this can't be right

so, i've started my cutting diet.  i'm writing down everything i eat, and recording the various calories, carbs, and protein.  all the calorie calcuators say i need over 2500 calories to lose weight.  over the past few days, i have averaged only 1800 calories, with 180 g carbs, 50 g fat, and 180 g protein.  the thing is, i don't feel hungry or like i'm in a severe deficit at.  i'm eating 6 meals a day.  so my question is, what is going on?  is this healthy?  i feel great.  i'm not hungry.  and my bench just went up a few pounds.  but everything i'm reading tells me i'm doing it wrong.  whats up?  thanks.  oh, here are my stats.

17 years
186 lbs
6'2"
estimated 11-13% bodyfat

i am also taking a creatine and nitric oxide mix.  i lift 4 times a week, and run 3x.

If you don't have any bad feelings...
The calorie calculators are not always right, if you are fine with this amount of energy, good for you, we all react differently with the diets !
Are you loosing weight at least ?

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

not weight, thats not my goal, but my waist is skinnier, as is my face, so good things seem to be coming.

Ditto Nics comment.
 
You need to be careful not to drop the calories too low.  Dropping the cals lower than necessary causes the body to adapt in strange ways.
 
Also the carbs are the fuel for the body and if you don't have enough...then muscle and dietary protein are the next thing it goes after.
 
You are at 38% carbs now which is going a bit low and that could be brough up to 40%
 
You are also at 38% protein which is going a bit high and the combo of low carb and high protein flushes water from the system.  That could make you look leaner without a weight change.
 
Fat is at 24% which is good.
You are not too far from good balances.
 
My recommendation is to keep tracking your body composition. 
If you start to lose muscle or show a rise in fat then the calories are too low.
 
Then just bring them up 250 calories in a similar balance...
P 35%
C 40%
F 25%

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the reason i'm getting all that protein, is so i can help prevent muscle loss, so i won't have to start from rock bottom when i get my fat down.  i have upped my carbs, though i am trying to stay at the same level of calories.

I understand, good work.
 
Like I was saying, if you lower the calories too low the body gets resistant to giving up fat...so watch out for that!
 
Be sure to vary your training OFTEN!!! To keep the losses regular!
 
Keep us posted!!

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would carb cycling be good?  by this i mean low carb day, high carb day, medium carb day, etc?

would carb cycling be good?

Good to help lose weight?
No. 
 
On low carb days the body would just use muscle to meet energy needs adn drop water.  Then you would be inefficient for fat burning.  Water is needed to burn fat.
 
Use cardio and muscle to burn the fat.
There are ways, once the diet and training are burning FAT, to tweak more fat loss through diet.

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so...maybe this isn't so great.  i feel exhausted all the time, and just want to sprawl on the couch.  i figure i'm training too hard, and not getting enough calories, so i'm upping them, along with carbs, protein, and fat.

Make sure you get days off from training!

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so i just heard of a new technique, and i was wondering if it would work (sorry, i'm impatient and like immediate results).  in theory it sounds good.  eat and train like you are bulking for 5 days, then immediatly switch to a reduced calorie intake.  you body will still have the higher metabolism, burning more calories, thus more fat loss.  do a couple cycles of this.  what do you think?

so i just heard of a new technique, and i was wondering if it would work (sorry, i'm impatient and like immediate results).

 
This is not the best thing to want immediate results with.
 
Exactly what results are you wanting?  To trim off the bodyfat?
186 lbs
11-13% BF
20.5-24 pounds of fat
162- 165.5 pounds lean mass
 
If you want to get to 9% or 16 pounds of Body fat
That is a loss of 4-8 pounds of fat.
That can take 4-8 weeks.
 
If you dial in your diet and dont mess around you can do it faster, but doing it faster, you will likely lose some muscle on the way.  Do it nice and easy and you can GAIN muscle as you go!  That s what I like!!!
 

eat and train like you are bulking for 5 days, then immediatly switch to a reduced calorie intake.  you body will still have the higher metabolism, burning more calories, thus more fat loss.  do a couple cycles of this.  what do you think?

Well...if you eat in a surplus, gain some muscle and excess calories are stored as fat.  Then if you eat in a deficit, extra energy comes from muscle and maybe fat if you have everything dialed in...the result is your overall metabolism stays the same.  IF you just drop 500 cals and have adequate carbs and protein...then it might give you a metabolic caloric deficit for a day or two...like in a  wave form, the body shoots for the medium of the ups and downs, it can equalize pretty fast.
 
There are ways to do this so it works, but you need to understand HOW to do that to make it work.
 
You can just do the standard way and be at 9% in four weeks or you can try out that new exciting super quick way and see how it goes.
 
Be sure to let us know what you do...by the way, that is a very old technique...though new to you.  Called calorie cycling and by other names.  Like I said it has some specific "rules" that make it work at its best.  Generally it is used near the middle, more toward the end of a cutting cycle to bust off the last few bits of fat before a competition.
 
Since you are coming off a restrictive calorie diet...there will be resistance to giving up fat until you level out your eating at an appropriate maintenance level with a good nutrient balance.
 
And to get more from your cut into the single digits...
Drop sugars, give up dairy, no artificial flavours, colors or preservatives, no alcohol.
 
Keep the training under an hour
Do not over train
Don't miss a meal. 
Don't go low carb on us. 
12-15 cups water minimum a day!!!
Don't let your calories get behind your muscle gains.
Multivitamin to support growth!
8 hours sleep a night
Cut out processed foods
get pre and post work out nutrition:

Here is a general rule for replenishing glycogen and sparing muscle pre-post workout:
0.2 g/lb high glycemic index carbs (juices/fruit, etc)
0.1 g/lb protein from whey (or Just 5 grams of BCAA or 15 grams of EAAs)
Sip 1 serving of the above before/during and 1 after training

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yeah, i guess i'll just stick to the basic diet.  seems simplest.  hey, i appreciate your patience and explaining everything to me.  this is the first time i've ever dieted seriously.  what is the most accurate measure of bodyfat?  so i can get it done now, and also at the end to see what i've gained, or i guess lost.

On the topic of Body fat measurement...
THIS is how you will insure you are on track with whatever you want to accomplish!!! 
 
The methods YOU can use to test your body fat yourself are unreliable on a one-time basis.  They are better used to track changes over time on an ongoing basis. 

Test every 1-3 weeks at the same time of day...and use the same scale to take your weight. 
Here is a calculator that allows you to use skinfold calipers (3 or 7 point test) or tape measure
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

Here is the best price I have found to date for good cheap accurate calipers:
skinfold Calipers <--- link to place on amazon where it is cheapest (go for 17.99 price!)

This is the only low cost caliper accurate enough to be used for professional measurements and is the most widely used professional caliper in the world. Its primary disadvantage is that it does not look professional, high tech or sophisticated. It is easy to use with convenient pistol grip and trigger, and it is spring-loaded to insure consistent measurements. It is made of ABS plastic and is the most durable of all calipers.

Once your diet and training are in place, measure your body composition and go a week following your plan.  Take circumference measurements of your muscles.

At the end of the week (and each week) check your body composition again - always at the same time of day with the same method and tools. 

--If at first you are just gaining fat, then revamp your training it is obviously not sufficient to create muscle gains, also look at adjusting your caloric intake down 250.
--If you are gaining fat and muscle, stay where you are! or if it is too much fat, you can drop calories 250 or add a bit of cardio.
--If you are just gaining muscle go another week as is.
--If you gain muscle and lose fat but gain no weight (or lose weight), stay where you are
--If you are gaining muscle and losing fat...while gaining weight stay where you are, you are at an optimal balance, muscle will burn more fat.
--If you are just losing fat stay where you are, then revamp your training it is obviously not sufficient to create muscle gains! 
--If at first you are just losing muscle, adjust your caloric intake up 500 calories.
--If you are losing fat and muscle, adjust your caloric intake up 500 calories.
--If you are neither gaining nor losing muscle or fat...you are at maintenance.  revamp your training it is obviously not sufficient to create muscle gains,  maybe drop 250 calories.

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