A super-fit mum has come under fire for ‘fat-shaming’ women – after she posted a picture of her SIX PACK.
Abby Pell, 33, thought she was helping encourage others to lose post-pregnancy weight when she put a picture of her impressive abs on Instagram.
She included the message “I’ve got a kid, a six pack and no excuse.”
But instead of support, the mum-of-one was branded “shameless” by scores of people.
One web user wrote: “This is so demeaning – I bet she doesn’t have to work for a living.”
Another added: “This is fat shaming, pure and simple. Exploiting your motherhood to show off is despicable and shameless.”
Dedicated mum Abby, of East Grinstead, East Sussex, manages to juggle motherhood and running her own nutrition business while still hitting the gym up to six days a week.
She said: “Having a child is not a valid reason for being out of shape. Everybody can make excuses. I want to show that this figure is achievable.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re overweight, if you have a busy lifestyle and kids to look after – if you want to do it then there’s always a way.
“Being a mum doesn’t mean you have to give up.
“You can have stretch marks and a great figure – I’m so proud of my body and I want other people to be proud of their bodies too.”
Abby took just a year of intense weight training to sculpt her impressive abs, after she ballooned to 13 stone when she was pregnant with daughter Bella, now six, and struggled to lose shed the extra 50lbs.
She said: “I was on the heavier side so I tried a range of weight loss plans like The Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet and just generally restricting my daily calorie allowance.
“But I would always end up so hungry I’d get to the point where I couldn’t bear to starve myself any longer.
“And as soon as I gave in the weight would go straight back on.
“I decided to have just one last push, so I started lifting weights, and I was astonished at the results that came so quickly.
“My bum was firmer, arms more defined and my abs were showing.
“Now going to the gym is where I have my ‘me-time,’ which all mums know they need.”
Abby only put the picture of her flat stomach, complete with ‘demeaning’ caption, after her proud daughter told her that she looked like Wonder Woman.
She said: “One day Bella said to me, ‘You look like Wonder Woman, Mummy.’
“That’s what gave me the idea for the Instagram picture.
“I never meant to offend anyone – my life is better now that I’m in shape, so I hoped I could encourage others to do the same.”
Abby was expecting the picture to cause a stir but was stunned with the amount of negativity she received.
Among the positive comments was one which said: “You look fantastic.
“It’s a sorry state of affairs when someone’s healthy passion is labelled abusive, whilst obesity, junk food marketing and laziness are all on the rise. You keep going.”
Abby, who posts pictures on Twitter and Instagram under the name @SuperAbs, reckons that if just one person takes up her advice, it will be worth it.
Abby said: “There were some positive messages congratulating me on working hard but they were mostly negative, criticising me for fat-shaming and adding pressure on mums to look fantastic.
“I’m not saying the nasty comments are jealousy, but it might be that these people are insecure in the way that they look.
“Some people want to be able to make excuses and don’t like it when an alternative body type is put in their face.
“Using a child as an excuse is absolute rubbish in my opinion.”
Abby, who now weighs nine stone and is a size eight, says she feels better now than before she was pregnant.
