Fat and muscle- do they separate??

If you are building muscle you are in calorie surplus so you will be putting on fat too.

If you are building muscle you are in calorie surplus so you will be putting on fat too.

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If you are building muscle you are in calorie surplus so you will be putting on fat too.

True if you're an experienced 'lifter, but I thought it was pretty well accepted that 'newbie gains' allowed you to build muscle while in a deficit.

I certainly have in the past. I'm now doing a 'lean gains' style cut - so 10% over on workout days and 35% under on others, leaving a total deficit of around 2500 calories a week.
Week on week I am continually improving my lifts on squat/bench/dead lift/weighted pull up (squat is around 125% of body weight now, so we're not talking massive numbers) - I can always go up 1kg at a time, some days can go up 2kg. So 3 - 5kg a week, say, while on an overall deficit with the scales going down.

For the OP:
You are building muscle underneath fat, so the fat is going to look larger. Like sticking a box under a duvet.
But, is definitely worth looking at your calories too if it also feels more 'wobbly', rather than just wobbly-on-muscle.

I log everything I eat, as well as my cardio exercise, not my lifting, and I am in calorie deficit! I thought that doing it this way, I should lose the fat, and gain the muscle... im hoping this is a temporary thing! I thought perhaps could be as my muscle is more defined, it makes it look like fat is softer? does that make sense???

Do you mean squishy fat? That happens to a lot of people right before they lose a few pounds. The adipocytes are holding onto water to maintain their size until the body tells them to let go of it. This could be a good sign. Some people lose weighting "whooshes" and notice a several pound loss at once.

I log everything I eat, as well as my cardio exercise, not my lifting, and I am in calorie deficit! I thought that doing it this way, I should lose the fat, and gain the muscle... im hoping this is a temporary thing! I thought perhaps could be as my muscle is more defined, it makes it look like fat is softer? does that make sense???

I think you're probably just burning fat, and so can see more muscle that you couldnt see before.

I have noticed, as my body fat drops, that I sometimes feel and "look" fatter than before. I don't know if there's a real terminology and explanation for this, but the fat left on my legs is more noticeable (to me anyways) now that my quads are starting to develop and be seen. As I get lean in some place, the places where I'm still retaining body fat are obvious and stick out.

So I don't really have an answer for you except- I sympathize. lol

Do you mean squishy fat? That happens to a lot of people right before they lose a few pounds. The adipocytes are holding onto water to maintain their size until the body tells them to let go of it. This could be a good sign. Some people lose weighting "whooshes" and notice a several pound loss at once.

Ye, its squishy :-D oooohhh that's encouraging, I hope that is the case... From your mouth to my scales ears

I not sure I want to just stop doing weight training @Waldo as I am afraid of going back to square one.... I think I prefer to have this "new" fat for a little and then eventually lose it, then risk stopping lifting in the hope that it all will be ok!!!

I'm not a very patient person to say the least. The fact I have stayed at this for 50 whole days is a massive achievement for me tbh. I have seen progress, both on scales and measurements, I just need to keep seeing it in order not to lose motivation - this fat is not helping lol

THIS IS A GOOD SIGN!!! DO NOT LOSE MOTIVATION

You are building STRENGTH and changing your physique I have watched the same things happen along my journey. Keep doing what you are doing! The cahnges you are seeing may seem worse now but it will all be worth it when you really start seeing your shape change.

My experience has been that, unless you are one of the few genetically gifted people with perfect body fat distribution, the leaner you get the more you will notice your 'trouble' areas that store fat the longest.