Well, the whole cutting/bulking need different requirements thing is pretty out-dated as well. For fat loss especially, it all comes down to calories in vs calories out. What you want to do is calculate your body fat percentage. If this is your first time, i'd suggest you get an experienced trainer to measure your BF for you, someone who does this on a daily basis. Also, what you want to do for weight loss is be very smart about how you use your calories. Always remember that your metabolism is constantly adapting to everything you do. Dont add in cardio until you absolutely need to (ie when you are at your fat loss calorie goal and cant go any lower). Keep as many plateau busting/metabolism boosting tricks up your sleeve as possible. You first need to calculate your maintenance calories, this requires your lean body mass (which is why you need to know your body fat percentage), and tells you how many calories you need to maintain your weight. There are lots of calculators that do this, but specifically i would use the Harris Benedict equation. This equation factors in your basal metabolic rate plus your activity level, and is sufficiently accurate for most people's needs. Once you calculate your maintenance calories, you then need to determine how much fat you want to lose each week. I would stay between 0.5-2lbs per week (with 3600 calories = 1lb of fat), so subtract 1800-7000 calories from your weekly maintenance calories (Maintenance cals * 7) and then divide by 7. ie (7000 calories - 14000 calories)/7 = 1000, so you want to eat 1000 calories less than your maintenance each day. So once you have your cutting diet calories, you'll want to figure out your macronutrient ratios. Generally you want around 0.75g protein per pound (use your LBM if you have a high body fat%, ie >20%), and around 0.4-0.55g fat per pound of LBM. Then you just want to fill the rest with carbs (this is how you should do it for bulking too). So here is an example: I weigh around 195lbs, i have a ~16% body fat. 195*0.16 = 31.2lbs fat, 195-31 = 164lbs of lean mass. Using the general BMR equation 370 (21.6*[LBM in lb]/2.2046), i calculate my BMR to be about 1975 calories. Then calculating my maintenance calories, i take my BMR and multiply it by my activity factor (1.45), 1975*1.45 = 2864 calories. Then i take that and subtract it by 1.5lbs of fat loss per week, 2864 - (5400/7) = 2100 calories. So eating 2100 calories per day, i will lose 1.5lbs per week. :)

So then its just 0.75*195 = 146g protein, 0.4*164 = 65g fat, and 65*9 146*4= 1175 cals - 2100 = 926 calories of carbs, =230g carbs. So 145g protein, 65g fat, 230g carbs. Then adjust from there after 1-2 weeks. You should also track your weight, LBM, and BF every day if possible, as it makes it easier to adjust your diet and find patterns in diet/weight loss habits. Then i guess take those ratios and split them in to however many meals you want, such as 3-6 per day. It doesnt really matter how many meals you eat as long as you stay reasonable, and respect how much your body can process at a time (id stick to 4-6). It also doesnt really matter when you eat, be it day or evening. All that matters is calories in vs calories out.

Oh yeah, cardio isnt required for fat loss as long as you keep a strict diet. I personally do cardio because i was in pretty bad shape and my blood tests and pulmonary tests didnt show very good results. I also like cardio because it allows me to eat a diet much higher in carbs than would normally be possible, since it raises my activity factor. So do it however you want, but it is generally a lot easier for beginners to lose fat with a cardio diet plan, rather than diet alone, again mainly because you have to have a virtually perfect diet all the time to keep it up.