Is this you?

You passed 40 years of age. Maybe recently, maybe some time ago. You knew you weren't keeping yourself in tip-top condition, but there's always been something more important to do in what little time you have. In those precious few minutes you get for yourself in your day, the last thing you want to do is exercise.

Slowly, the scales climbed.

'It's okay,' you thought, 'I'm not so much bigger.' You consoled yourself with, 'I'm just a bit curvy.'
Eventually, you avoided getting on the scales at all because you no longer wanted to know what they said.

Those clothes in your wardrobe… Now they don't fit. It's been a while since you could squeeze yourself into them. They are almost new, so you can't throw them out. Instead, you think to yourself, 'I'll fit into them again... one day'. That day just isn't today.

Then, something happened, just… something. Someone took a photo - you were horrified. That last pair of jogging bottoms finally got too small. That one flight of stairs left you gasping for breath. It hits you; it's impossible to ignore. That weight you've gained has gone just too far. It needs to stop, and it needs to stop now!

Oh, I know the feeling!

Picking The Best Diet

So, first things first. When getting your body back together, pick the best diet.

Okay, but what's the best diet?

The best diet is always the one that works for you.

What are your priorities?

Do you need to lose a lot, a little, or somewhere in the middle?

Do you want to take it slow and steady or sacrifice more to get there more quickly?

I cover the recipes for a few different diets. Click here for a quick look!

Remember this, though. Despite the claims by those who invented them, the best diet is the one you can stick with, feel healthy doing and reach your goals with. So, if your diet doesn't fulfil all of these three criteria, it's not the best diet, at least not the best for you.

There are plenty of different diets out there. If you choose one and it doesn't work for you, do not give up! Go and pick another.

Picking The Best Exercise For You

Next up, your diet is doing its thing. Everything is going the way it should be, but your diet needs a little more help, or you might just decide that feeling healthy again after so long is so great, and you want to feel even better. But! You haven't worked out in quite some time. Dancing around the kitchen to that clubbing music you used to boogie on down to a couple of decades ago really doesn't count, by the way.

Ahh! You need something easy but effective, a beginner workout. You need the best beginner exercise for you, a woman over 40. You need something at home because you don't have time to go to the gym. But, with so many different workouts, which one to choose is overwhelming, to say the least.

Let me come to the rescue with a suggestion to save you time, money and hassle - Hip Hop Abs with Shaun T.

Hip Hop Abs With Shaun T

In my humble opinion, this is a great beginner workout, possibly the best, and I tried quite a few.

Firstly, let me say. Do not let the name put you off! You might think hip hop is not really the dancing or music for you; I certainly thought so. However, the music is mild hip-hop. The songs were chosen for the beat to keep time rather than for the singer's artistic prowess.

Do not let the advertising video put you off. Unfortunately, the advertising video shows Shaun T and a few backup dancers performing a routine on a stage with loud music and cool clothes. This is neither the structure nor the look of the workouts you will be doing for the daily exercises. It is, in fact, a bonus video you can put aside and put on with some liquid courage.

The Trainer

Shaun T himself is an immensely likeable guy. Over a whole day, I think I would have to gag him for a bit of peace and quiet. Still, for a 25 or 50 mins workout, he is just what you need, likeable, engaging and encouraging from beginning to end.

He has a Tonto, called Tania. Tania is his super smiley sidekick. Tania doesn't say much, Shaun T does it all, but her smile wins you over. She also stands there with an example of the body you hope will eventually be yours. False hope it might be, but it is an encouragement to keep going.

The Videos

The videos themselves are bright and attractive. The backdrop looks like a gym to give a bit more of a 'workout' feeling - whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your point of view.

Shaun T's minions come and go throughout the different videos. Most are women with a couple of token guys doing a manly job at the back. I would have liked to see some people who were a bit more mature just for my personal company, but it was a minor complaint.

I am rhythmically challenged in a major way. So much so that with another workout video (which shall remain nameless), I spent more time trying to figure out which foot went where than actually working out. I eventually gave up that video entirely and got a refund. That did not happen with hip-hop abs. Shaun T does an incredible job of easing you into the dance moves. He kept me on track, and within a few minutes each time, there was no dance move I couldn't do.

He has a technique of "tilt, tuck and tighten", and I happened to find myself doing this even outside of the workouts. I am sure it also helped sculpt my figure and gave me the illusion of flat abs, if nothing else.

Did It Work?

Hip Hop Abs advertises "flat, sexy abs". Over two months, I cannot say I gained a six-pack, but there was some definition across my abdomen and down my legs. It definitely worked. I couldn't say I saw any further progress with my "flat, sexy abs" past the two-month mark, although I didn't lose the progress I had made. To continue to work out beyond this time frame, I believe it would be better to progress to another workout.

The Downsides Of Hip Hop Abs.

There are some downsides to Hip Hop Abs - because nothing is perfect.

First, it hints that you only need to do 25 minutes. While each workout is only 25 minutes, the schedule often tells you to put two together. This means that you are going to be there for 50 minutes. Second, it wants you to add a cooldown afterwards that is not included in the workout session; this adds another few minutes. These minutes add up, and it can be tough to fit everything in. As a working mum of two young kids, I often had to cut it back to one workout and drop the cooldowns to have enough time in the day.

Hip Hop Abs also claims you won't need to do crunches on the floor. This, to me and others, made us believe we would not need to get down on the floor at all, and it was a false belief. So again, the advertising pushes you into believing the wrong thing. While I understand this is an advertising strategy, I think it's wrong. So here it is… some moves will involve you sitting on the floor.

After the first couple of weeks, I didn't need all the dance moves right from the beginning. I felt Shaun T could have made one of the videos as an introduction for the first week and ditched it from the ongoing schedule.

Lastly, within two months of Hip Hop Abs, I was getting rather bored. By three months, I had had enough. By four months, I had moved on to Shaun T's Focus T25.

All In All

The company behind Shaun T, Team Beachbody, claims Hip Hob Abs was "America's #1 fitness program on TV shortly after launch." I don't doubt it. And, for a few months at least, the beginner in you wants this workout.

I thought it was the best beginner workout because it was easy and fun. Great for the 'not very fit', the 'haven't worked out for ages', the 'rhythmically challenged' and the 'I don't want to work out because it's boring' people. For women over 40, like myself, it's really got so much to recommend it as the best beginner exercise. The added bonus of buying it, playing it at home, and keeping myself within the same small space for the exercises meant I could put it on TV and work out in my living room. No treks to the gym!

It does tone your abs. Enough to be noticed anyway (mine were), although you might not get the six-pack or even the four-pack you dream about.

There is an extension that claims to be level 2. But, by the time you've had enough, you've probably got about as far as you can go. So, when you're ready to up your game, move on to Focus T25 instead. Same likeable Shaun T, same smiley Tania. It's like being with old friends.