Diet question:

When reading about different variations of diets and they give a percentage of protein:fat:carbs like 40:30:30 or 50:30:20, do I take that percentage from the total calories that I intend on eating. For example, say I'm wanting to consume 5000 calories, would I say 2000 calories needs to come from protein, and 1500 calories each from fat and carbs? I know this sounds dumb, but I just don't really understand. Also, what are your prefernces on dieting? Looking to lean out some while losing minimal muscle obtained from bulking this winter. I'm only about ~10-10.5%bf now. Thanks in advance.

Yes you would take the percentage from the total calories that you intend on eating (@ least that's how I do it). It can be difficult to do that, so you can take the ratio of carb-pro-fats of whatever you are eating and figure out the # of calories of each that way. I personally like the 60:20:20, but if you are trying to lose some bulk you may want to lessen the carbs and up the protein. So your suggestion of 50:30:20 would be ok for this. The good news is you don't have a lot of bodyfat to start off with. Good luck with your diet.

What is everyone's opinion on a target caloric intake/day?

IT depends on your goals and stats...what do you weigh?

I am 185lbs. 5'10.

Your resting metabolic rate would be 1963 based on your height and weight (I used 23 as your age). Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is the minimum number of calories your body needs to support its basic physiological functions, including breathing, circulating blood and all of the numerous biochemical reactions required to keep you alive. Your RMR is generally 60-75% of your total daily caloric expenditure.

Your activity level would affect the number of calories you take in each day, but without knowing that I would say that you could shoot for anywhere between 2100-2900 calories/day. This will depend on your specific activity level throughout the day. This is trying to lose the fat but keep as much muscle as possible.