what do u mean by "lean up now, and lift later, or build first?" if you mean you are not going to lift while you lean down, dont at all do that, you need to lift and do cardio while you diet, you can get soem tips on lifting and cardio over at teh training board.
as far as diet go for your bodyweight X 15, then subtract 500. that should be the total amount of calories you should be eating each day. split those calories into a 50/30/20 macronutrient breakdown(50%ofcalories/30%ofcalories/etc...) of protein/carbs/fat. try to get most of your protein from foods such as chicken, fish, tuna, turkey, egg whites; but avoid red meat as the saturated fat is not good when trying to cut down; throw some shakes in there also for postworkout and other times if u need it over food, also it looksl ike you are in school still so u might want to try a low carb high protein bar for convenience that you can eat during school. for your carbs, focus on low gi carbs such as oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes; also try to get them in your first couple meals(you should be eating around 6 a day, every three hours). postworkout you should consume simple sugars, this is the only time. for fats use flaxseed oil. if u need anymore advice jsut post.
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