Why is this even remotely controversial?

tomomatic

So, some fit mom with three kids posted a picture and the words "What's your excuse?" to inspire people. And for whatever reason, there's been heap loads of hate regarding the image. Some have even gone so far as calling her a bully or self-righteous. Here's the image and a link to the article:



http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/hot-mom-defends-herself-against-facebook-haters-192149769.html

Anyways, I feel sorry for the haters.

Your thoughts?

Laces_0ut

obese people love having excuses as to why they are fat. one of them is that they have to take care of their children. so when the see a mom of 3 that looks like that they have to attack her rather than look inward.

A_nonymous2

Yep. Jealous haters looking for excuses.

IanBee93

She's hot, and has a point!

bunnybutler29

I saw that yesterday and posted how she looks great and with three kids. Jealousy is a *****. She is motivation.

PolkaDot_Princess

it's all jelousy! She's trying to be motivational an supportive by saying, hey if i can do it so can you! But those that are full of excuses are going to say she's a jerk for whatever reason, thats she's flaunting it. Hey i'm full of excuses too but it comes down to sacrifice and how far you're willing to go to get the results you want. I say live and let live, but there's alot of hateful, negative people in the world that disagree. Oh well....

wjstoj

Maybe she is self-rightous, but when you look like that, especially within 3 years of having 3 kids...maybe you're allowed to have a little bit of an attitude. Plus I'm guessing her website is to hire her as a personal trainer, so of course you're going to put the best possible picture up.

odusgolp

Whoa... She's hot. Can I keep her?

mikej1978

I think its great, she looks amazing and obviously likes to have sex

ldrosophila

Only thing I can see is if she has the ability to dedicate more time to fitness such as she works in the fitness industry or is a SAHM. That of course makes scheduling easier. If someone wants something bad enough of course he/she will make it happen, but it's difficult and unfair to compare your life to another's if you have certain advantages others may not.

PS-know nothing about this woman or what challenges she faces.

whierd

People do not like having to face their own flaws. There are also people who work 60+ hour weeks with families that manage to keep in shape.

ninerbuff

My gym has lots of moms just like her. It also has moms who aren't. And the ones who aren't are the ones who are going to make the negative remarks in most cases. She's obviously worked hard at it (along with some good genetics) so posting a pic with her kids to prove that it's POSSIBLE should be inspiring to others and not viewed as bullying.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

caseythirteen

Only thing I can see is if she has the ability to dedicate more time to fitness such as she works in the fitness industry or is a SAHM. That of course makes scheduling easier. If someone wants something bad enough of course he/she will make it happen, but it's difficult and unfair to compare your life to another's if you have certain advantages others may not.

PS-know nothing about this woman or what challenges she faces.

I would have thought something similar but I just took a peek at the article and saw her quoted as saying this

“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 businesses, have no nanny, am not naturally skinny and do not work as a personal trainer,”

So if you believe her, it looks like she doesn't have more time than the average working mom.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Some people like to hang their hat on "having kids ruined my body." While there are some complications that can really take away from your ability for your body to bounce back, it's not as common as the excuse is used. I grew up thinking that pregnancy made you permanently larger, I learned from experience that it does not permanently make me larger however continuing to eat at the pregnancy surplus and with the eat everything in sight mindset does.

Derpes

I'll play devil's advocate here....

People do not like things that are preachy.

It's a one size fits all approach. This woman is a trainer, a fitness model, and makes her LIVING do these things.

Talk to someone who travels for work and puts in 60-70 hours per week....maybe they are slightly overweight. Should they be called out?

Is it reasonable to expect EVERYONE to look like a fitness model?

LassoOfTruth

With a body like that, I don't see why she shouldn't be proud of it. She works hard. Good for her! If I looked like that, and had three kids come out of me, I'd show it off too!

hOw2lozeAgiN10dAze

I have no "mom friends" left for this reason. They all hate me because I'm motivated. Whatevs! I just don't use having kids as an excuse to be overweight and/or out of shape.

angel7472

I read this article this morning. In the article she is NOT a personal trainer. She actually dedicates time to work out. When she takes her kids to the park she stated that she does not sit there like the other moms with her iphone sitting on a bench she uses her children and playground equipment as tools to workout and be interactive with her kids at the same time. I have 3 kids and I personally applaud her. You would not believe the amount of parents who take their kids to the park or a sporting event and sit there on their phone. Or chit chat with other parents instead of motivating or being involved with their kids. As a society we have forgotten how to get off our butts and interact. Anyway I find her to be a great fitspiration. I think the main problem is the banner above her. People find it offensive and demeaning. I guess if you had a weight issue I could possibly see that as coming across as being a bit offensive. But she does have a point!

caseythirteen

This woman is a trainer, a fitness model, and makes her LIVING do these things.

Not according to the article she isn't, not anymore.

ScatteredThoughts

Great paragraph from the article:

“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 businesses, have no nanny, am not naturally skinny and do not work as a personal trainer,” she wrote, in part. “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.”

ninerbuff

I'll play devil's advocate here....

People do not like things that are preachy.

It's a one size fits all approach. This woman is a trainer, a fitness model, and makes her LIVING do these things.

Talk to someone who travels for work and puts in 60-70 hours per week....maybe they are slightly overweight. Should they be called out?

Is it reasonable to expect EVERYONE to look like a fitness model?

Pull your horns off then because she's not any of those above.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

BerryH

I can see some mothers also work just as hard at fitness and nutrition but just aren't lucky enough to have skin that pings back into place being upset that it might imply not having the same results means they're slackers.

Derpes

This woman is a trainer, a fitness model, and makes her LIVING do these things.

Not according to the article she isn't, not anymore.

She has lots of free time then.

Iron_Lotus

They hate because it is a hard reminder that the excuses they are making are not valid. People hate to think something is their own fault.

brraanndi

I'm grasping here but all I can figure is that it's a bit weird that she is pretty much unclothed with a ton of makeup on and her 3 boys taking a photo with her. That's the only thing I can find remotely odd about this photo.

If people are offended by the message, they should never read a fitness inspiration post again because it's not like it's the first time the whole "What's your excuse" dealie has been used.

caseythirteen

This woman is a trainer, a fitness model, and makes her LIVING do these things.

Not according to the article she isn't, not anymore.

She has lots of free time then.

A woman that owns two businesses and has 3 young kids has lots of free time? Are you serious?

Mobilemuscle

haters gonna hate

doesnt matter what you do...

lotta bitter, jealous people out there

blueboxgeek

I think it's probably because of the header that people feel it comes across *****y. If it had said something like "If I can do it, so can you", it may have been better received.

Having said that, she is correct in what she says. Overweight people (including myself) do make excuses. Eventually when the time is right, people will decide enough of the excuses and come to a site like this and stop with the excuses. But people who are not in the right frame of mind don't see "excuses"..... they see genuine reasons why they cannot do it. But yeah..... they are still excuses. Kids and work and travelling used to be mine too, eventually I wised up.

IntoTheSunset

Here's why this if offensive: the picture and caption imply that EVERY WOMAN should look exactly as ripped and thin as this woman does. The implicit message is that there is no excuse and therefore NO REASON for any female to look less fabulous than this woman does.

It doesn't say "you shouldn't use excuses to not change your lifestyle".

It says "you have no excuse to not look as sexy and fit as me".

I for one can think of many reasons why many women of all ages and types might not look anything like her while offering no excuses and pursuing the best, healthiest lifestyles there is.

To state it another way, this photo and caption is offensive because its clearly referencing outward appearance as the primary goal for a woman or mother to want to pursue fitness.

If you can't see how this victimizes women, then you're part of the problem.

Kamikazeflutterby

I've heard many, many moms say pregnancy weight is impossible to lose. Not "hard," not "difficult," but "impossible." They believe it, and want you to believe it too. Hell, it's part of what drove me to MFP a year after my first munchkin terrorist was born.

When I lost the weight from baby #1 one of these acquaintances became livid. Then it was "well, it must be easier if you're under 30" and I was 6 months older than her. Then it was "it must be easier if you have all this free time without the kid" and then I just had to laugh because she has four grandparents for free babysitting and I don't.

People will usually find an excuse before they see a problem they can work around. Mine was "of course I'm still fat--I just had a kid" which held for about a year. I owe that one lady who said she'll never, ever lose the 60lbs of fat she gained after pregnancy. Seeing that extreme and going "wow, that could be me!" was way easier to believe than looking at that in shape mom of three and going "wow, that could be me."

Derpes

This woman is a trainer, a fitness model, and makes her LIVING do these things.

Not according to the article she isn't, not anymore.

She has lots of free time then.

A woman that owns two businesses and has 3 young kids has lots of free time? Are you serious?

Since we keep going back and forth, what exactly does she do? There are multiple sources with scores of information.

As for time, she sets her own schedule.