Featured Femme Fitale – Masani

Submitted by: Masani

FF: Please introduce yourself.

MP: My name is Masani Poinsette. I am a mother, grandmother, wife, and entrepreneur.

FF: Why did you decide to join Femme Fitale Fitness on Facebook?

MP: I have always been an active person. Fitness is fun to me!!! I am concerned about the pervasive state of ill health among black women, and wanted to be a part of any dialog that encourages and supports our goals toward wellness!

FF: What has been your fitness challenge that you have or working to overcome?

MP: Over 15 years ago, when I found and fell in love with Bellydance, I was diagnosed with a fibroid tumor. I needed to find a form of fitness that was gentle and nourishing vs. straining and jarring, to assist in the non-surgical holistic choice I was making to heal it.

FF: What do you consider the best fitness advice you have ever received?

MP: Just MOVE, keep it moving, don’t stop moving!!!!!!

FF: What type of workouts do you enjoy?

MP: I have a stead fast rule: If it doesn’t make me smile, I don’t do it!! I love being with like minded people, so Group Fitness Anything is one of my favs. I adore swimming & yoga, really dig real-time biking, oh and did I mention Bellydance….or any dance, for that matter. Zumba is my go to guy at this point!!!!

FF: What is your current workout routine?

MP: I never been one for a fitness routine. Of the activities mentioned above, I do what I feel like, that day!! As an entrepreneur, I rarely have the same available time each day, so I match where my free time is with what’s avail in the community: class @ local gym, adult swim @ the Y, Zumba @ the neighborhood church or Yoga @ midtown wellness ctr. Oh, but I never fail to do some form of movement in the shower!!! Read somewhere that Beyoncé does that when she’s short on time for a stretching. If that’s what the fierce do, I can do it too!!!!

FF: We all know good health cannot just be attributed to just exercise but also a good diet – what do you consider your biggest diet challenge right now?

MP: As a naturally petite female and person who has had a whole foods eating lifestyle for over 20 yrs, my challenge is eating enough whole food calories to keep my weight up in my comfort zone range of 107-110lbs!

FF: Who is your greatest fitness idol and why (personal or famous)?

MP: Angela Basset and Michelle Obama. Why? Because they just do it, have always done it, and it shows!!!

FF: What motivates you to strive to be healthy and fit?

MP: With all the hats I wear, I have an eclectic life that I enjoy. On any given day, under any given hat, I need to be able to do what I want or have to do, without health as an obstacle. Of all the obstacles this flipper of fedoras are familiar with, health is actually the most annoying to me!!! So I strive for health and wellness so I can get her done!!!!

FF: What advice to you have for the average Jane not sure where to start on the road to good health?

MP: I’m going to give the disclaimer first: I was born in Yonkers, NY – the same city where Mary J is from!! I am a child of the 60’s – the ‘by any means necessary’ generation. So my advice is not going to soft & sensitive – it’s going to be edgy and filled with genuine love: JUST DO IT!! SUCK IT UP!!! DON’T TALK ABOUT IT, BE ABOUT IT!! STOP WHINING AND GET ER’ DONE!!!! We are dying too soon!!!!!!

Masani is a vibrant & active woman. She says she has loved life for the 49 years she’s been on this planet, and life has loved her back!!! She is the proud mother of a 28 yr old son, and admiring mother in law to his 25 yr old wife. They have given her three smart, articulate, beautiful grandchildren. She calls them her ‘fun bunch’ and enjoys sliding down slides, making english muffin pizza and spending every moment with them that she can!! Masani is a career Natural Hair Stylist and industry trailblazer. She has been an entrepreneur for over 15 yrs, and has built a reputation for excellence that reaches far and wide. Masani is a busy wife, an honest friend, and a concerned community citizen who often volunteers her time to provide image and wellness coaching to female teens, and women who are ready to love themselves!