Okay, I'm just going to lay it all out here for you guys and hopefully I can get some helpful advice.
Possibly from SarahPT or a personal trainer/gym buff : )

I'm 21f, 122lbs, 5'7"
I'm trying to eat around 1200-1500 calories a day give or take a few
I drink a ton of water!
I eat a high protein, low carb, no sugar/processed foods diet

What kind of exercise plan should I be doing for muscle/toning and possibly a 5-8 lb loss?

This is what I've been doing (off and on so obviously not working as well as it should) but am starting up fullforce

normally 1st thing in the morning
Monday and Tuesday- 5 minutes fast walk on treadmill
200 crunches, 10 sets of 20 different types
12 different weight/tone machines 6 legs, 6 arms
-I do 1 set of 25reps and move on to the next machine w/one minute rest
30 minutes on a cardio machine (stairstepper, treadmill, or elliptical)
4 minutes fast pace, 1 minute as fast as possible intervals
W-rest
T-warm up, crunches, 1 hr cardio of choice
Friday and Saturday - same as Monday and Tuesday
S- rest

Is this a good plan to try to go by? Especially wondering about the weights, should I do 1 set of high rep or several sets of low reps? Rest in between? I don't typically eat until I return from workout in the morning either eating All Bran or Protein of some form

I also have whey protein powder, how much should I be taking to aid in fat loss/build lean muscle?

I'm trying to lose small love handles and I have a bit of chub on my belly. Want defined abs.

Any ideas would be appreciated : ) Sorry to throw this all at you but I'd love to know if I'm doing it alright.

Also wanted to know about maybe incorporating a cheat day into my schedule food wise and how harmful you think it would be/ how often? Only mentioning this because I heard it can be beneficial to weight loss...miss the chocolate!

Thank you!
Tere

Hi there,
I'll make a few suggestions/comments. Great that you're limiting your sugar and processed stuff! I hope you're eating enough carbs to fuel your workouts. To get the most from workouts they need to be properly fueled.
Good that you have 2rest days Rather than an entire cheat day, what about 2 cheat meals per week? They can be flexible for social occasions, or just when you really want something super yummy.

I would like to recommend that you work toward heavier weights with fewer reps. Unless you are brand new to working out, lifting such light weights isn't very beneifical. Don't worry, increasing weights won't make you gain a bunch of muscle, but it will make you stronger, challenge your body, and burn loads of calories. You can really mix it up with resp, sets, rest periods, etc. That can prevent boredom. One week you can go through and do 1 set of each exercise with very little rest, then rest for 5 minutes, then repeat. Another week you can do 3 sets of each exercise with a minute rest in between. There are so many ways you can put a workout together. Just make sure you're hitting all your muscle groups.

If you're going to drink whey powder have a scoop with a carb after your workouts.

Hope this has helped. Feel free to let me know if I can help you any more.

Sarah

Thank you so much SarahPT! I was hoping that you would reply. I also like the idea of 2 cheat meals as opposed to a cheat day, although I think I'll just go for 1 cheat meal and maybe 1 cheat snack : )

When weight-training for best results should I mix up different body part on different days or should I stick with an overall body workout every day? I went to freetrainer.com and they gave me a workout plan where everything is all mixed up, like back and shoulders one day, arms another...etc. I think I may try it out.

Thank you so much for your professional recommendations, I will definately start on more sets- less reps- heavier weights.

Again, thanks a ton!

Glad my response helped! I think it's fine for you to either do split training (different muscle groups each day) or full body. If you were trying to build muscle I would stress hitting each muscle group more than once a week, but since you're not, go with your preference.

Sarah