Certified personal trainer Massy "MankoFit" Arias is five months pregnant–and you can hardly tell. She still has chiseled abs and looks toner than ever. That's because she's been weight training and working out like crazy for years and even throughout her pregnancy. But Arias isn't just a super fit and dedicated health and fitness coach, there's a reason why she has 2.1 million followers on Instagram. That's because she's a lot more relatable and inspiring than your typical celebrity. Here are 6 reasons why we love and appreciate Massy Arias!
More from MamásLatinas: 4 Ways to love & embrace your body even if you're not a curvy Latina
Image via Massy Arias/Instagram
Fitness helped Arias heal physically and mentally.
Before becoming a fitness expert, Massy Arias was just trying to survive living in the U.S. after migrating from the Dominican Republic. Not only was she dealing with discrimination, but her brother had also been sick with Burkitt lymphoma. To make matters worse, she was also dealing with the emotional strain that came with having an abusive boyfriend. All these things resulted in Arias losing hair, losing drastic weight, and falling into a deep depression. Fitness and healthy eating literally saved her life.
Not having a typically curvy Latina body affected her.
“On top of that (being abusive), this guy was cheating on me with curvy Latinas,” Arias told Latina magazine. “As a woman, you start second-guessing yourself, like, ‘Is it me? What’s wrong with me? '"Now she has a booty for days from all the body building and weight training.
She keeps things 100.
If there’s one thing you have to love about Arias, it's her honestly. She has always been open about the struggles, obstacles, and insecurities she experienced throughout her fitness journey, including how she almost lost her feminine shape. “As I developed muscle, I got manly pecs,” she said. “So in order to feel more womanly I got breast implants,” she told Latina magazine. “Genetically, I never had big breasts. I look a lot more feminine than I looked maybe a year and a half ago.”
She stresses the importance of appreciating all body types.
“I tell women this: If you’re skinny, if you’re more to love, if you’re muscular, if you’re super curvy–as long as you’re happy, that’s what matters,” she told Cosmo. “There are 13 billion people in the world, and we all have different tastes (It’s why ice cream was invented with different flavors!). There will always be someone out there who is going to appreciate who you are–just as long as you appreciate yourself.”
She doesn’t care if you think she’s too muscular.
“Before I started training, I used to look at female body builders and be like, 'Oh my god, she looks manly– it’s too much.'” But now I realize you can be muscular and be feminine, and this look is a part of an acquired palate that a lot of people don’t have. Even though muscular women might not have a body type that appeals to everyone, they’re still women,” she told Cosmo. “You have to respect their hard work, dedication, and commitment to the lifestyle they’ve chosen. I understand now that women come in different shapes and forms, and we’re all beautiful. And I’m beautiful–I love my body because I’m strong and I appreciate what I’ve created. It’s taken hard work.”
She encourages women not to compare their bodies to hers.
“Even though I’ve been so active for many years now and my routines might be a bit more advanced than what my fellow expecting mothers might be able to do at this point, I want to continue to inspire you all (pregnant or not) to be active. We will all grow at different rates and every woman’s body is different,” she captioned a pregnancy selfie on Instagram. “My starting point and all the years of training has a lot to do with my own growth so take this into account before comparing your pregnancy with any other woman, including mine.”
