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Maria Kang built her career around fitness, healthy eating and helping other moms prioritize wellness. But despite believing she had done “everything right,” the California mother of three was blindsided by colon cancer.
Kang, now 46, said the diagnosis completely reshaped her understanding of what it means to be healthy.
She became an internet sensation in 2013 after a photo of her sculpted physique alongside her three young sons sparked a global conversation about fitness and motherhood.
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The viral image — captioned “What’s your excuse?” — led to her being dubbed the “No Excuse Mom” and inspired the launch of hundreds of wellness communities around the world.
More than a decade later, Kang’s world was turned upside down when she learned that she had stage 4 colon cancer in November 2023.
“It was definitely a complete shock — because I was the healthiest person I knew,” she shared with Fox News Digital. “I wanted to blame the food, but I didn’t eat bad food. I filtered my water. There was no excuse why I had this cancer.”
Looking back, Kang said she had experienced persistent digestive problems since adolescence, including chronic constipation and bloating that worsened with stress.
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“It didn’t matter how many fiber pills or laxatives, it just took a long time to go,” she said. “So that’s been an ongoing journey throughout my life.”
Over the years, Kang said, she convinced herself that her digestive problems were just something she had to live with.
“One thing that I realized is that we normalize problems, and we think it’s OK, but it’s not OK,” she said. “Digestion should be like breathing. It should be like inhaling and exhaling. It should be simple. But it wasn’t simple.”
After a tumor was detected through a biopsy after colonoscopy, Kang said she initially pursued holistic approaches for 12 weeks, but the tumor did not shrink and may have grown slightly. She then began FOLFOX — a combination of chemotherapy drugs used to treat some gastrointestinal cancers — in 2024.
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After one treatment, Kang went to the emergency room when her colostomy stoma retracted, and a scan reportedly showed that the tumor had shrunk substantially. She then asked to stop chemotherapy and proceed with surgery.
Kang later underwent extensive surgery to remove the tumor and about a foot of her colon, along with multiple reproductive organs and her appendix. She temporarily required a colostomy and later an ileostomy.
“It was definitely a complete shock — because I was the healthiest person I knew.”
Today, Kang says her MRIs have shown “no suspicious mass detected.” She gets regular blood screenings and scans every six months.
“Much of what remains appears related to postoperative healing and inflammation,” she shared. “Because of my history, my doctors continue surveillance, but I have not been formally declared NED (no evidence of disease).”
Alarming trends
An estimated 158,850 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2026, and around 55,230 people will die from the disease this year, according to the American Cancer Society.
Although colorectal cancer incidence has declined overall — largely among older adults, a trend linked in part to increased screening and changes in certain risk factors — rates are rising in younger age groups.
Among adults younger than 50, colorectal cancer incidence increased by 2.9% per year from 2013 to 2022.
The American Cancer Society and U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend that people at average risk begin regular colorectal cancer screening at age 45, although those with certain risk factors may need to start earlier.
Anyone experiencing persistent or concerning symptoms should consult a doctor, regardless of age.
‘I look healthy’
“It was a really big, humbling look in the mirror when you say to yourself, ‘I look healthy, but I’m not healthy,’” Kang told Fox News Digital.
“When someone is at a normal range in their weight, they could have cancer. They could have autoimmune issues.”
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“We don’t know what’s going on inside of a person. We always just want to look the part versus be the part.”
Wellness redefined
Kang said her cancer journey has changed her perception of health and what’s important in life.
“Cancer makes everything extremely clear — what’s important, what is not important, what you should eat, what you shouldn’t eat,” she said. “If you really listen to yourself, it becomes crystal clear when you have no energy.”
Kang said her fitness and nutrition regimens also look drastically different from her pre-cancer routines.
“I used to train five or six days a week, but now I only move when I want to,” she said. “Walking is my best friend. I love to dance. I still love to strength-train because it’s fun for me and it makes me strong.”
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Perhaps the biggest shift is that Kang no longer does anything that feels forced: “If there’s anything that I feel forced to do, I don’t do it … If I feel awful, my body’s going to express awful.”
Her approach to food has also shifted, she shared.
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“In the past, there were bad foods and good foods, and cheat days … what I understand now is balance,” Kang said.
While she does naturally veer toward fruits and vegetables — “things that have water and life and light in them” — Kang said she is still open to eating any other foods, including pizza.
Overall, Kang wants people to know that maintaining healthy habits does not eliminate the possibility of developing cancer.
“It could happen to anybody — that was the most humbling realization,” she said.
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“You may think you’re young and healthy and this won’t happen to you, but this world is so unpredictable right now. Anything can happen to anybody.”
“Health is not what you think it is,” she said. “It’s not just how you look. It’s how you feel.”
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The American Cancer Society recommends seeing a healthcare provider about persistent changes in bowel habits, blood in the stool, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss or other concerning gastrointestinal symptoms.
While such symptoms can have many causes other than cancer, they should be evaluated regardless of a person’s age.
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