tan27 --
Just another note related to the frustration of lower body fat on women -- Hello my name is Sassy. I'm a German/Swede from N. Minnesota. Apparently I come from good German breeding stock ( I think I was built for working in the fields and bearing children == BIG HIPS). Worse yet, I work in an office (read: chair butt) and have a cat (read: can't blame my extra bodyfat on having kids). LMAO!
The point I'm trying to get to is that women are already prone to "diet resistant fat" in those areas, thanks to the natural purpose of estrogen -- provide body fat to protect the child bearing process by depositing extra fat around hips, lower abdomen, etc. In general you can't spot reduce body fat, though you can work to tight up those areas with wonderful things like squats, etc.. Dieting and cardio will help reduce overall bodyfat, but the areas where there tends to be more fat cells will be the last to appear to make headway. I competed last summer in a bb competition - dieted, trained, cardio for 16 weeks - got my upper body nice and decently ripped for a novice, but the ol' caboose just barely came in the day of the show. So you can expect to see great results in your upper body, but the lower part will not show results as quickly. But it is still going! So dont' let any of that frustrate you -- just keep focusing on making progress, tighten up your diet and hit it hard! You WILL see results!
Good luck!