This lady.
http://gma.yahoo.com/buff-mom-says-her-39-39-excuse-39-193812909--abc-news-topstories.html
I agree with some stuff she says but I do have some issues with her.
The "What's Your Excuse?" photo is obviously photoshopped. She has stretch marks and loose skin that don't show in that photo because they were 'shopped out. So my excuse is that I don't have Photoshop.
Second, this quote: "I said you can just tell by looking at someone if they are fit or not. I know this from being in the fitness world and working with people. It's instinct. You can tell if someone is sick and unhealthy by how they look. When someone has a poor waist-to-hip ratio, that's a huge indicator. Studies show that you are more susceptible to heart disease and other types of illness based on that. Anyone can tell this with a bare naked eye looking at a bare naked stomach."
Really? You can tell? Tell me how I can run a 5k as a size 14/16 and 190 lbs, jiggle bells, jiggle bells, jiggle all the way, but my dad who is a rail can't? Tell me why my dad is on cholesterol medicine, blood pressure medication, deals with bouts of gout, and I don't?
This: "I'm not a model or celebrity. I am your next-door neighbor but I am making it work. Being fit isn't always my first priority but it is a priority. It makes them madder because I broke their glass house. I can overcome my challenges and so can you. I am showing them what's possible and creating a discussion.
"I can see that people would hate me because I am closer to the ideal. But I have stretch marks and I struggle with being larger on the bottom. I am genetically susceptible to being overweight.
"I've always been inspired by overcoming excuses and challenges. I could have said something that was perhaps more supportive but then I wouldn't have started an international dialog about all of this now. If I said something softer it wouldn't have had such an impact. It woke people up."
That's all well and good that she can overcome her challenges. But I doubt she's a single mother of three dealing with low income and just trying to feed herself and her children. In that case, forget fitness, this mother needs to provide the basic needs. It's not a matter of knowing or not knowing what's possible. It's a matter of dealing with one's own reality. It's not that simple all the time.
And - here come the judgey pants! - this is from her website:
"9) Did you nurse?
I nursed anywhere between 3-6 months with my children. My supply has always been challenging, but coupling that with work and other children made the stress of nursing incredibly hard. I wish I was that mom who nursed until her child was 2."
Oh, so something was hard for her and she quit? Let me take a photo of myself pumping at work and ask her what's her excuse! (I honestly do not really care. I think every child should be breastfed but I also think every child should be home with his or her mother for the first year and here I am at work when my son is 4 months, so I am not really judging. Just expressing my idea of what is ideal, even though I am not living up to it myself, so how can I look down my nose at anyone else?).
She's such a dimwit. I get what she's trying to do, but she's going about it like an asshole. Now she claims she's being "fit-shamed"? How about everybody minds their own bodies and we don't shame anyone else, period.
Oh and she claims she's tired of seeing people pose in their lingerie. Really, because that's so much different than teeny tiny workout shorts or bikinis. For fuck's sake.
I agree with some stuff she says but I do have some issues with her.
The "What's Your Excuse?" photo is obviously photoshopped. She has stretch marks and loose skin that don't show in that photo because they were 'shopped out. So my excuse is that I don't have Photoshop.
Second, this quote: "I said you can just tell by looking at someone if they are fit or not. I know this from being in the fitness world and working with people. It's instinct. You can tell if someone is sick and unhealthy by how they look. When someone has a poor waist-to-hip ratio, that's a huge indicator. Studies show that you are more susceptible to heart disease and other types of illness based on that. Anyone can tell this with a bare naked eye looking at a bare naked stomach."
Really? You can tell? Tell me how I can run a 5k as a size 14/16 and 190 lbs, jiggle bells, jiggle bells, jiggle all the way, but my dad who is a rail can't? Tell me why my dad is on cholesterol medicine, blood pressure medication, deals with bouts of gout, and I don't?
This: "I'm not a model or celebrity. I am your next-door neighbor but I am making it work. Being fit isn't always my first priority but it is a priority. It makes them madder because I broke their glass house. I can overcome my challenges and so can you. I am showing them what's possible and creating a discussion.
"I can see that people would hate me because I am closer to the ideal. But I have stretch marks and I struggle with being larger on the bottom. I am genetically susceptible to being overweight.
"I've always been inspired by overcoming excuses and challenges. I could have said something that was perhaps more supportive but then I wouldn't have started an international dialog about all of this now. If I said something softer it wouldn't have had such an impact. It woke people up."
That's all well and good that she can overcome her challenges. But I doubt she's a single mother of three dealing with low income and just trying to feed herself and her children. In that case, forget fitness, this mother needs to provide the basic needs. It's not a matter of knowing or not knowing what's possible. It's a matter of dealing with one's own reality. It's not that simple all the time.
And - here come the judgey pants! - this is from her website:
"9) Did you nurse?
I nursed anywhere between 3-6 months with my children. My supply has always been challenging, but coupling that with work and other children made the stress of nursing incredibly hard. I wish I was that mom who nursed until her child was 2."
Oh, so something was hard for her and she quit? Let me take a photo of myself pumping at work and ask her what's her excuse! (I honestly do not really care. I think every child should be breastfed but I also think every child should be home with his or her mother for the first year and here I am at work when my son is 4 months, so I am not really judging. Just expressing my idea of what is ideal, even though I am not living up to it myself, so how can I look down my nose at anyone else?).
She's such a dimwit. I get what she's trying to do, but she's going about it like an asshole. Now she claims she's being "fit-shamed"? How about everybody minds their own bodies and we don't shame anyone else, period.
Oh and she claims she's tired of seeing people pose in their lingerie. Really, because that's so much different than teeny tiny workout shorts or bikinis. For fuck's sake.