Ok....I'm going to start my cutting cycle tomorrow. No more bullshitting around. I haven't ever run a full, serious cutting cycle before, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.
Current stats
Age: 22
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 173
Activity level: 5 days intense exercise per week
BF%: 17 (or a little less, I think)
I went to this site to calculate my maintenance calories:
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
Maintenance calories according to formulas:
Mifflin - St Jeor Formula - 2754
Harris-Benedict Formula - 2907
Lean Mass Formula* - 2633
*This is based on the Mifflin - St Jeor Formula. It adds a person's BF% to the equation.
I'm going to lower calories down to 2000-2100/day. I'm not going to monitor macros very closely. My only goal is to keep protein intake over 250g/day. I'll be eating clean, so I expect most of my other calories will come from carbs.
Cardio will be 3-4 days a week. 20-30 minutes of running at 8:00/mile pace or faster. I might throw in some HIIT also. Lifting schedule will be MWF or MTRF.
Relevant supplements
Lean Xtreme - cortisol control
Zantrex3 - might use this...I have a lot of it and I got it for free, so..
Goals: MAINTAIN STRENGTH and get down to 8-10% BF. I don't want to go much below 160lbs, so I'll see how happy I am when I get there. I plan on losing close to 2lbs/week.
I plan on continuing the cardio even after I increase calories. Most of this fat is just from eating like shit over the past couple of years before I cleaned up my diet. I want to maintain a lower BF% while bulking. Don't want to lose track of the abs again.