Borderline Fat Noob Checking in

45 YO male In SSLP for 2 months with decent progress; no missed reps yet.

Started low and moved up slow to acclimate aging joints and joint pain. Increments up 10 lbs on DL, 5 lbs on SQ and 2.5 on presses.
Currently at - SQ 215, BP 155, PR 105, DL 240, PC 105

193 lbs, 6’0" 20-22% BF(estimated), 37" waist.

up from 182 lbs 23% BF(estimated).

Current Macros 50-30-20 @ 3200 kcal / day ( I’m not really restricting or overloading calories, just eating till satiety.)

Goals: 11-15% body fat and 32" waist.

My question: When is a good time to start a calorie deficit to reduce BF and waist size? I understand that doing so will hurt strength gains, so my guess would be sometime late intermediate stage when most of the easy gains are done?
Assuming that I stay at 37" waist and 20% BF would the current nutrition plan be OK for the foreseeable future?

Thanks in advance! Great site you guys have here–keep it up!

I think if you’re enjoying your LP, have no medical conditions that would benefit from weight loss, and your goals are to be leaner and have a lower waist (probably not going to get to 32")- then do it after LP.