In the photo, seen at left, 32-year-old Maria Kang poses in a workout bra and matching micro shorts — revealing an incredibly toned figure with washboard abs — while surrounded by her three young sons, now 1, 3 and 4. Floating above her head is the question, “What’s your excuse?”
The picture has gone viral, with more than 16 million views on Facebook, and has generated more than 12,000 comments. And while much of the input has been of the supportive “you go, girl” variety, plenty of it has been made up of angry, offended personal attacks on the photo subject, calling her everything from “obnoxious” and “fake” to a bad mom and a bully.
Yes, the woman is in shape and gorgeous. What those complaining about fat-shaming and so forth leave out of this is that the woman was 145 pounds when she got married. She got up to 180 when she was pregnant. So, she knows all about being fat. She was fat.
But instead of looking at her as an inspiration and a model, it seems there are no shortage of shambling shoggoths who would rather keep stuffing their obese faces and complaining that society doesn't recognize their inner beauty.
It's not that hard. Eat fewer carbohydrates, lift weights, and do some cardio. That's it. Sure, it sucks when you pass up that doughnut at the meeting or you don't feel like hitting the treadmill, but as the great English philosopher Kate Moss once said, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. Food is no substitute for love, in fact, love is a lot more accessible when you're not handicapping yourself with 30 extra pounds of blubber.
It doesn't come easy for anyone. And the older you get, the harder it is. But unless you're planning on swimming out to sea, don't be a whale. Gluttony and sloth are sins. Fat is a moral failure.
