Maria Kang, who runs a non-profit fitness organisation, came under fire after sharing pictures of herself in a workout bra and micro shorts surrounded by her three young sons with the caption, ‘What’s your excuse?’.
The 32-year-old, who is mother to three boys aged 8 months to 3 years, received over 17,000 comments after posting the pictures to her Facebook page, which documents her pregnancy weight loss.
While many of her followers call the mother an inspiration, others have branded the California-based ‘insulting', 'obnoxious' and a 'fat shaming bully'.
'You are . . . hurtful to women and think way too much of yourself'
'You are . . . hurtful to women and think way too much of yourself. Disgusting is what you are!' one woman wrote.
Mother-of-two Sarah added on Ms Kang's website, mariakang.com: 'I hope you realize why some people are not just offended, but also hurt by your post as well.’
'First: many of us end up with stretch marks after kids…. A LOT OF THEM! I have two kids and both have caused my skin to stretch soo bad my stomach, from my rib cage straight down the the middle of my vaginal area, look like the U.S. road atlas.
'Second: I am an avid runner. I run my two kids in a double jogger. Do I look like a runner? Nope. As a matter of fact, unless people know me, they don't believe me. I do half and full marathons.’
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However Kang hit back at the attacks, writing:
‘I'm sorry you took an image and resonated with it in such a negative way.
'What you interpret is not MY fault. It's Yours'
'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.
'Maybe it's time we stop tip-toeing around people's feelings and get to the point.
'Motherhood is beautiful AND it can make you better!'
'If I can do it, you can do it, too'
Her 'what's your excuse?' image has received over 16 million views on Facebook since it was posted a year ago.
However she decided to re-post it to her 80,000 followers last month, adding on an apology to tackle the negative comments.
‘I wanted to inspire people. I wanted to say, “I know you think you don’t have time if you have kids. But if I can do it, you can do it, too.’” she concluded.