Why I Entered Ms. Health & Fitness — And How Surgery Redefined Health, Strength, and Possibility

I did a thing 🤍And truthfully, entering Ms. Health & Fitness wasn’t something I ever imagined myself doing — at least not like this, not for these reasons, and not in this season of my life.

This year changed everything.

Undergoing a prophylactic double mastectomy fundamentally shifted how I understand health and fitness. Before surgery, strength was something I practiced, taught, and embodied daily. I knew movement. I trusted my body.

And then suddenly… I didn’t.

When Everyday Movement Feels Out of Reach

Right after surgery, my world became very small.

I remember lying there asking myself questions I never thought I’d have to ask:

• Will I ever be able to brush my hair again?

• Will I be able to pull a shirt over my head?

• Will my arms ever move freely without fear?

In those moments, the idea of functional, everyday movement felt impossibly far away. Forget planks. Forget push-ups. Forget lifting a weight. Even reaching, dressing, and basic self-care felt uncertain.

The doubt was enormous — and very real.

Health and fitness, as I had known them, felt like a lifetime away.

A New Definition of Strength

What I didn’t yet understand was this:strength doesn’t vanish — it pauses, adapts, and slowly rebuilds.

Healing asked something different of me.Patience. Trust. Humility.

Progress no longer looked like reps or resistance. It looked like:

• lifting my arms a little higher

• less guarding through my chest and shoulders

• more confidence in my body’s ability to heal

My nervous system needed just as much rehabilitation as my muscles did.

This is where my view of health and fitness truly shifted. It stopped being about performance and started being about possibility.

The Body Is Beyond Miraculous

What the human body can do — even after surgery, trauma, and deep uncertainty — still leaves me in awe.

Without force.Without rushing.Without punishment.

Strength returned quietly.

Today, I can say I’m back to about 90% of what I was doing before surgery — something that once felt unimaginable. Push-ups are back, though they feel different. Because my reconstruction implants sit under my pectoral muscles, there’s a tightness and unfamiliar sensation I’m still learning to navigate.

And that’s okay.

Healing doesn’t mean everything feels the same.It means learning how to move with your body, not against it.

Why Pilates Became My Anchor

Pilates became my rehabilitation — my bridge back to myself.

Not to “bounce back.”Not to prove anything.But to rebuild intelligently, safely, and sustainably.

My practice — on the mat, the reformer, and now expanding into chair work — supported my recovery while continuing to be how I serve other women on their health journeys. Alongside Pilates, I prioritize a daily 30-minute walk and am gradually easing back into strength training, honoring where my body is each step of the way.

As a BRCA2+ 41-year-old mom of two, I don’t train for aesthetics. I train for longevity, nervous system health, joint integrity, and strength that supports real life.

Community Is the Heart of This Journey

My studio and the women inside it are an extension of this philosophy.

Every day, I see women showing up in different seasons — postpartum, perimenopause, menopause, recovery, high stress, quiet rebuilding. They’re not chasing perfection. They’re choosing themselves.

That choice matters.

Why I Entered Ms. Health & Fitness

I didn’t enter this competition to show that I’m “back.”I entered to represent a more honest version of health and fitness — one that includes doubt, healing, adaptation, and resilience.

I’m incredibly grateful to have made the Top 20, with the next cut to Top 15 happening on the 12th, and to currently be sitting just outside at 12th place. Being here tells me something important: people are ready for a broader, more compassionate definition of strength.

If I Win — Here’s What I’d Do With $20,000

Every dollar would go straight back into community and growth:

• Purchasing additional Pilates equipment for my growing studio

• Investing more rehabilitation pilates education and training to (with a special focus on breast cancer)

• Continuing my education and additional pilates apparatus training so I can better support my clients through surgery recovery, hormonal shifts, and long-term wellness

This wouldn’t be a win for me alone. It would be an investment in every woman looking for movement that feels safe, intelligent, and empowering.

The Message I Hope You Take With You

If you’re questioning your body right now — after surgery, illness, injury, or burnout — please hear this:

Your body is not broken.It is healing.And strength often returns in quieter, more meaningful ways than you ever expected.

Health and fitness aren’t about proving what your body can do.They’re about honoring everything it has already survived 🤍

In health,

Brigitte~