cutting diet?!

Hi all,

First of all, my goal is mainly to cut fat. i don't really want to decrease
strength, but I don't care if I decrease my muscle mass. I'm clocking in at
227lbs, and have been at around this weight for around a year. I did a
couple of fat % tests and they said my body fat was 21 to 23 %. I'm 30yrs
old. Based on that, how many calories should I be consuming a day to get
into cutting mode?

My workout schedule:
(cardio is mostly high intensity)

monday: chest. flat bench dumbells, incline dumbell / smith / hammer
strength, dips. Cardio: 1/2 hour
Tuesday: biceps. cardio 1/2 hour
wed: cardio
thursday: chest again
friday: deadlifts.

may have one day off in the middle there sometimes.

diet:

-breakfast: one protein bar (320 cals) or a muffin!
-Lunch: some frozen meals that I bought at Walmart, comes to around 600
calories
-Snack (around 4pm): protein bar

Then I go work out, get there at 6:15pm, there for around 1:30 to 2 hours,
go home and eat dinner, which is usually rice / beans, and some type of
meat. Comes to around 700 calories I'd say.


While I have stayed at the same weight for a year, I do think I've gained a
lot of muscle. The shirts fit tighter, but the pants fit the same if not a
bit looser.. went down to size 34.

Fat is still there though.. What should I adjust?

cheers!

I would personally do back and biceps on Tuesday since the back is a
large muscle group that will burn calories to some extent. I would
also recommed doing exercises like pulldown, chinups, rows, etc to
balance out your chest routine so that your chest and back are more
balanced. I applaud the deadlifts that you do, I think deadlifts are a
great exercise. I have heard that large exercises like deadlift and
squat increase growth hormone production so this should help cut fat to
some extent I would think.
I would recommend only using frozen Walmart meals as a last resort
and would instead recommend making yourself healthy lunches and
possibly freezing them for later use if that is more convenient for
you. Most store bought frozen meals have a lot of junk in them. I
would recommend eating whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables, and
lean meats. I would switch to whole brown rice if you are currently
eating processed white rice. As far as calories go I would say eat
what you feel you need and don't eat when you aren't hungry. Eat until
you are satisfied and not until you are full.

Good luck,
James