Below are links to several different plans to get you started. Remember the key is finding something that YOU can stick to. Not all of us can become ripped or cut on the same types of diets and not all of us can faithfully stick to the same plan. Some people crave more carbs or some people crave more fats. Figuring out a diet that works for you is not easy but through trial and error you’ll get there.
Twin Peak's Carb Cycling Diet Part I, The Basics & Cutting
Twin Peak's Carb Cycling Part II for Bulking & Lifestyle
Refeeds and Leptin
The Ultimate Diet 2.0 and The Ketogenic Diet by Lyle McDonald
High Fat/Protein, Low Carb Diet
Low Carb Female Cutting Plans
Low Carb Male Cutting Plan
Tweaks for the High Fat/Low Carb Diet
Cyclical Ketogenic Diet
Bulking with Slow Burners
Remember these are just diets that have been proven to work. You can always manipulate any ratio of Protein/Carbs/Fat to fit your needs as long as you stay in a caloric defecit.
To figure your caloric needs the best method is calculate and track 3-5 days of meals. Once you've figured what you need to maintain your bodyweight now you can figure what you need to cut. You are better to start out slow and drop cals as needed so that you have room to tweak as you go. As progress slows, you've left yourself room to drop cals as needed. Now that you have your maintainance number drop your cals by 200-300 and figure out your ratios.
The above is by far the best method to find your maintenance. However, if your not sure how to go about do this then you can always play around with some standard numbers. Remember these are for the average person so you may need to play around with it to find out what you need.
Cut - 10-13 cals per lb of bodyweight
Maintain: 13-15 cals per lb of bodyweight
Bulk: 15-18 cals per lb of bodyweight
Once you know how many cals you need to start cutting, now you can figure out your P/C/F ratio. Some of these ratios of Protein/Carbs/Fat many have successfully used are: 40/40/20, 50/20/30 or Isocaloric 33/33/33 to name a few.
Each Gram of Protein = 4 cals
Each Gram of Carbs = 4 cals
Each Gram of Fat = 9 cals
To figure this out is alot more simple than you think. For example, to follow a 40/40/20 ratio for a 200lb person.
40%
Approx: 2400 cals needed to cut
Now do the math:
2400 cals 40/40/20
40% of 2400 = 960 cals need to come from Protein
40% of 2400 = 960 cals need to come from Carbs
20% of 2400 = 480 cals need to come from Fat
Now that we know where the calories need to come from, its time to figure grams.
960 divided by 4 = 240G of Protein
960 divided by 4 = 240G of Carbs
480 divided by 9 = 53G of Fat
Then divide this up by 5 to 6 meals a day add in 3-4 servings of Green fibrous veggies and your done. Be sure that most of your fat comes from EFA's (Essential Fatty Acids - see below)
The Diets
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