when cutting, this helped me retain a lot of strength:
Before right before bed, out about 1-1.5 cups of cottage cheese in a bowl, add about 2 oz. water to it....and then add a scoop of whey protein. This little mixture may sound so simple it is dumb....but heres the facts behind it....
casein (cottage cheese) when it is hit by the acids in your stomach is turned into a "gel" and this makes it a natural time realased fomula. Also casein is very high in glutamine (as is the whey) and this in itself is an anti-catabolic nutrient. Also glutamine has been shown to increase GH secretion in mature males (males over the age of 30)....and GH burns fat, adds muscle, etc...
The Whey is, of course, a fast-acting protein and goes to work immediatley.
This combo gives you the best of both worlds....and it almost has no carbs, maybe 8-12g at the most.
you can take your ZMA or whatever about 30 mins on an empty stomach before you eat this because ZMA takes only about 15-25 mins to absorb (or so I've read).
And cardio as was said before, do in the morning w/some ECA to get the ole metabolism rollin....also, do the cardio on an empty stomach, Ijust wanted to say that in case for some odd reason you didn't know.
May your future cutting yield great definition and vascularity.
LG.