Here's the deal. I don't care what Maria Kang does. She's fit and fabulous? Awesome. What gets me going is 1. Her bitchy attitude. 2.The excruciatingly HATE FILLED comments in the article directed toward fat people.
Her bitchy attitude:
Posting a picture of your fit body is not fat shaming. Assuming that anyone who doesn't look like you is a lazy lump of an excuse for a woman IS fat shaming. She didn't say..."join me" or "we CAN do this" or "you deserve to take care of yourself". She pointed a finger and said "what's YOUR excuse?" The language she chose was the language of shame...not the language of encouragement.
Then she issued a "non-apology":
"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? -"
Firstly, offense is not the fault of the offended. When the hell did that become true. "Oh, I'm sorry you were offended when I said 'R%$#&@--F^&--N*@@#$--K#@!' but it's not what I said...it's the way YOU interpreted it and that's not MY fault." WHAT THE F$#@?!!!!! WHY-WHY-WHY is it OK to use language that assumes so many negative attributes of a people group who look a certain way if that way happens to be FAT?!
Secondly, I've never had my weight "tip toed" around. Shit, I've been shamed since I became a little chubby as a 6 year old. SHAMED. HATED. RUTHLESSLY MADE FUN OF! I've had people roll their eyes when they saw that they had to sit next to this "fat person" on a plane. I've had "friends" seat me in a front seat because they didn't think I'd fit in the back seat of a goddamn SUV! That's not tiptoeing. It's not Maria Kang!! I am WELL aware of my size. Hyper-aware of it.
The hateful comments:
I am not using the term "hateful" lightly. I probably read about 75-100 comments (there were OVER 2000). The vast majority of them were basically saying that fat people have done this to themselves...that people who choose to be fat are lazy slobs who can't put down a fork...that fat people must not love their families or love themselves...that fat people are draining valuable health care resources because of their massive fatness.
REALLY, you think I CHOSE to become part of the most hated people groups in our country? AT SIX YEARS OLD? I've been on diets. SO MANY DAMN DIETS! I lost 100 lbs when I was 21. You know how I did it? Over exercising and stuffing my mouth full of processed, chemical laden, CRAP. But, here's the deal...I was only 20 lbs from my ideal weight and I was still a plus sized woman. Even at my "target" BMI I am still a fat woman, according to society.
Also, I have all kinds of self control. I am very disciplined about a lot of things. I was abstinent until marriage, I have very little debt, I buckled down and finished college in less than 4 years. I CAN put my fork down...I DO eat salads...I love vegetables...I can say no to ice cream. But, the fact is. I don't want to go through my life being weird about food. There are people in my life who are weird about food. It's an enemy....something to be avoided. I don't wish to do that. I think that's not natural.
I DO love my family. I feed them nutritious food. I read stories to my children...take them to the park, teach them about self control...teach them about God. I love and support my husband and we enjoy each other's company. I can't say that I don't have a twinge of hate for myself...because that would be a lie...and it's probably a lie if YOU say it too.
ADDITIONALLY... ALL of my health issues are f*$*#-ing STRESS related...not FAT related. I have low cholesterol, low blood pressure, excellent stats, except for the ones related to adrenal fatigue (which has even caused my insulin resistance). Am I out of shape? Yes...but so are my size 6 friends. Do I have excuses? Yup. And they are valid ones.
When you are battling against mental health and a fatigue inducing illness, keeping a leg up on perfect nutrition and making extra time for exercise is TOO DAMN MUCH. I literally can't handle trying to keep track of one more thing. If I eat well, it's to assuage my depression and anxiety...not to get skinny. If I exercise it's to find peace and joy from moving my body and not PUSHING myself toward some lofty goal. Yes, I have excuses and they are MINE.
So, do what you want. Live your life by YOUR convictions and ask yourself...why do you HATE fat people. Because, clearly, it's not because you love us too much to let us be fat. Why? Why do you want us to live in shame? Why do you want us to hate our bodies? Why? What good does that do? You've hated me for nearly 30 years and I'm still fat.
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