A common concern for many women who want to slim down and acquire a more athletic appearance is that they might become bulky and is often mentioned to DVCC transformation experts during the start of a clients transformation at the DVCC.
I can understand this concern, however having an increase of a couple of pounds of muscle will not make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger!!
Having a higher amount of muscle tone is actually one of the best ways to keep the chances of storing body fat low. Having an increased amount of muscle tone also holds many health benefits.
When you have more muscle tone your sensitivity to insulin (the hormone responsible for the storing of fat) becomes higher and you have a higher amount of insulin receptors on your cells.
This means if you over eat carbs your body will be more likely to burn them for energy during exercise rather than storing them as body fat.
Acquiring the athletic and toned look that so many people desire and talk about is a combination of 2 things.
Having a low body fat percentage and increased muscle tone to provide the body shape. The best way to do this is to train with the aim to improve your muscle tone.
Women hold much lower testosterone levels than men, and prior to training will naturally hold less muscle tone.
Without the use of anabolic steroids, extreme nutritional compliance and years of very intense training you will not end up looking like a female body builder.
I often joke with clients of the DVCC that if they were to end up with such high levels of muscle they would have to let me in on the secret.
Building muscle can take time and if you ever get to the point when you feel like you are carrying to much muscle its much easier to lose than it is to build. When you stop training with resistance your body will lose muscle tone very quickly.
Another way to reduce your muscle tone quickly would be to do some steady state cardio work. 
Running long distances causes a catabolic effect on your body which will quickly reduce the size of the muscles that are build from resistance training.
Another very important part of building muscle is that when you load you body with weight for an exercise you will increase your bone density and promote bone growth.
Women's bone density can start to decline from the age of 30 onwards.
Having more muscle can help to buffer acid, when acid levels are high it can lead to bone loss.
Therefore if osteoporosis is something that concerns you, training regularly with resistance and increasing your muscle tone will go a long way towards putting your mind at rest and keeping your bone density high.
