Christa, I'm going to let you in on a secret that will help you immensely: There is no such thing as toning.
"Toning" is a word made up by trainers and fitness article writers to mask its actual meaning -- which is to build muscle. They created the word because women -- in general -- are obsessed with becoming too muscular, despite the fact that unless you have unsual genetics or on anabolic steroids, you'll never become as muscular as a man, or a heavy weight female bodybuilder.
When you see examples of "toned" celebrities or fitness models in women's fitness and health magazines, you are looking at women who are carrying a lot of muscle. This gives them "tight" bodies and lots of firm curves. And in nearly all cases, they got it from lifting heavy weights, limiting long-duration cardio and eating plenty of food. They typically don't get bodies like that from the high-rep, low-weight workouts they might be modeling in the magazines. They are paid to pose with resistance bands and swiss balls -- they don't necessarily use them themselves.
So, if you want to "get toned" you pretty much need to ditch everything you've read so far.
I won't go into it all here, because I deal with it in-depth in a number of articles (including an interview with a very successful fitness model and Muscle & Fitness Hers covergirl, Amanda Carrier), so check out the links below and it will make sense to you.
Best of luck!
Feel free to email me with additional questions.
Matt
