Should I lose weight before I bodybuild?

[Fatboi10]

I'm 6ft 178 pounds and while I don't look fat I do feel fat. I figure I should lose 26 pounds and get down to 150 and then work my way to muscle mass. I don't know how to do so though. I already tried calorie deficit but I ended up slipping back to this weight, do I need to do cardio or something?

[haikaldingle]

Just head straight to bodybuilding if you're just starting out. As you go along, you will notice a decrease in your body fat and definitely look firmer. Alternate your weight training days and cardio days. Just do this and 6 months from now you will notice a great improvement in the way you look and feel

[TK401]

I'm 6ft 178 pounds and while I don't look fat I do feel fat. I figure I should lose 26 pounds and get down to 150 and then work my way to muscle mass. I don't know how to do so though. I already tried calorie deficit but I ended up slipping back to this weight, do I need to do cardio or something?

1. Get on a proven strength program (Starting Strength, Stronglifts, Fierce 5, Etc)

2. You do not need cardio, you can do it if you want.

3. Find your maintenance calories through experimentation of 3-4 week periods of calorie tracking, and weight averages.

4. Since you want to tone up some I would target your calories at maintenance, or a slight deficit (Aim to lose 1-2 lbs a month).
This will help you make progress in your Strength Program vs trying to lose a lot of weight rapidly.