Cardio on a cut?

jehavin

Hey all, I am on a cut to hopefully see some definition in my midsection. I have lost 53lbs since I started MFP 2 years ago and have seen quite a difference of definition in my overall bodyfat loss and fat loss on my legs/arms. However, I keep having stubborn fat on my torso, despite having done about 4 months of keto and losing lbs and inches. I am realistic: I have been pregnant 5 times (read: slight diastasis in my abdominal muscles and stretch marks that will never go away) and my youngest is 14 months (weaned him 2 months ago). I'm just puzzled as to how I can keep losing enough bodyfat to reveal my abdominals even though I am at a low weight for my build (125lbs at 5'5 and medium frame type).
To give you a visual of where I was when I started lifting (when I was about 160lbs) and where i am now (with that layer of stubborn belly fat) here are my pics:

Here are my details and my question about cardio: In the past 2 years, I have had a very consistent routine of lifting (moderate to heavy) 2-3x a week and doing cardio in the form of biking at least 4 times a week. However, in the last month or two, I have discovered an equivalent love of swimming and am trying to split 3 days of biking 45 min (one of those days is a 2-3 hour outdoor ride) with three 45 minute swimming sessions.
I seem to be getting conflicting info on the role of cardio in a cut. A very ripped friend told me to keep cardio steady state and to a minimum during a cut but websites say to do as much cardio (including HIIT like the swimming sprints I've been doing) as much as your energy level will allow. However, with my cut calorie load of 1400 on nonlifting days and 1600 for lifting days, I am feeling really hungry and tempted to binge despite still having a mental enthusiasm for doing something physically enjoyable 6 days of the week.

My major question is: do I keep doing my cardio, eating clean (we're talking lean protein, veggies, nuts, cheese and that's IT) and lifting like normal or cut my cardio and cut my cals even further? How long do I cut----until I am happy with the results or for a set amount of time like 6 weeks? Also, at what point do I say that my body can't go any lower in fat?

Thank you all for reading this and hopefully I can learn from your knowledge/experience with cutting.

jehavin

bump to see if any of the morning crowd might have advice?