Fitness trainers are often trying to help people get healthier, whether it’s through losing weight, being more active or teaching nutritional values. But does this mean some trainers have to be cruel when helping people to achieve such goals?

Back in October, fitness enthusiast Maria Kang received backlash for her profile picture on Facebook with her dressed in fitness gear with her three small children around her. The top of the picture read “What’s your excuse?”

The picture went viral and Kang was accused of hate speech, with people thinking she was shaming overweight people, particularly because she looks really fit after having three kids.

Kang stated her perspective, saying that the picture wasn’t to make people jealous but to say that because someone is a mom, that doesn’t mean that she can’t put in the time and effort to exercise and try to get healthy.

Recently, a woman posted a picture online wearing underwear, stating that she is proud of how she looks and that she loves her body. Kang gave her input, stating that obesity isn’t something to be accepted and that we are currently in a crisis regarding obesity.

She never said that people shouldn’t love themselves. Kang posted on Facebook about what she had gone through and her perspective. She got kicked off of Facebook but soon after, her account was allowed back on.

Kang may have a point in her “no excuses” philosophy, but a lot of people took it the wrong way. It’s true that some people make up excuses to avoid exercise, but there are legitimate excuses like being physically ill, being sore in various parts of the body or anything else that can be a real factor in skipping exercise.

There are people out there who don’t appear to be in the most ideal shape and are still active and healthy. There are people who are thin and are not healthy at all.

Why do some people feel the need to be harsh about the appearances of others when they don’t know the first thing about them? The person could be trying to better their body for all they know. Not everyone who works out looks like a fitness model.

As for the part about “accepting obesity,” it is true that a lot of people are not in the best shape and that there are people who are lazy, but that doesn’t mean everybody shares that same opinion.

Though Kang wasn’t exactly shaming anybody, it’s understandable that people misconstrued her statement as such. If there is one thing that never works in trying to motivate someone, it is shaming them.

It never helps people try to get better, it only makes them feel worse.