Need help trying to perfect my diet
 

I am 24, 6'1", 174 lbs. I am a vegetarian and not looking to change that. Back in September I was weighing about 162 lbs and taking in roughly 3100 calories a day.

I added a trainer and he bumped me up to 4600 calories a day. I have gained a little bit of muscle but also some fat around my waist line that came with it. I want to lose some of the fat but am scared of losing this muscle too. I think 4600 a day might be to much and he didn't really look at my diet.

I talked to a friend and he thinks I should also carb cycle. He thinks I should do at the most 3300 calories on my off days (non workout days) and drop to say 3900 calories on my workout days.

Or do you think I would just be ok sticking to 3900 calories a day? Or should I even drop from my current 4600 calories?

I am attaching some FitDays. FitDay 5 is when I was at 3300 calories, so my friend recommended dropping a serving of oatmeal and half of the drumsticks. I need to also drop the SizeOn because that's for workout days.

FitDay 7 is what I am consuming now at roughly 4600 calories and he recommended dropping 4 of the 5 servings of oats, half of the drumsticks, and 2 servings of whey protein. That would roughly put me at 3900 calories. EDIT: I am thinking of maybe instead of dropping so much of the oats, I should drop some of the PB. Because that way I can still keep some carbs but less fat...

The thing is I am not even that big right now taking in 4600 calories or have a ton amount of muscle...I am worried that dropping calories won't do anything to help gain muscle like it did in the past. I have gained some muscle when I went from 3300 calories to 4600 calories.

What do you guys think? Thanks!

You need to use a calorie calculator and find out what you really need. Bodybuilding.com has a lot of resources for you to build a diet with.

What FF said. Don't second guess if it is so important to you.

In my opinion, you should be eating at about 3800 calories per day.

I wasn't able to download your Word links.

Vegetarian drumsticks?

agreed, your caloric intake does seem a little bit high considering your current weight, but again, theres more factors that weigh in that I can't take into consideration as much as your trainer can. My opinion, sit down with your trainer and explain to him your current diet, and how you react to certain foods and amounts. You may only need to drop that down to 4k to notice a little bit of difference without sacrificing any muscle. My guess is, you wont have any issue dropping the calories and noticing any muscle loss, just fat.
Agreed with the calorie calculators, easy way to find out YOUR body's needs! Start there.

Cheers

Thanks guys! Could you link me to one of these calculators that you are talking about? I have been using FitDay....I am really serious about this. I haven't been gaining much and I am now consuming 3900 calories. I dropped from the 4600. I just don't get it. People say it's not possible to be big and built as a vegetarian but I know of people out there who are even VEGAN and have tons of muscle.

Here are pictures of FitDay 5 (3300 calories) and FitDay 7 (4700 calories). Don't know why you couldn't click them.

FitDay 5 (3300 calories): http://postimage.org/image/3lgqdlmc7/ and http://postimage.org/image/u47naxc8j/

FitDay 7 (4700 calories): http://postimage.org/image/jq873t6cl/ and http://postimage.org/image/e5vpt67hh/

NOW WHAT I AM EATING:

FitDay 9 (3900 calories): http://postimage.org/image/5gpjxiy9h/ and http://postimage.org/image/ckl1f3mn9/

Yeah you can find them here > http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calculators.htm