Maria Kang, a California mother of three boys, has been thrust into the national spotlight after she posted a picture of herself in her workout clothes with the question: “What’s your excuse?” The photograph has since pulled in more than 242,000 “likes” and nearly 22,000 “shares.”

Response to her photo has ranged from “You are very wrong and empty to show off in this way” to “I admire you and think it is awesome you take great care of yourself.”

Some of the uglier comments forced Kang to respond to her detractors via an addition to her original Facebook post:

“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.”

According to the Sacramento Bee, Kang operates two homes for the elderly and runs a nonprofit, Fitness Without Borders.

As for her decision to attach the question “What’s your excuse?” to her Facebook photo, Kang told CNN’s “New Day” on Saturday that she wanted the photo to “inspire others to work out.”

“A lot of people have a lot of excuses about why they’re overweight,” Kang said. “It was an open-ended, thought-provoking question […].”

The fit mother of three applauded Kate Middleton when the duchess’ stomach was recently revealed during a volleyball game and found to flat just three months after giving birth.

“I thought, ‘Good for her,’ and I’m in support for any woman who does well,” Kang told ABC News. “I think it’s important to applaud women who are doing well.”

What do you think of Maria’s picture? Was she fat-shaming or simply showing fellow moms that they can also lose their pregnancy weight? Share your thoughts in the comments section.