Please help my diet once again(fitday updates)

[Ramcononer]

currently trying to shed some bf%
Current Stats are
23yo
5'11''
lifting 3 years
recently started cardio 3-4 days a week 20-30 mins on treadmill
214lbs. last time bf% was checked it was 14.2% Finished a bulker and now beginning to lose bf. Id estimate 16.5% This is TODAY'S Macro's From Fitday.com

grams cals %total
Total: 2201
Fat: 73 653 31%
Sat: 19 173 8%
Poly: 17 149 7%
Mono: 27 247 12%
Carbs: 131 425 20%
Fiber: 25 0 0%
Protein: 251 1002 48%
1.5-2.5 Gallons of water a day 4-5 days a week lifting

so in short fat/carbs/protein = 31/20/48 Total 2201 calories.
Now my question is this: How does this look to maintain muscle while shedding bf and how do you like this diet?..Ive gotten my strenth and size to something im proud of and hate losing muscle come cut time.
Also what kind of Cardio would you recommend?

 

[Ramcononer]

The foods in the above posted went like this

Breakfast 6:25am
turkey,4 eggwhites on whole wheat

Meal 2
Turkey Sandwich on half whole wheat bagel w/ yellow mustard

Meal 3
Cup of Lean Chili w/beans

Meal 4
4 4oz Chicken breast with .35cup of brown rice

Snack
handfull of Shelled Sunflower seeds

Meal 5
extra lean ground turkey with .25 cup pinto and black beans

All meals spaced approx 2.5-3.5 hours apart.

 

[Ramcononer]

No love over here huh?

 

[Kabeetz]

The best way to maintain muscle, if you're going to go all natural specifically, is do to it gradually... IMHO.

Going straight to 2200 from a bulk cycle or anything say 3,500+ is a minimum of 1,300 cals a day x7 is 9,100 calories a week less eating PLUS any cardio you are doing.

You're gonna sacrafice a lot of muscle that way early on. Go gradual.. cut 150 cals a week from your current diet, see where the sweet spot for you is.... and do the cardio sparingly as it is very catabolic. Once your body adjusts to the lower intake, if you find that your strength is maintaining... then start increasing the cardio.

And then, only enough to see the result you're looking for.

Too much cardio + too little calories = muscle loss.

Also, switch your third and fourth meals... try to time your carbs so u're not having any after say 3pm, maybe later if your body is not carb sensitive.

Also it is important that you feed yourself post-workout as usual, regardless of when you work out. That would NOT be a time to cut out carbs or calories.

 

[Ramcononer]

to be honest my last bulker consisted of shit alot of the time...but I did bulk up nice. I was happy with the results...

 

[Kabeetz]

to be honest my last bulker consisted of shit alot of the time...but I did bulk up nice. I was happy with the results...

That's great! A ton of people dirty bulk quite successfully... most of the bigger people on this board and top Mr. Olympias and powerlifters eat like its going out of style.

What they don't do is cut down to 2200 calories a day the first day they decide to cut.

 

[Ramcononer]

So Gradual is the way to go?...I mean I was probably eating around 3000-4000Cals w/no cardio...thats why I didn't think 2200-2500 was too low...

 

[SgtSlaughter]

kab knows his stuff

Probably, and KNOWING what you ate on ur bulk is different... unless you're a fitday guru and and estimate all your meals within 50 cals or something

I'm not sure how long you've been on the lowered calories... if it's been a few weeks, forget the gradual stuff.

Take pics, measurements. Stay OFF the scale (not a means of progress while cutting, you may gain some LBM who knows).

every 2 weeks assess your progress via measurements, and pics... change calories, tweak macros accordingly.

reward meal every 7 days. not a giant carb up, just a meal.

for cardio: HIIT is king (15-20 minute session is all you need). long drawn out cardio will eat muscle.

 

[Ramcononer]

good looks sarge...ive been low cal for about two weeks and gained a pound...still lifting hard and heavy.