TDEE

Where did you get these numbers from? Unless you're a sedentary 100 lbs girl, it seems very unlikely that those numbers would be that low.

Maybe his metabolic fire has flamed out because he forgot to eat his breakfast.

JSG,

Try this calculator: -> IF CALC.

ETA:

My fitnesspal seems to be getting high praise around these parts.
Never tried it myself, though, so no opinion from me.
I prefer Excel over dedicated apps/websites.

Get an MFP or similar account and set it to -2# per week, and log religiously.

You obviously get plenty of exercise, just need to calibrate your caloric intake. For a lot of people if they get more exercise, and eat ad libidum this actually increases their caloric surplus.

MFP is what many/most of us use, but be warned that a lot of the user submissions are inaccurate. Double check the macro and calorie numbers against http://nutritiondata.self.com

I think most others here would say to keep doing SS, but I tend to think more specialized programs could be better if you are on a cut and more interested in aesthetics than strength building. Two bodybuilding-type programs I'm familiar with are Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine and bodybuilding.com's allpro routine.

GBR: http://forums.lylemcdonald.com/showthread.php?t=1696

All pro: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8

Both of these programs are still mass building programs, so you will need to make some adjustments to them if you are cutting. You might check out Lyle McDonald's weight training for fat loss for some ideas: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/tra...ss-part-1.html

I'm 5'6" and weighing 155-160. This link says 1966 TDEE 1639 BMR

You don't lift or have any other regular activities?

At least for me (lifting 4x/week, walking couple miles a day, other than that not active) somewhere between "very active" and "extra active" seems to give most realistic numbers.

Keep doing SS until you have to reset a bunch and have come to the end of your linear progression. This differs vastly between individuals but as someone at 200lbs who thinks they have solid form you should have quite a bit to go of linear progress. You've barely started imo. Plenty of time to think of what intermediate programming to do afterwards.

TBH I would eat at least at maintenance for now and get 200g+ daily protein, you can go on a deficit after you exhaust your linear progress. Its just more efficient for your goals.

Also just as an FYI, staying at 10% BF constantly whilst gaining lbm in future is not impossible, but its not usual put it that way. Right now it seems you are losing fat whilst gaining lean mass, that will probably not last very long. But it doesn't hurt to have difficult goals, worst thing that can happen is you don't achieve them, as long as you got near its still good.

Cheers guys much appreciated

Nope

I do want to start doing something but was unsure about starting to lift for the first time while trying to diet for the first time as well. Was also thinking of starting some cardio for general conditioning but would have to find something other than running. Basically didn't want to overwhelm myself trying to add 3 new things to my lifestyle. Figured diet first and then decide where to go next. Should I be approaching this differently?

It's a personal preference. Lots of physical activity allows you to eat more, but that's kind of a double-edged sword since it also make you hungrier. Some think it helps, but others find that increase in appetite evens it out.

But finding a hobby you enjoy could also work as a motivation. For me starting lifting has made staying consistent with diet much easier, since it's something I really enjoy doing and nutrition is a part of it. I'm a former fatty with complete lack of self discipline, but after starting lifting a bit over a year ago, I've missed my calorie/macro goals in only 2 days iirc.

If I'm cutting while eating 3.5-4k calories a day do I have to worry about my macros? The concern is usually not getting enough of each macro and not so much the actual percentages...right?

Correct + I'm unbelievably jealous

I'm jealous of your bulking ability

Cutting whilst eating 4k calories a day.

What species are you? :P

Jesus Christ.

1000 calories of cardio a day a la JonFon make a difference, depends also on what you do every day for a living.

lolz. Jonfon and I are fitbit friends and I pretty much blow him out of the water. I'm a mailman and usually do 60-70 miles a week and climb ~100 flights of stairs a day

Does it matter when I eat?

Right now I'm working out soon after waking up, usually around 6:00am. Lift MWF, cardio TTS, rest S. I have never been one for breakfast so all I have is a banana (or some other fruit) at about 8:00 before I go to work. I then don't have lunch until about noon.

I've always been under the impression that when doesn't matter but that it was the daily nutrition that mattered. But I've been reading some things that make me question that.

Right. Of course the one variable is whether you lift better on an empty stomach or need some carbs first, which is a very individual thing. Otherwise, get your calories in whenever.

on the days you lift i would try to eat a significant # of your calories postworkout but otherwise I dont think it matters that much. Just eat whenever makes you feel, perform, and look the best.

How important would you bros say cardio/conditioning is to general strength and strength gains?

Meaning for example say I improve my general cardiovascular endurance in a 1000m row from a 4m30s to a 4m0s, is there any documented carry over to a 5RM improvement to say a 6 or 7RM?

Doubt it for general cardio improvements, but I do think there's merit to longer sets of a given barbell lift to do this. I think I've been at a place where some of my stalling was because my cardio was so bad that sets of 5 were hard to finish more because of that than strength. And obviously if you can't finish sets, you're not getting the stimulus to adapt. Maybe I would've gotten similar "gains" from basic cardio as a 260lb guy, but I don't think cardio dudes getting better at cardio are going to get significant benefits.

Can anyone tell me the difference between straight-leg deadlifts and romanian deadlifts? I'm finding a *ton* of conflicting explanations across the web.

Bonus question: Am I doing a SLDL or a RDL in this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM61lkPzuR0