Strength Training Experts Please Help

In answer to your first question, that all depends on the person. When someone sees weight gain when they're lifting it's more from being swollen than gaining pounds of muscle. In fact, I would say put the scale away all together. Focus on how your clothes fit and how your body acts (ie, can you carry more bags of groceries, is it easier to get out of the car/bed, etc).

As for the second, an "every other day" routine is pretty good. Something like upper body Monday, Lower body Wednesday, and Core on Friday. Sprinkle in cardio/ab/flexibility Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and you should see some good results.

Also, taking pictures is a great idea. Then you will actually see your progress.

Hi All - I'm going to start strength training 1/2 hour with 1/2 hour of cardio 3 to 4x a week.

Make sure you do your cardio AFTER you weight train- this way you will have more fuel (e.g. glycogen) for your lifting sessions.

1) When you begin strength training while working on weight loss, approximately how long does it take for the muscle weight gain to stop the scale from showing a weight loss. I'm at 5'9 and 203 lbs., have good strength, and work out to max on my reps if that's helpful information. I'm not someone who's afraid of adding "bulk" and only wants to "tone"

"Tone" is akin to definition, which will be the total result of diet, rest, strength training and cardio. Women CANNOT bulk up the way men do- they do not produce enough testosterone naturally to incite that level of muscle growth. As for weight- don't live and die by a number on a scale- get a measuring tape and measure your waist, hips, thighs, arms, etc. As long as all your ducks are in a row, the numbers on the tape should go down, even if the number on the scale doesn't. There are too many threads from people on this MB complaining about how they work out and eat right and the number on the scale hasn't gone down. Also, take a picture of yourself now and compare that with what you see in the mirror every day- this will give you a visual reference to compare against the mirror as your progress.

2) What would be a sensible split of a routine for either a 3/day a week or 4/day a week program? I haven't decided yet on 3 vs 4 days of strength. I'm not someone who's afraid of adding "bulk" and only wants to "tone". Once I get some endurance back, I'd like to eventually be doing 5 days a week of strength and cardio.

I'd advise buying the book The New Rules of Lifting for Women- it's a fantastic primer for weight training and it should have plenty of options for determining a suitable routine for you.