Everybody has fat cells. When a person eats too much their body will store the extra calories in the fat cells. When a person is losing weight the body is drawing from the stored energy in the fat cells. You are not burning fat or getting rid of the fat, it will always be there. One pound of fat in the body is 3500 calories stored. So, if a person is 20lbs. overweight, that means they have consumed an excess of 70,000 calories! Most people only need around 1800-2300 calories per day, so to store 70,000 calories is no small feat. Weight loss and weight gain is simple: calorie intake vs. calorie expenditure. If you use more calories than you eat, you lose weight. If you eat more than you use, you gain weight. The only exceptions are people with genetic (.5%) or medical conditions that affect their metabolism. This basic fact is important to understand, because everyone claims to have the secret to weight loss. There are hundreds of ab machines, various pieces equipment, special diets, and supplements that claim to be the answer to weight loss issues. THERE IS NO SECRET TO WEIGHT LOSS. Exercise, food quality, and food quantity are the main things that one need be concerned about to affect the ratio of intake vs. expenditure. People are looking for the easy way out and the quick fix and wasting a lot of money in the process.
Toning is weight loss. Looking toned is being lean. Being lean is have a low body-fat percentage. Reaching a low body-fat percentage comes from the ratio just mentioned. One can do "toning" workouts all day long, but if they over eat, there will be little visual difference. There are people who can do every pilates move known to man that are still overweight. There people who can lift a mid-size sedan and are still overweight. There are people that eat one meal a day and are still overweight. This all because their ratios are not favorable to losing weight. There is another possible situation that occurs when people eat too infrequently, which is the slowing of their metabolism. The body goes into a sort of starvation mode where it tries to conserve energy to protect itself when it is not receiving enough calories and nutrients. Determining your daily calorie requirements and dividing that by the number of meals you eat in a day is a simple strategy to avoid that problem and support your body for exercise. A dietitician and some personal trainers should be able to help you in determining your daily calorie requirements.