hi all- can anyone recommend a good starter pilates or yoga tape? i'm on maintanence so its not that i need to lose weight, but need to tone...esp abs!

Hi satihap--if there's a Pilates center near you, I'd strongly recommend taking one session with a certified trainer before starting on a tape. The instructions for doing the exercises are so much clearer, and learning the proper form makes the exercises much more effective. It's made a world of difference to me in how I approach the tape.

The tape I use is Beginner Pilates Mat and the instructor's name is something like Ana Caban (I can't put my hands on it right now, sorry). It's pretty good but very limited in the number of exercises it shows you. I also have a book published by DK that has many of the exercises and very complete diagrams.

Good luck with toning! Pilates is really effective, IMHO. Let me know how it's going for you.