It is simply astounding how quickly some pictures and posts are going viral these days. For those who may have been living under a rock for the last couple of years, going viral is when something on the internet gets shared and commented on at the speed of light until it has touched every corner of the globe within days. Every corner except in the Amish community, that is, where they apparently live under rocks with no Wi-Fi.
Anyhow, what interests me is that many of the posts that tend to go viral are those that are highly controversial and spark worldwide debate. One such example a while ago was Maria Kang’s photo of herself, looking extremely fit and gorgeous, with her three kids and the headline ‘What’s Your Excuse’.
Well. Didn’t that go down well, Maria?! What ensued was an intense tirade from literally hundreds of thousands of women who labelled this post as ‘Fat Shaming’.
Now, I didn’t take offence to that picture or its headline, but that’s just me. I was never blessed with the genetics to be able to run across the beach in slow motion wearing nothing but a red bikini and a self-satisfied glow, but I wasn’t in too bad a shape once. Then I had my first baby, and experienced just how hard it is to get anywhere near your pre-baby weight. But I’m active every, I eat a balanced diet (healthy balanced with occasional sometimes foods, that is!), and I choose to be happy with my body and my lifestyle. Unfortunately, not every women shares that attitude.
I believe that Maria meant this picture to be motivating to women. She wanted to show ‘If I can do it, so can you’. But that’s not how it came across to many, and I can certainly understand why it created such an uproar. To many women, Maria is flaunting her perfect body and perfect life AT us, with the decided undertone of a wagging finger and a ‘shame on you’ air for not managing to fit in 3 hours of intense exercise and a clean organic vegan diet regime into our daily mummy-juggle. Not to mention that the ‘if I can do it, so can you’ argument is totally flawed given that most of us have neither the genetic disposition nor the job as a personal trainer that helps her achieve that outcome.
So is this simple picture fat shaming us? Opinion is staunchly divided on that one. However, it highlighted a very important issue. That when we are attempting to motivate people into action, we have to be very careful about the strategies we employ to do this. As a former personal trainer, I can certainly put my hand up and admit to having used what I call PT Ra-Ra talk with clients. You know, ‘Suck it up, Princess’; ‘Sweat is your friend’; ‘Feel the burn, love the burn’ and all that. I can tell you, that doesn’t work for everyone. In fact, it really annoys a lot of the recipients!
Where I believe Maria is going wrong is in the question that she asks. It’s a fairly simple behaviour change fact that if you ask someone what their excuses are, all you’ll get is a whole lot of excuses. And how, exactly, is focusing on the barriers, on the very things that stop us from doing what we intend, going to help us achieve anything? It just doesn’t.
So I propose we do things differently. I think it’s about time we move away from the fat shaming, the finger pointing, and the use of negative motivational strategies that aim to guilt people into change. Research shows that this just doesn’t work, and anyway, if we could harness the energy created from all the guilt, shame and self-loathing women already have, we’d probably be able to power the globe with it. We don’t need any more.
The alternative, my friends, is using positive motivational strategies. How about we start Fit Praising each other, and asking ‘What’s your reason’ for pursuing a healthier lifestyle? By asking someone what their reason is to be active or chose the healthier option or whatever, you draw their focus to their internal drivers for change. It actively builds motivation and makes people feel strong, powerful, invincible. And it’s important for us to remember our own reasons every single day.
I might not have the perfect body or Olympic fitness, but that doesn’t matter. I get out there every day and strive to lead a healthy lifestyle. What are my reasons? Because it makes me feel good; to be a positive example for my child; to have a body that can do anything I want it to do; to feel the fresh air and sun; to be grateful for what I have; because healthy = happy.
What are YOUR reasons? I’d love to hear your sources of healthy life inspiration in the comments section!
the phoenix HT blog 