New to this...food choices :)

Hey peeps 😊 I am new to this website. I gained about 25 lbs over the span of almost 15 months, a lot from muscle, but did not know what I was really doing, i.e. training and eating ‘normally’. From what I see in the questions people ask on here, I realize they give measurements, so I am providing you with my current measurements below. Basically, I want to start cutting because I want much more definition come May/June 2021. I am estimating my daily caloric intake (based on a 500kcal deficit calculated from the sticky notes) to circa 1,700 kcals per day. Now my question is…given that I’m going to be in a serious cutting stage (aiming to lose 20 lbs in 6 months), do macronutrients on food labels represent the ‘real’ assessment of the particular food? For instance, someone suggested to curb my cravings, for instance, with an ice-cream called Halo Top, which basically is around 350 kcals per pint. However, is it possible for a whole pint to have just 350 kcals, when a normal pint of Haagen Dasz usually uses 1k+ of my daily caloric intake? Should I steer away from foods like this Halo Top for example, so that I am perfectly safe where it comes to calories consumed in a day? Do you trust labels? Should I go for only ‘safe food’, like chicken breast, eggs and oatmeal every day?

I know my questions might be weird, but I am trying to take this seriously and maybe someday relatively soon even bulk, cut and compete in some fitness competition.

Thank you for your time! Measurements are listed below:

Weight: 188 lbs
Height: 5 ft 10 inches
Bodyfat: I have no clue, but I’d have to say around 20% from sample pics

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