Newbie Diet Questions

ok, I consider myself a newbie here even though ive been reading here for a few years,
current BF=15%, aiming to get down to about 10%, looking to get slightly bigger, not looking to compete or break any records, fairly strong for my size, im not big, but not skinny, used to be a bit of a fat bastard util about 5 years ago, now not at all

for me to lose 20% of my bodyweight, I read all the articles about carb cycling, meal frequenceis, clean carbs, good proteins, xg of protein per bodyweight etc. etc.

fast fwd a few years, body fat was stuck at 15%, weights lifted, ever so gradually increasing, size no change at all

however, recently, I decided for a change, and changed gyms, have chatted to a few personal trainers and training guns at the gym (including a doctor of physiology who trains athletes), and now the advice ive been given by all of them is pretty much opposite to what ive learnt and been told at my other gym of 5 years,

basically, ive been told, meal frequency, carb cycling, not eating late at night, eating clean is all a waste of time, and its all about calories in vs out

I understand calories in vs out is a fundamental, but i dont agree that eating one massive meal of all your calories 1 hour before bed is the same as 4 meals per day spread across to increase metabolism, is the same thing

ive basically been recommened to go about 200 calories below my BMR (measured professionally of course), but their advice was 200 below BMR doesnt matter if you train once per week, or 6 times per week, stay on that calorie level,

so im back to square one and still very confused,

anybody point me in the right direction please

All of the questions you’re asking are answered in these forums, if you try to spend more time looking through them and searching you will find literally all of the answers you need. Calories in vs. calories out is king for losing fat but every aspect of your nutrition is extremely important for your overall health.

That’s a good start, CT’s carb cycling codex. Very easy to search through the forums and find food choices, timing, training plans, everything you need to reach your goals.

don’t overcomplicate things.

if you want to lose weight you have to create a caloric deficit somehow.

Measure how much you are eating (average over a week or so), eat ~300-500 kcal less than that and train normally for a few weeks while watching your bodyweight.

Everything else is more or less a matter of personal preference. Most people adjust their caloric intake (mostly by adjusting carbs) depending on their activity level, i.e. on a heavy training day one might consume ~100 g of carbs more than on a rest day. Or on a rest day you skip a whole meal and get a protein shake and a piece of fruit instead.