how to "tone up" ???

Yepppp, now you start lifting. And lifting like a man! No 5lb weights
There's a book "new rules of lifting for women" good one. Or, hire a trainer. Lifts can damage you, and are something you need to be shown. Master form, then add weight. Eat in a surplus to gain muscle, 200-400 cals. Up your protein, and see how it goes from there.

JNick - yes i am happy with the weight i am now. I would just like to tone up in the belly area.

Two things.

1. To get yourself in a position to see your muscle definition you need to drop some bodyfat probably, maybe to about 10% roughly. You may consider a low-carb diet plan to help hit that easier, something like the Anabolic Diet is exrtremely useful for this.

2. Weight training. Lifts like the Deadlift, Back Squat, Standing Shoulder Press, and Bench Press are great exercises that use your core for some stabilization. Focusing on lower rep, more sets, with heavier weight is a good start. Lifting this way actually helps burn more bodyfat.

Do you belong to a gym or have some home gym equipment or anything?

JNick - yes i am happy with the weight i am now. I would just like to tone up in the belly area.

Two things.

1. To get yourself in a position to see your muscle definition you need to drop some bodyfat probably, maybe to about 10% roughly. You may consider a low-carb diet plan to help hit that easier, something like the Anabolic Diet is exrtremely useful for this.

I wouldn't suggest this at all. That's too low for a woman. 12 is the absolute lowest women are supposed to hit. You should get it tested to see what you are now. If you're just looking to tone, and not be ripped, 18-20 is really good..

Weight lifting......heavy and by that I mean do 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps of a weight and by the last couple of reps it should be very hard to lift, then you know you're lifting heavy enough. Don't worry about bulking up....not gonna happen. I alternate when I work out. I lift a heavy weight for 1 set/15 reps then I add 5-10 more lbs and do 12 reps of that weight and finish off by upping the weight another 5-10 lbs and doing 10 reps. The next week I may lift lighter. Do a lighter weight like 20-30 lbs and do 20-30 reps.....I love mixing it up with weights. I do have a trainer, so he has shown me all the "tricks" of the trade, so you might want to consider hiring a trainer even if it's just a one-hour session to show you the ropes......Good luck on your journey and happy lifting. Most people that lift fall in love with it....I know I did! :flowerforyou: Also, planks are a great core strengthener......google them. There are videos out there that will show you all you want to know.

Bump. Need this info

And I also agree with everyone who says to lift heavy weight to "tone" up or gain muscle mass to show definition. :flowerforyou:

Great question! Great responses!

This is not meant to insult but toning is a garbage bag term of the fitness industry designed to sell products.

Toning as a term originated in body building pre-contests where drastic weight cutting was employed to lose as much body fat as possible before the tournament. This also included being dehydrated. As a result, the body builders could not lift as much, as they were not as strong during this time. They would make up the work load doing more reps with lower weight.

The goal of this high rep, low weight, was to keep the muscle size they had already earned, and to continue to exercise and shed fat.

So understand, in its correct context is two things = Continued fat loss without loss of muscle size

If you do not have a 6 pack now, toning your stomach without losing more body fat will never change that. You need to continue to lose enough body fat to make your 6 pack visible and defined.

The same logic holds true for other muscle groups.

Continue with your weight loss strategy, do proper strength training so that when you do hit that lower level of body fat, you have some wonderful muscles to show off as they start to reveal themselves.

As far as influencing the shape of a particular muscle, this is sometimes a stated goal of toning. I will make 3 points:

1) First you gotta pack on some clay before you can sculpt it
2) Muscles work on an all or nothing principle, the entire muscle contracts, not just part of it, making it near impossible to train only parts of a muscle and shape it
3) Pro body builders have some success "working the lateral aspect of their medial deltoids" but they may spend extra efforts for a year to add a marginal improvement, a time commitment you may not have for your entire body.

I know many women kickboxers and MMA atheletes, as well as a 3 time Canadian women's power lifting champion is a personal friend and sometimes we lift together. She can squat the same as me (375+) at age 51 now. She is SHAPELY and what you would call TONED, not bulky. Women just do not get bulky unless they live their lives for that one singular goal.

So again, and in short, keep losing weight and the muscles you have will start to show, and you will look toned. Nobody, but nobody, that looks highly toned, has pulled it off without hitting body fat levels regarded as "athletic or elite". And roll in some good proper weight training. Big movements. Get good instruction on the squat, overhead press, bench press, dead lift, dips, pull-ups, lunges (forward and side) and you will have an awesome program right there.

useful information!