Mostly you need to focus on total calories. Keep that as your big picture. What you do from there is fine tuning. There isn't much magic at that point that some people know that you don't. Limiting carbs after a certain time is definitely a sound idea. Your choices of carbs are important too. I do like it in this order: Veggies, thin skinned dark fruit or beans, whole grains. But if I am choosing a whole grain I would go sweet potato, oats, and then anything else.
So, yes a bagel is just plain stupid. Processed, has wheat gluten, and flour.
30/40/30 works great but so can more restricted carbs. The TNT diet from Jeff Volek is sound and lets you choose your macronutrient breakdown based on your goals. He is also probably the leading expert on low carb nutrition and performance. That is a guy that cuts through all the "bullshit" that we think we know to be true. He is one person that has scientifically studied many aspects of low carb eating. Again it doesn't have to be ketogenic either.
If you keep an open mind you can learn a lot. Also I would ditch the cardio on an empty stomach.