How I Lost My Muscle in 2 Months (and Why Getting It Back Is Taking Forever)

I stopped Pilates.

It started innocently enough - a two-week vacation. Then we came back and got hit with a cold that lasted a week, maybe more. And then finances got tight, and suddenly the Pilates classes felt like a luxury I couldn't justify.

So I stopped.

Two months. That's all it took for my body to dismantle everything I'd built.

The Brutal Math of Muscle Loss

Here's what nobody tells you about aging and muscle: it leaves FAST, and it comes back SLOW.

Agonizingly slow.

I've just gotten back to exercising, and I can feel exactly how much I've lost. The strength that was there? Gone. The stability, the control, the feeling of being capable in my body? Diminished. Two months away from Pilates, and it's like starting over.

Two months to lose what took me months - maybe years - to build.

That's the asymmetry of the timed body. When you're younger, you can take a break and bounce back relatively quickly. At 68? The body seems almost eager to let the muscle go. Like it's been waiting for permission to quit.

Pilates Was My Love

I fell in love with Pilates after years of Jane Fonda workouts. It felt right for this stage - building strength without the high impact, working on core and stability, feeling capable and strong in a sustainable way.

When I was doing it regularly, I could feel the difference. Not just in how I looked, but in how I FELT. Stronger. More grounded. Like my body was something I could trust.

And then I stopped, and that trust evaporated remarkably fast.

The Long Road Back

I'm back at it now, but I can feel how far I have to go just to get back to where I was. Every session reminds me: this is going to take time. Probably longer than I want it to. Probably longer than seems fair.

But here's what I'm learning: at this age, you cannot afford to stop. The body is too ready to let go. Too willing to say "oh good, we're done with that experiment, let's get back to being weak and fragile."

I'm going to be recording this journey back. Documenting how long it actually takes to rebuild what I lost. Tracking the frustration and the small victories. Being honest about how hard it is to regain muscle at 68, and how much protein and discipline it's going to take.

Because if I'm struggling with this, I know I'm not alone.

The Commitment

From now on, I'm treating exercise like the oils - not optional. Not something I can skip when life gets busy or money gets tight or I catch a cold.

Because the cost of stopping is too high. The body wins too fast.

And I'm not ready to let it win.

Have you experienced this? The shocking speed of muscle loss when you stop exercising? I'm documenting my rebuild, and I'd love to hear about yours.