excuse for assuming that everyone has the same priorities as she does? I’m sure that I could find some other personal failings that she has, if I cared to. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/5 "2013-10-23T05:49:33Z")
I have no problem with her pride in her accomplishments. It takes a lot of hard work to have kids AND keep a body like that. But her supposed “inspirational” quote was very poorly worded (perhaps on purpose). There are dozens of things she could have said instead, that actually WOULD have been inspiring and motivating. ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/6 "2013-10-23T05:53:10Z")
Either “I can do it, so can you,” or, “Motherhood can make you better,” would have sounded much less bitchy and there wouldn’t be this much blowback. **Lynn Bodoni** , one of my first thoughts was also, “Uh, birth control?” ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/7 "2013-10-23T06:00:53Z")
Looks like an ad to me. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/8 "2013-10-23T06:08:46Z")
A question worded that poorly doesn’t invite debate or dissent, it just shames fat people. Which I guess works for her, since she doesn’t seem the type to hang out with fatties anyway. There are legitimate reasons that what works for her doesn’t work for everybody. Not everyone can afford healthy food and a gym membership. Not everyone is a mesomorph. Not everyone was born with a pretty face and treated like a beautiful person all their lives. Not everyone was raised by health-conscious parents who taught them proper diet and exercise habits starting at birth. Not everyone lacks mental health issues or motivation to get to the gym most days. But you know, keep fighting the good fight. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/9 "2013-10-23T06:11:22Z")
Whatever. Maybe she worked hard at it, maybe she didn’t. Some women have a hard or impossible time getting back in shape after having a baby or a few babies, and others don’t. It took me zero effort and no time at all. Ah, to be 18 again… And it’s _ultra_-bitchy to not only be bitchy, but to then pull the doe-eyed “well gosh, I didn’t mean it that way, but if you took it that way, maybe it’s because there’s even another thing wrong with you besides you being a fatass” thing. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/10 "2013-10-23T06:38:52Z")
[Here is her personal “fitness evolution” story.](http://www.mariakang.com/2013/09/18/maria-kangs-fitness-evolutio/) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/11 "2013-10-23T07:02:42Z")
Basically, she’s saying that fitness is one of her top priorities in life. She is obsessed with her weight and her looks, and in fact those are how she measures herself. Her goal is to be 60 and still in great shape…but apparently that’s about it. She’s been in the fitness industry for a decade and a half, and I’m sure that this is part of her latest self-promotion. I don’t fault her for having her own priorities. I DO fault her for attempting to shame everyone who doesn’t share her priorities. And that’s what she’s doing, attempting to shame everyone who doesn’t meet her standards of perfection. Some things are, or should be, of a higher priority than just looking the best you possibly can. Perhaps one is taking care of an aging parent, or curing the common cold, or making a square circle. Yeah, she looks better than I do. She looks better than I ever did. So she wins on the looks department. However, I’m willing to bet that there are plenty of things that I can do better than she can, and quite possibly more worthwhile things. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/12 "2013-10-23T08:48:27Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Basically, she’s saying that fitness is one of her top priorities in life. She is obsessed with her weight and her looks, and in fact those are how she measures herself. Her goal is to be 60 and still in great shape…but apparently that’s about it. She’s been in the fitness industry for a decade and a half, and I’m sure that this is part of her latest self-promotion. > > I don’t fault her for having her own priorities. I DO fault her for attempting to shame everyone who doesn’t share her priorities. And that’s what she’s doing, attempting to shame everyone who doesn’t meet her standards of perfection. Some things are, or should be, of a higher priority than just looking the best you possibly can. Perhaps one is taking care of an aging parent, or curing the common cold, or making a square circle. > > Yeah, she looks better than I do. She looks better than I ever did. So she wins on the looks department. However, I’m willing to bet that there are plenty of things that I can do better than she can, and quite possibly more worthwhile things. At the same time she’s also saying that if you want to lose weight, be healthy, get in shape (for whatever value of inshape you want) it does take effort, you do have to work at it and it is a goal worth having. I get what she’s saying - I’ve seen a LOT of people complain this and that they cannot lose weight - and 90% of it is an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/13 "2013-10-23T10:18:37Z")
I voted for Kodos. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/14 "2013-10-23T11:35:12Z")
I doubt she’d be getting kudos from anyone if, instead of physical fitness, she was brag-casting her genius IQ and two Ph.Ds along with her three kids. We realize that intelligence is one of those things that are largely due to luck. I see her physical fitness in the same way. There are a lot of mothers who are able to maintain fitness to the best of their ability, but they don’t look like that chick and will never look like her. They’ve still got cellulite and stretch marks. Their faces aren’t that cutesy. Maybe they’ve got a really athletic body, but they can’t lose the double chin. But they still hit the gym three times a week and do all the “right” things with their diet. These women aren’t going to plaster their bodies on the internet for the world to see, but they do exist. Kang isn’t as special as she’d like to think. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/15 "2013-10-23T12:00:15Z")
This is her job. Literally, fitness is what she does for a living. My “excuse” is that I have to spend a lot of my time providing for my family in ways that don’t give me a cut/firm body. I suspect her ad was meant for the fitness community and would play fine there. It’s just unfortunate for her that it leaked into the mainstream internet instead. ---
**Author:** ![Miltonyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Miltonyz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miltonyz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/16 "2013-10-23T13:03:16Z")
It reminds me of a poster that’s pretty famous in the motocross world. It features a photo of Doug Henry the 1998 MX champion with his jersey pulled up showing a scar from his lower abdomen wrapping around the side of his body up his back. The tagline was “What’s stopping you”. Doug had destroyed his back two years before in a very nasty crash that would have ended most careers. Many of the objections posted in this thread would have applied in that poster. Racing was his job, his injury while horrible didn’t leave him paralysed, he had a factory team that was willing to offer him support.l, but I dont remeber anybody in the community bring up those issues. I think the biggest issues is the politics these days surrounding body issues. Another poster mentioned that it was tacky, and it would be tacky if she was bragging about her intelligence online, but I feel that if she had done the same style of poster but was holding up a Doctorate diploma instead there would be zero blowback. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/17 "2013-10-23T13:05:32Z")
I have some friends in the fitness industry. Since they began those careers, the number of judgmental things that they say about other people has increased dramatically. All of a sudden, anyone without $100+ and 30hr a month to spend on a programmed fitness regimen is a lazy slob. Of Ms. Kang is being a judgmental jerk. Whether she knows it or not is up for debate, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/18 "2013-10-23T13:23:06Z")
[QUOTE=Oscar Wilde] There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. [/QUOTE] She is getting huge publicity. Per a link in this thread, she was interviewed on Fox so I am sure there have been other interviews as well. The folks that think it was a bitchy move (myself included) aren’t her target customers, so why should she care what we think? I am sure that, once she filters through the negative contacts, there will be plenty of new business for her. This is no different than a Kardashian sex tape, Kanye upstaging Taylor Swift, etc, except on a smaller scale. Get tongues wagging to get attention and exposure; profit! I personally hate stuff like this, but if she is willing to take the heat, it will no doubt pay off for her in terms of her business, regardless of what I or others think. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/19 "2013-10-23T13:33:39Z")
That is one fit mother. Quite, quite fit. Who is her husband? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010/20 "2013-10-23T14:16:38Z")
Eh. Like said above, it’s her job to be fit. It is her area of interest. I’ve walked through a lot of ‘areas of interest’ in life and encountered a very large number of people whose (greatly inflated) self-worth is completely tied to their knowledge and standing in that rather small pond. If you don’t know X, if you haven’t done Y, if you haven’t achieved Z, then you’re worthless, unworthy, beneath them. And of course, there are plenty of them that if you dare to point out that you know A, have done B and achieved C, all of which are outside that narrow field, their reaction is a snort of derision and a solid “who cares!”. As a former mentor called them, “Little Tom Bombadils”. Kings of their tiny ponds, powerless outside of it. She’s beautiful, she’s fit. Her life revolves around that fitness. Good for her. If that isn’t part of your life, then you have no reason to be jealous, or annoyed, or angry with her. Nor do you need to justify yourself to her or to yourself for why you aren’t that way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fit-mom-posts-facebook-pic-along-with-her-3-kids-asking-whats-your-excuse-firestorm-ensues/672010.md?page=2)