I have no excuses, Im just green with jealousy!

[Seity]

Doesn't bother me at all, but then I look that good too. I work full time and have two kids, 8.5 months old and 3 years + 7.5 months old. I do my best to eat right. I make time to exercise. Plus, I was lucky enough to be blessed with good genetics.
There are lots of things we have no control over, but those things I do have control over I try and make the most of.

 

[fides]

I read somewhere that she only does an hour a day workout and cuts out things like tv etc so that she makes the time.

1 hour a day?!??! there's no way i could believe that.


i don't find it offensive or anything, (apart from the whole, why would you wear underwear for a professional photo, then post that on FB?). i just see it as a "look at me!!" kind of thing to do. she wanted attention, and she got it.

 

[TTC82]

My opinion is this... 1.....it takes 9 months to put on the baby weight, and at LEAST 9 to get it off....so her having an 8 month old and each child appears to be a tear apart tells me that she probably had to puke her weight off for a few before she started toning up...2...she has to have good genetics as well, not necessarily meaning that she is genetically skinny, but that her genetics have good tone and metabolism....3....if she's running two business and raising a family...well, I find that to be an exaggeration...flat out.....there's no way possible to do all of those things and have no nanny....so while I'm bit hating on this woman or her picture, the fact that she needs to post pictures and caption them with "what's you excuse"? Also tells me that she is still struggling with her problem with low self esteem....hopefully she finds what she's looking for soon enough and has plenty if time for the beautiful babies she was able to conceive while others out here would kill for a fat body and rolls and hold a new baby in their arms rather than take photos for Facebook, run two business and hit her gym regime (whatever it consists of) to achieve that body....more power to her if that makes her happy...I for one, am very happy with the life I live, and the body I have and look forward to packing on the pounds when I finally catch the egg!!!

I find what your saying here offensive. It may take some women longer to return to their pre-baby weight but to imply she had to be unhealthy to do so and make herself vomit is just plain rude and mean. I have an 8 month old and was back in my pre baby clothes in 3 months. Not because I made myself sick, starved myself or missed out on time with my baby. Instead I didn't use pregnancy as an excuse to gorge myself for 9 months, maintained a healthy diet and exercised throughout. Once my daughter was born I was, and still am, breast feeding so continued to eat a healthy diet. I had a caesarean and so had to take it easy for a couple of months but the underlying fitness was there. This woman undoubtedly was fit and healthy before her children and so it's not like she was starting from point zero.

I really find it sad how much abuse she has taken.

 

[Bex84]

I am jelous.I was back in pre pregnancy clothes in 2 weeks however i had no tone and lots of stretch marks. Mine was down to hyperemesis so i lost weight at start of pregnancy. I still have looser skin and loads of stretch marks and i have never been skinny. I have 2 friends one who popped strait back and eat anything and one who only went up to a 14 and went strait to size 8. I only lost weight quickly due to how ill i was. I think it is possible but also down to type of pregnancy you had. I didnt look big till last trimester. I wish i looked like her even pre pregnancy lol. I hate gyms though and rather do lots of walking any day. You probably could do in an hour a day for some people especially with good fitness through pregnancy. My stomach muscles were excersised by being constantly sick lol. I take exception to the words probably due to i have always felt insecure over my body though now im thankful it gave me lo and secondily maybe as pp said it is a fitness thing and to alot of people sounds negitive but not in fitness Circles its not. Even if i went to gym i highly doubt i would have that body. I will stick to walkng and healthy eating

 

[lindseymw]

I find the "what's your excuse?" a bit meh. I don't find it particularly offensive (mainly because nothing really offends me).

However, the fact she was a personal trainer before she had kids would indicate she already had this body to start with. Muscles as far as I am aware don't just disappear during pregnancy?! So she has basically got back to her pre-pregnancy state....

Had she showed a photo for her 'before kids' and she was a size 12/14+ and she managed to get like then I would be more impressed.

I'm a size 12/14 & I was back to my pre-preg weight 3 hours after birth.....so what's her excuse for taking 8 months?

 

[teal]

I don't find it offensive. I was back in my skinny jeans by 6 months post baby with no effort other than breastfeeding! I had PND so zero drive to do anything which I'm aware is a vicious circle since exercising is good for your mental health too.

 

[Pearls18]

I find it interesting that for a few people her parenting has come into question, at least indirectly choosing to say "I prefer to spend the time with my kids" or whatever, who says that is the aspect that needs to be de-prioritised? I didn't read the article, but maybe she gets up before her kids do to exercise? Exercise is important and it isn't something we prioritise any more and I am totally talking about myself, my husband exercises most days, no detriment to his job, our relationship or his relationship with our son and he looks amazing, he is rarely moody and I know he's a better dad for it. I don't prioritise exercise, I admit I have a busy life with working 4 days, having a toddler and studying a masters, but I also know I somehow manage to fit in X factor and many more tv programmes so I know in my life there is room for exercise that wouldn't deprive my son time with me, I MUST do it and really will try after the baby (I should say I am slim, but that doesn't make me fit!)

I also find it interesting how everybody assumes she most dedicate her life to it, someone said it takes 9 months to lose baby weight? Not true, I was in size (UK) 10 jeans the day after giving birth, my stomach snapped back down in days, I don't weigh myself but I know I was slimmer in the week after giving birth than I was the week before getting pregnant, I credit it to BF tbh I didn't do anything else I'm not necessarily expecting it to happen again this time lol but we all carry, put on and lose weight differently, some people it takes a lot of effort others it doesn't take any effort at all, there's no need to assume because someone is fit they are depriving their children, and if she chooses to work on her body, good for her, it's more productive than most of the things I do in my spare time when DS is sleeping!

But yeah the title is a bit arrogant, but it's a magazine article, would we be talking about it otherwise?

 

[Fergie]

If she can get back to her shape and maintain it then good on her.
But if I have a spare hour a day I wouldn't be doing exercise i'd be damn well sleeping . I was her shape when I was younger and pre babies and yeah I could go back to it, but I wasn't happy. I had no boobs and with short hair I looked like a bloke . I was a lot more comfortable in my own skin when I was a size 12/14 definitely not when I was a size 8. However if you are talking fitness, I was fitter at a size 8 ... less flab to hold down .

 

[NoodleSnack]

Ha, love this response, probably because I love cake too:

https://m.today.com/moms/whats-my-excuse-frankly-my-dear-i-dont-give-damn-8C11417891

Check out her photo with her three kids and the teenage daughter on the left.

I find intelligent humour so much sexier than flat abs.

 

[TriChick]

According to her blog, she was a beauty pageant contestant, model, fitness trainer, and competition body builder prior to pregnancy. Something tells me that this is the body she has had her entire adult life, and that physical appearance has always been a huge priority to her (and no, those are not her real breasts but I'm not one to judge). Plus she said she carves out time during the day to workout by using the gym daycare. After all that, I'm impressed she still has time to maintain a website to showcase all of her accomplishments. Not passing any judgement either way, just providing answers to questions that women on here asked.

I completely understand the need for exercise, however also understand that those goals are much harder to attain once children enter the picture. Prioritizing is different for everyone. I am a triathlete, and have always planned on completing an Ironman at one point. Once my son came (and soon to be two!), I have put that goal on the back burner for a while. Training for such an event requires dedicating 20+ hours a week for the better part of a year. I just can't justify taking that much time, on top of my regular 40 hour work week, away from my family so that I don't feel I am making excuses. While her accomplishments are impressive, women shouldn't view them as the norm and feel as though anything less is deficient.

 

[TriChick]

According to her blog, she was a beauty pageant contestant, model, fitness trainer, and competition body builder prior to pregnancy. Something tells me that this is the body she has had her entire adult life, and that physical appearance has always been a huge priority to her (and no, those are not her real breasts but I'm not one to judge). Plus she said she carves out time during the day to workout by using the gym daycare. After all that, I'm impressed she still has time to maintain a website to showcase all of her accomplishments. Not passing any judgement either way, just providing answers to questions that women on here asked.

I completely understand the need for exercise, however also understand that those goals are much harder to attain once children enter the picture. Prioritizing is different for everyone. I am a triathlete, and have always planned on completing an Ironman at one point. Once my son came (and soon to be two!), I have put that goal on the back burner for a while. Training for such an event requires dedicating 20+ hours a week for the better part of a year. I just can't justify taking that much time, on top of my regular 40 hour work week, away from my family so that I don't feel I am making excuses. While her accomplishments are impressive, women shouldn't view them as the norm and feel as though anything less is deficient.

 

[TriChick]

I do find it interesting that her latest blog entry is about missing her husband and the connection they had prior to pregnancy. She states that she needs to prioritize the relationship they have, and take time to reconnect. Goes to show that we all struggle with prioritization, and are faced with sacrificing one facet of our lives for another. We all just make different choices as to what gets put at the top of the list.

 

[Feltzy]

Ha, love this response, probably because I love cake too:

https://m.today.com/moms/whats-my-excuse-frankly-my-dear-i-dont-give-damn-8C11417891

Check out her photo with her three kids and the teenage daughter on the left.

I find intelligent humour so much sexier than flat abs.

The last paragraph of that sums up my view:

"I’m not saying that women who choose to make fitness a priority are wrong. And I am not saying that being a good mom means being “unhealthy.” I am just pointing out that everyone has their own priorities and I don’t believe it’s fair for any of us to say what should be most important in somebody else’s life. Least of all when it involves the most precious commodity a mom has: time."

 

[aliss]

Kang got what she wanted. She runs a fitness business and wanted the publicity.

Don't fool yourselves, this is done by having a fit body prior to the births (I look like her too), and dedicating an hour or more to training several times a week, doing it when the baby was up all night, eating chicken and rice and beans when everyone else is eating pizza. It's a bit of a miserable existence but make no mistake, it IS her job, and not realistic for the majority of women.

You don't go through pageants or into the fitness business without maintaining long-term physique. I hate the term "what's your excuse" and find it condescending, and I say that as someone who trained.

Oh, but I can bake cakes and play with my kids too, even if I work out. I detest Kang's photo and message, but I also detest some of the backlash.

"would rather spend my free time actually living life than in a gym working out so I can look crazy good for the time I have left over to live."

Well, some of us enjoy life in the gym, I enjoy my 1 hour of peace 4x a week, and she can fuck off. Maybe she finds her peace in reading a book or taking a long bath, I don't know and I don't care, but being in the gym doesn't mean we don't live life. Some of us actually enjoy it and it's not just to look good.

 

[NoodleSnack]

If you like gym, then that's living your life how you enjoy it, I hate it and wouldn't go if I was paid to so that wouldn't be living a life I enjoy, I think she's the same, and then there are people who hate gym/strenuous exercises but force themselves to do it to look good or out of the belief that it'll give them a longer life. I think the third group is who the poster is aimed at and the second group are those who feels it's presumptive of her to assume we need excuses to not do something we don't want and don't enjoy.

 

[PrincessLeah]

My opinion is this... 1.....it takes 9 months to put on the baby weight, and at LEAST 9 to get it off....so her having an 8 month old and each child appears to be a tear apart tells me that she probably had to puke her weight off for a few before she started toning up...2...she has to have good genetics as well, not necessarily meaning that she is genetically skinny, but that her genetics have good tone and metabolism....3....if she's running two business and raising a family...well, I find that to be an exaggeration...flat out.....there's no way possible to do all of those things and have no nanny....so while I'm bit hating on this woman or her picture, the fact that she needs to post pictures and caption them with "what's you excuse"? Also tells me that she is still struggling with her problem with low self esteem....hopefully she finds what she's looking for soon enough and has plenty if time for the beautiful babies she was able to conceive while others out here would kill for a fat body and rolls and hold a new baby in their arms rather than take photos for Facebook, run two business and hit her gym regime (whatever it consists of) to achieve that body....more power to her if that makes her happy...I for one, am very happy with the life I live, and the body I have and look forward to packing on the pounds when I finally catch the egg!!!

It amazes me how anyone can glibly comment that if someone is thin, there must be vomiting or self abuse involved. And apart from the fact that it is offensive, it says alot about the person it comes from. The weight can drop off you in days if you have the right genes. No vomiting involved.
I accept that everyone is different. Not everyone has this outlook and life would be alot easier if they did. Because some of us are blessed with great genes that enable us to get our pre pregnancy figure back, and some of us are blessed with other attributes - amazing, shiny, thick hair, or long legs, or great boobs or a milllion other things to be proud of.
If you were thin and healthy before you got pregnant, there's a better chance you will be that again after pregnancy. It's quite simple.

 

[Sarahkka]

I think this is only offensive in that it implies that
a)everyone wants to look like that, and that
b) everyone has the socioeconomic means to put prioritize fitness to the extent that she has.
I like that she is saying that fitness is important and that we all do need to make it more of a priority (for our health), but that message was lost in the sort of bragging/condescending tone of the caption she chose. I read a response on another site that I thought was interesting food for thought. How would we react if someone got their PhD in something and posted a picture of themselves with their kids, holding their degree, all captioned with "What's your excuse?"
Most of us would react with, "um, good for you, but I wasn't really interested in a PhD...?" It's a pretty massive and egotistical assumption that she has what everyone wants: a stereotypical "perfect" body. I'm sure there are lots of people who do have a goal of looking like that, and power to them. For those of us who are interested in other things, it does come across as an almost amusing sort of taunt.
As for the idea that all of us could look like that if we just put the time in, well, I came away with a couple of impressions. If she was trying to encourage people to prioritize fitness and get healthier, she missed the mark by choosing the belligerent caption as opposed to the more supportive, encouraging "If I can do it, so can you." So was that just thoughtlessness on her part? Or is she indeed just looking for attention to promote herself as a fitness pro? If it's the latter, that even further negates what she is implying is her mission (wanting to inspire/challenge people to get in better shape) because then I start wondering about her actual commitment to the idea if this was first and foremost a publicity stunt for her business.
I think this one backfired if she really did care about the fitness message. If she was looking for publicity (as I suspect she was), then gold stars, Maria Kang. Mission accomplished.

 

[SerenityNow]

I certainly don't find her inspiring. The picture, yeah-- whatever, exercise is a big priority for me but not that kind of fitness. I want to have good endurance, cardiovascular health, strength and flexibility so I run, bike, hike and do yoga. Those are the things I want my body to be able to do. I'm not ever going to look like her unless I get a tummy tuck and some laser stretch mark removal, but as far as I'm concerned I'm sex on legs.

However, her "apology" just made me a little sad for her. Those are not the words of a happy, confident person. There are genuinely inspiring athletes out there. She's not one of them.

 

[Tiff]

I agree with some of her points - as in it IS important to exercise and be healthy. However, the entire article is so sanctimonious it drives me nuts! I actually had a rant on FB about it tbh.

I feel that personally, as women we should be building each other up. Not tearing each other down. Rather than saying "What's your excuse?", say "How can I help?". Some people are just not genetically predisposed to how she looks. They will NEVER be able to be that small/toned/fit. That can be a massive slap in the face!

We're all so good at tearing each other down, I do feel that we all should be working to build each other up. Just my 2.5 cents.

 

[Tasha]

Urgh, I hate both sides of this. I hate the my children are my priority side, I exercise every day, a lot, and my children are my priority too, infact I have had my three children home-schooling for the past year (up until last week) and my husband works full time with shifts but they are my number one, any one who knows me knows that. Just because I prioritise exercise too doesn't mean it is put before them.

On the flip side, the what is your excuse says that we can all look like that. We cant. I work out at least an hour a day but two or more five times a week, I ran a half marathon this past weekend, I do a ten mile run next weekend, I think it is pretty obvious that I am fit and healthy BUT I will never look like that. I had pre-eclampsia in all my pregnancies but the first time caused such a massive weight gain (water retention is part of it) in such a small amount of time that it ruined my tummy. Exercise doesn't fix it (believe me I have tried). Surgery will do (but until my last baby that isn't an option). The what is your excuse just puts pressure on and makes it seem as if anything less than what she has/is, isn't good enough. It is though, I am proud of how far I've come, I am proud to say I am fit, that I work hard to be fit and healthy and I am a good Mum at the same.

I agree with Tiff, we should each others backs.