Do BOTH! Cardio is important but in truth some people can actually get their cardio in while lifting by doing circuits, they don't stop in between sets or different exercises. This will really rev up your heart and it will be like an aerobic workout mixed in (but I really believe that it can be much harder for beginners to take advantage of properly).
The question I got is do u wanna gain a bit of mass like 5 lbs? Doing so will increase your metabolism even when u aren't working out (which means u burn more calories throughout the day even when sedetary). This is why it is esp. important to lift as u have less to lose or only a little to lose. 30lbs to lose is a lot but not huge, so lifting would help u lose this much quicker than just doing an aerobic workout alone (which u should do too, by the way). If u only want to tone then lifting will help u burn calories "during" the workout, and gain strength (not muscle, just power) in whatever the lift is targeting.
I, think sometimes some are afraid to gain a few light pounds of muscle but they shouldn't be cause it will help u greatly. Unless u gain a lot of muscle there is no way u are gonna have those very obvious bulges of muscle, so don't worry so much about gaining a few pounds of muscle.
So, I'd go with a mix of both to really get the advantage, esp. since doing to much lifting (if u go with trying to gain some muscle -it's this or tone) will only hurt. U need to take a day off in between your lifting days, this is why it would be great to add in cardio - burn some extra calories, instead of just sitting around (remember it will help u increase ur fitness level too). Lastly, do compound lifts, which incorporate more muscle in the lift. Deadlifts, bent-over rows, and squats. Remember things like push-ups are good, they are a bit like the bench press, but ur using ur own weight, and they are difficult because controlling balance and form become big factors.
Which is better in the end: that can come down to interest, goals, what works on ur body, and the realization that u gotta use both most of the time because ur body gets used to workouts very quickly.
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