I came across this thread, read it and really needed to comment. I don't mean to be arguementative but you CANNOT turn fat into muscle - they are 2 separate things. Like saying you can turn a spleen into liver.
The strength training/weight training is excellent advice however I didn't see it mentioned anywhere (or did I possibly miss it?) about diet. I've been at this almost 3 years now (I weight train & do cardio on alternating days, ie. 3 days weights, 3 or 4 cardio & plyometrics) and I CANNOT stress how important diet is.
And when I say "diet" I'm not implying cutting calories. A good clean diet of about 6 small meals a day with ratios balanced between carbs and protein. This combined with your exercise regime. And while it is true that people carry fat deposits in different areas it all comes off the same - ever hear of the "paper towel" theory? Think of a brand new roll of paper towels, you use one square and the size of the roll doesn't change. You keep using the squares and before you know it the roll is gone.
Generally speaking this is how fat comes off. The first place you'll notice is areas where you don't hold alot of fat - whereas the problem areas you'll at times feel like nothing is changing, well it is. Just like the roll of paper towels, keep using them and they'll be gone and all you'll have left is the "skinny cardboard skeleton" - ha ha.
With all this training I've been doing I've also done a very good deal of reading. I'm interested in a very low BF%, ideally around 15% I guess, in order for abs to show you need to be probably below 17 or 18% for women, so with this reading, what I've learnt is an ideal body is built on 80% diet, 10% what you do in the gym and 10% genetics. After some time at it there are those that believe you get to the point where its 90% diet.
I workout sometimes 7 days a week, I've never been fat and I'm not trying to be a bodybuilder. What I'm trying to stress here is that I work my a$$ off and when I screw up with diet it shows. I'm a healthy eater but like my junk sometimes and alcohol, I stay away from processed and refined foods for the most part but if my diet is half good I look half good if its bad, I look bad. It doesn't matter how much weight I lift, how often or how many hours I sweat at cardio.
Now I realize everyone is different but I'm not one of those with a slow metabolism nor am I lazy.
Sorry for the lecture/rant. I guess I just wanted to stress how important diet is for your changes and its exciting to see someone start having amazing results. A good clean diet to start with could possibly be South Beach or there's a book out by Tosca Reno "Eat Clean Diet". You won't grow hungry and its fairly well balanced & outlined simply.
Again sorry for rant & length.