Keep exercising, just make sure that you are eating enough calories to support your bodies increased needs so you build muscle not lose it.

When you work out you tear muscle apart. It's during the rest periods your body takes protien and rebuilds the muscle, making it larger and stronger. Too little protien, calories or rest can make the muscles not repair well.

Having a higher lean weight means better circulation. That does raise metabolism as well as reduce the appearence of cellulite. Rember too lean weight isn't just muscle, it is bone density, blood volume, internal organs and so on. Strength training is one of the ways to help build bone density and fight ostiperosis later in life.

In the body for life forum they talk about eating before a weight session to raise cortisol. Check out the regular exercise forum and the body for life by doing a search on that word using the search function. If you belive those cortaslim comercials you don't have to worry about that until your past 40, but I tend not to belive things when they are trying to sell me something (esp diet pills)