I need some general advice and suggestions, basically across the spectrum. So, forgive the length of the following post, but I've got to explain my situation fully ;).

A few months ago I was 5'11 weighed about 262 (no clue on bf% because such concepts were vague and foreign to me at the time.) I considered myself to be uncomfortably fat, I was tired of being overweight so I did some research.

I eliminated all the bad foods, I converted to "clean" eating. I started lifting, and I kept a food log. I tried to aim for around 40/40/20 diet but I've typically been hitting about 44/35/21. (carb/prot/fat)

Anyways for a few months now I've been doing cardio every day (stationary cycling) and lifting (mostly dumbbells, barbells for a few exercises, using only a utility bench .) I'm now at about 241 lbs.

I was happy with my fat loss, but I felt that all I was really doing was making myself a smaller fat person. So I started to reevaluate my goals, did a lot of research on the net. I'm trying to now develop a plan to change my body instead of just get skinnier.

Firstly, my goals:

I don't really like the "small lean guy" body look. And I've always had a large frame, even in HS when I did wrestling and football and had a lot less fat I"ve always been a "broad" guy.

So ultimately I want to be a bigger looking guy, but not because I'm fat, I want to be heavily muscle. I want to resemble one of the "healthy looking" bodybuilders (the guys who look like they are chiseled from stone, not the guys who look like a page out of the anatomy book). Obviously this is a serious and difficult goal.

But I think I have the dedication and interest to do it. I want to transform both my life and body. I've not eaten junk foods for a few months now, I've kept to a pretty religious workout regimen (in that I consistently do it, not that I have any idea if I'm doing it right). And I feel no desire to ever start eating junk again, and I don't feel that my workouts are boring or laborious.

Basically I have to desire to sculpt myself into a very well-built person. But I don't have the knowledge or understanding of how to do so. That is where you guys come in!!

Here's the question I've got right now:

1) Is it really possible to reduce fat while I build muscle? Is it more efficient for me to just cut off a lot of fat then try to rebuild myself back up with muscle?

2) I've seen people suggesting a diet of around 2400 calories for someone who weighs about 240 like I do. The problem here is, I've been on an 1800 calorie diet since I started, and on some of my meals I'm literally *stuffing myself*, my caloric intake seems low but the foods I eat individually are low in calories so I'm eating a lot of "physical" food but not food that brings a lot of calories with it.

3) On lifting days I do cardio in the morning (as always) and then I lift weights after I get home (around 5-6 pm), because I understand the two should be separated. I also take some All the Whey (one of the best things I've found on this site, cheapest protein supplement I've been able to find for the protein value) about 30m before I lift, should I alter that?

4) I eat pretty much EXACTLY the same thing, every single day. The only real variation is I eat a certain amount of fruits and veggies each day, and I freely substitute in different veggies or different fruits.

Is this a bad strategy? I should mention I have a cheat meal/meals one day each week because I've read that helps me avoid levelling off on fat loss.

So guys, any help or advice would be greatly appreciate.

I should mention some conditions.

1) Eating healthy I'm spending about $190/month on groceries + supplements et cetra, I'm a college student so I'm on a limited budget and can't really afford to load up with tons of supplements, my multivitamins, protein, and a few others are really taxing me as is.

2) I've got a dumbbell set 10-100 lbs dumbbells (2 each), a surplus utility bench a gym was selling to get rid of (!) and an olympic bar, that's about it, and I really can't afford any drastic increases in exercise equipment.

IBasically I have to desire to sculpt myself into a very well-built person. But I don't have the knowledge or understanding of how to do so. That is where you guys come in!!

Here's the question I've got right now:

1) Is it really possible to reduce fat while I build muscle? Is it more efficient for me to just cut off a lot of fat then try to rebuild myself back up with muscle?

2) I've seen people suggesting a diet of around 2400 calories for someone who weighs about 240 like I do. The problem here is, I've been on an 1800 calorie diet since I started, and on some of my meals I'm literally *stuffing myself*, my caloric intake seems low but the foods I eat individually are low in calories so I'm eating a lot of "physical" food but not food that brings a lot of calories with it.

3) On lifting days I do cardio in the morning (as always) and then I lift weights after I get home (around 5-6 pm), because I understand the two should be separated. I also take some All the Whey (one of the best things I've found on this site, cheapest protein supplement I've been able to find for the protein value) about 30m before I lift, should I alter that?

4) I eat pretty much EXACTLY the same thing, every single day. The only real variation is I eat a certain amount of fruits and veggies each day, and I freely substitute in different veggies or different fruits.

Is this a bad strategy? I should mention I have a cheat meal/meals one day each week because I've read that helps me avoid levelling off on fat loss.

So guys, any help or advice would be greatly appreciate..

Yes, you can cut the fat and build some muscle. Keep up the weight training. Shoot for 190lbs. Nothing wrong with 1800 calories, just stay above 1200.

If you do cardio, keep it away from the weight session. You might think of not doing it on a weight training day. To build muscle, you need rest for recovery and repair.

Same meals are easy to prepare and buy, no problem. You seem to have diet working, keep up good work. Take pictures, measurements and follow %body fat.