re: PUTTHEFORKDOWN V. 2024- daily nutrition thread

I spent the last 13 months not being able to lift due to elbow pain. Having surgery Wed to repair torn tendon in arm. Will be 8 to 12 weeks before I can begin truly rehabbing.

I ate and drank like shite over the holidays. Weighed in Dec 26th at 193 lbs at 5'7" determined to change things and not wait until Jan 1 to begin. I downloaded lose it app and tracked cals last week. Weighed in morning of Jan 1 at 186 lbs. I've been walking 3.5 to 4.5 miles a day and walking is about the only thing I'll be able to do until surgery heals up and I get cleared to do more. Goal is to be at 172 lbs by April 11. At that point I should be able to begin lifting enough to rebuild some lost muscle mass.

I am part of that "horrible diet over the holidays" club and finding myself needing to lose some weight. My last inbody scan had me at 23.4% bf (yes, I'm a fatty) and needing to lose around 25ish lbs of body fat which would put me around 250.

Stats:
Weight 276.8
SMM: 122.1
BFM: 64.8

I guess my question would be do I start the cutting now in order to lose the fast or do I get back into lifting heavy until about March then join the masses in shedding body fat?

Starting now lose 25 lbs over 21 weeks
Start in March lose 25 lbs over 13 weeks

171/156/151
My start day was Nov 1, 2021. Calorie counting and meticulous food logging. Wish I had a body comp from when I started, but unfortunately don't. Had one today (InBody scan) and in last 4 weeks went from 14.3 to 12.2% body fat, -3lbs in that time period and +0.5 lbs skeletal muscle mass. No keto or other named diet - just staying at a calorie deficit, eating good solid food and making sure at least 150 gm protein a day.

On the fence about a workout plan. I get my cardio fitness walking my dog every morning and making at least 100 flights of stairs in my building at work. Tennis once or twice a week and 5-6 days in the gym. I'm a novice and wish I had started one of the plans I see floating around here, but what I'm doing seems to be working, so I guess I keep going until I hit a wall. I feel like I'm doing the right lifts - workouts centered around bench, trap bar DL and squats - but need to shore up the sets and reps plan. I have chest/shoulders days and a legs/arms days and work abs every time I'm in the gym.