Step-by-step guide on weight loss and muscle gain

Hello guys,
I wanted to share with you some golden points that I learned throughout years of weight loss and body building. After lots of reading and lots of mistakes also, I give you what is working for me and hope it makes a good foundation for your quest.

I will not go into the details of every choice I have made, so I can keep this an easy read. Feel free to ask your "whys", however

Objective: lose body fat, gain lean mass, train three days / week, make cardio an optional.

Essential stuff:
1) MyfitnessPal
2) Jason Blaha's Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 Novice Program
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/jason-blaha-ice-cream-fitness-5x5-novice-workout
3) Jefit app (http://www.jefit.com)
4) Whey powder (my choice is ON Gold Standard Milk Chocolate)
5) Scooby's calorie calculator http://scoobysworkshop.com/weight-loss-meal-planner/
6) A body fat measurement tool (I use an extremely cheap body scale with bf estimation from ebay. Calipers are the most accurate, but you don't need your true body fat, you just need to track down the progress).

Stuff I've used and it helps a lot
1) Casein powder (my choice is ON Casein Creamy Vanilla)
2) Intra-workout BCAA (my choice is MusclePharm AMINO-1)
3) Multivitamin for men with Zync (my choice is ADAM men from Now Foods)
4) Vibram five-fingers EL-X
5) Quest Nutrition protein bars (Choco Chip Dough is the best)
6) Going to the gym first thing in the morning


Stuff I've used but can't say for sure if it works
1) Krealkalyn (creatine)

Step 1 : Find out your body fat. If you want to look good naked you are aiming for 10-15% body fat. If you are above 15%, then you are aiming for a caloric restriction.

Step 2: Learn how to lift weights perfectly, particularly how to squat. Study Jason's novice program and get excellent form on every exercise. Do not modify it and be constant, do not skip gym. Increase weight by a very small amount every time you can.

Step 3: Go to the gym on Mon-Wed-Fri or Tue-Thur-Sat. I prefer the second one because I go early in the morning and this way I can do it just on the Tue-Thur, whereas on Sat (day off at work) I can wake up a bit later. Do not go four times/week even if you feel like it. If you are training properly you really need every day of rest as it's planned.

Step 4: Plan your diet for the next six months, not next week. You want to start with your maintenance level for one week. Then you want to decrease 300 calories every 10 days, until you are around 1200-1400 calories. Then you calculate your NEW maintenance level (which will be lower since you will have lost weight) and you slowly increase to slightly below that. You take a week or two of break, then if you want to lose more you start again.

Step 5: Learn how much protein you need daily and keep it the same amount throughout the entire diet. For males it's 1g/pound/daily. Yes, even when you are at 1600 calories, you should try to eat the same proteins that you did when you were at 2500. This is the key to lose fat, not muscles.
Later in the diet you will find yourself relying more on protein powders and Quest bars to achieve this.
Customize MYFP to reflect your daily protein target.

Step 6: Cardio is optional. If you do it, do it for pleasure, when you have time and don't stress about it. You'll get lean anyways. But do not eat back any calories from your cardio estimations, because they are very inaccurate.

I hope this helps