i generally do kick boxing for cardiovascular exercise and upper body weight training. i was doing a lot of lower body weight training as well, but i stopped because i felt like i was putting on muscle under my fat. i wanted to lose the fat first before building lower body muscle. my hips and thighs are my problem areas. so my question is, should i go back to doing my lower body weight training? or should i lose the weight and then start back? it's just hard to see the muscle definition i'm aiming for when i'm 20-30 pounds above my goal weight. what does everyone think?

Building muscle good! Helps your body process foods better so you can eat more and burn more efficiently. Also looks better on your body then fat.

Just be aware it weighs more than fat so your scale may go up before going down.

Hooray for you.... keep on building muscle!

Bodybuilders has the notion that it is better to bulk up then to cut.
In fact it is more efficient to loose the fat, then bulk up. You will loose less muscles when dieting down, and gain less fat when you are bulking up.

As for your question. Yes, loose the fat first. But don't stop working out your lower body. I am aware that you don't want to be a pro bodybuilder, but never stop working out. Let your diet guide your body to muscle gain or fat loss.

Have your body fat measured by a caliper. And then, measure your progress by body fat % not by bodyweight. (cheap, easy, and about accurate - available alll over the internet and at netrition.com)

So, to sum up. Don't worry about putting too much muscles. Worry about the fat that you carry.

I hope this helps.

Loony

thanks for the input!