Help switching from bulk to cut. (diet/macros included)

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I'm at the end of a bulk now, where I went from about 157lbs to 176lbs (height = 5'10.5). That's about a 20lb gain. I wasn't exactly shredded at 157, but I was lean enough to start bulking. Not to mention, at 157 there was no way I was going to cut any further.

I don't know what my body fat percentage is right now, but I can tell you I have quite the bulking gut. Aside from that though, the rest of me appears almost exactly as lean as it did at 157lbs. Arms, shoulders, back... it really looks as though 99% of the fat gained went to my stomach. According to my measurements, my waist increased a whole 4 inches. I do credit some of that increase (a small amount, probably) to my doing serious direct ab work for the first time in a long, long time. My arms increased a little under 1 full inch, by the way. Not sure how good/bad that is.

Here's my current diet. On this diet right now, I seem to be maintaining my weight of 176lbs. So, I guess this is maintenance level or at least very close to it...

6:45am (Pre-Workout)

1 scoop whey
6 egg whites
2 pieces whole wheat bread
1 small red skinned potato

Calories: 480
Protein: 48 grams
Carbs: 60 grams
Fat: 3.5 grams
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9:45am (Post-Workout)

whey/dextrose shake

Calories: 360
Protein: 35 grams
Carbs: 54 grams
Fat: 2 grams
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11:30am

1 can tuna fish
3 egg whites
2 pieces of whole wheat pita bread
1 tbsp olive oil

Calories: 620
Protein: 49 grams
Carbs: 58 grams
Fat: 16.5 grams
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2:30pm

2 scoops whey (a little less, actually)
3/4 cup of chickpeas

Calories: 300
Protein: 35 grams
Carbs: 34 grams
Fat: 7 grams
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5:00pm

1 serving brown rice
2 servings peanuts

Calories: 460
Protein: 15 grams
Carbs: 44 grams
Fat: 27 grams
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8:00pm

1 big salad (romaine lettuce, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, etc.)
Lots of salad dressing (olive oil and balsamic vinegar)
1 serving brown rice
protein source (This varies, but it's grilled chicken like 75% of the time. Other times it's london broil, lean pork cutlets, turkey, etc.)

Calories: 540
Protein: 41 grams
Carbs: 46 grams
Fat: 24 grams
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10:30pm

1 can tuna fish
1 serving peanuts

Calories: 335
Protein: 42 grams
Carbs: 6 grams
Fat: 15.5 grams
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***TOTALS***

Calories: 3145
Protein: 265 grams (35%)
Carbs: 302 grams (38%)
Fat: 95.5 grams (27%)


I also like to throw in an orange at some point during the day, usually around 7:00pm (macros ARE included in the totals). I also drink about 1.5 gallons of water a day.

Now my goal here is to start cutting, and I'm willing to cut as slow as needed in order to hopefully maintain as much strength and muscle as possible. Bare in mind I am a full fledged ecto, so I drop weight (and muscle) with very little effort.

I know I just need to create a calorie deficit (I'm thinking about 200-300 calories to start?) but what I'm not so sure about is where in my diet this deficit should take place.

So uh, help... please. ;)

Thanks in advance.

[Holto]

I know I just need to create a calorie deficit (I'm thinking about 200-300 calories to start?) but what I'm not so sure about is where in my diet this deficit should take place.

It doesn't matter.

It's the cumulative deficit that you create over a period of several days that results in actual weight loss.

BTW you're bodyfat can't be that bad if you are maintaining on 3145 at your weight.

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BTW you're bodyfat can't be that bad if you are maintaining on 3145 at your weight.

I know, I thought that was odd too. I figured I added something wrong. For some reason I thought I was at 3500. But, like I mentioned, most of my body looks somewhat lean, it's just my stomach that looks out of place. It measures 36.7 around the belly button. I'm not sure how much of this increase was due to ab work, but there is plenty of fat sitting there.

[Built]

Okay, so maintenance is about 3150, and you have somewhere around 140 lbs lean mass.

If you wanted to try some sort of a carb cycle, you could try something like this if you like (based on a four-day split):

LBM = 140.8 lbs.
Maintenance calories: 3150 per day;
4 lifting/HIIT days per week.
A caloric deficit of 3,638 calories per week,
for a loss of of about a 1.0 pound per week

Average daily macros:
230g of protein,
114g of fat, and
172g of carbohydrate,
2,630 calories in total.

(4) Lifting/HIIT days:
233g of protein,
104g of fat, and
233g of carbohydrate,
2,799 calories in total.

(3) Rest/SS Cardio days:
225g of protein,
127g of fat, and
91g of carbohydrate,
2,405 calories in total.

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Thanks for the reply Built. A few questions...

First, I will be keeping my weight training routine the same (4 days a week: monday, tuesday, thursday, friday). But, I wasn't planning on doing any cardio. Think that would be alright, and if so, would that change anything with the plan you just explained?

Second, what other options are there besides carb cycling? Me and carbs are weird, so I'm not really sure how my body would respond to something like that.

Third, if you had to take your best guess (just a guess), around what weight do you think I'd need to cut to to be at around 10% bf?

Thanks again.

[Built]

1. no cardio to start, no worries
2. Ignore the carb cycling, and just use the "average" calories every day if you like. Move some of the fat calories into carb calories if you prefer.
3. Assuming you have 140 lbs lean mass, you'll need to get down to about 155 and not lose any LBM to hit 10%.

If you manage to figure out your actual LBM, divide this by 0.9 and you'll get your target weight.

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Thanks again Built. Your help is extremely appreciated. I have a few more questions if you have another minute...

1. What would be the difference(s) be between carb cycling VS just using the averages?

2. If I did just go with the averages (and moved some fat cals into carb cals) is there any sort of ideal macro ratio with that method?

3. In the averages, you decreased my calorie intake by a full 500 cals. Would there be any benefit to decreasing calories in smaller increments? Like maybe drop 200-300 cals? Would this help preserve muscle at all, or would it just cause me to lose fat slower?

Thanks.

[Built]

1. Mostly comfort.
2. no.
3. I've dropped your cals by less than 20%, so you'll be fine. Lift heavy.

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Will do. Thanks a ton for your help.

[Built]

You're welcome.

Start with the "average", feel free to drop the fats to 75g and up the protein and or carb a bit to compensate if you wish.

If you want to give it a try, do the carb cycle for a week, see how it feels. I like it because I get to eat more food on lifting days - I really look forward to 'em.

[Built]

This (http://www.wannabebigforums.com/showthread.php?p=1485373#post1485373)is an example of a carb cycle, if you want to see how I do it.

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I think I'm going to start with the 'average' (and lower the fat/raise carbs or protein like you mentioned), but I will keep carb cycling in mind to possibly try at some point. If not this time, there will be plenty of other cuts after this to test it out on.

For me personally though, if the only real benefit of carb cycling is comfort, it's probably something that isn't for me. It sounds strange in writing, but when it comes to food at least, comfort means very little to me. I'm really good with being able to not eat when I'm hungry, or the opposite... eat when I'm not hungry.

What I lack in genetics I make up for in my strange food will-powerish mindset. :)

Thanks again.

[Built]

Hey, I understand. You have to do what's manageable.