Thread: Should i increase my calories while cutting?

Hello guys.

I need your advice on something i've been worrying about for a month now.

I haven't been to the gym for a year before the 1/4/2021 (which is the date is started hitting the gym again)

The thing is that i gained lots of fat during the one year break due to lots of junk food (i regret it)

I started with 2500 calories a day but i wanted to lose fat asap and and went down to 2000 calories a day really fast, the problem is that i didn't gain any strength before going down to 2000 calories a day and now i can barely bench 135lbs and im rrally afraid to go less than 2000 calories.

My question is, should i start at 2500 again and lower the calories slowly depending on my weight or should i just keep eating 2000 calories a day and go down after a plateau?

Here is a photo of my first ans only cut (i know it's no big deal but i didn't know how to cut properly)

I'm 166cm and 91 kg now

In the photo i was 69 kg