Male, 22 y/o, 200 lbs, 5'11 ft, Mostly want to lose a crap load of fat fast but...
It's good to see that you know to aim for FAT loss, and not weight loss. A good fitness program will result in more fat loss than weight loss. I don't know how many times I've been in the gym and some hausfrau is on the Stairmaster complaining about how she has been unable to lose any weight in three months of working out. I ask her how her clothes are fitting now, and they always admit they've lost a couple of dress sizes. It's like there is a total mental disconnect there that doesn't allow them to realize progress unless they see it on the scales, no matter that they have totally reshaped their body. Muscle weighs more than fat, so resistance exercise will often result in no net loss on the scales.
...have been getting quite a bit of conflicting information. some say only cardio 20 intense minutes a day, obviously no crap food, 6 meals a day. Others tell me eat healthy but as much as possible and lots of weight resistance with low reps but high weight.
Cardio... as much as you can handle. The 20 minute thing is the minimum requirement for cardio conditioning. It is not a limit that you need to fear exceeding. For fat burning and serious cardio conditioning (pulse lowering), you need a lot more than 20 mins, three times a week. Half an hour to an hour a day, five days a week is not at all unreasonable for that goal. It's almost impossible to overdo cardio. Bicycle and treadmill are good, but the Stairmaster is arguably the best all around device for cardio. It tones the legs and gluteals unlike anything else, while burning maximum calories.
Another good cardio option is to enroll in a karate school. If it is a good program with a good instructor, they will wear you out for a solid hour a day. It's hard to find a better cardio workout than the martial arts. At the same time, it works wonders for your flexibility. Even if you learn nothing about self-defense, you certainly haven't wasted your time!
Resistance... moderate weight and high reps is for toning and conditioning. Doing that in continuous cycles, with only very short rest periods, adds to your cardio, so this is probably what is best for your situation. Heavy weights and low reps is for maximum muscle gain. Ideally, a program involves a mix of the two techniques to keep the muscles from adapting and memorizing the routine, which stunts your gains.
If you're going to do cardio five times a week, then you might as well split up your weight training to do that five days a week to. Large muscle groups one day, then smaller muscle groups on alternate days. Or you can split it up with upper body one day and lower body on alternate days. Whatever feels good for you. If your schedule prohibits you from working out five days a week, then you'll have to work all muscle groups on the same day. The important thing is to have at least 24 hours of recovery time between workouts of the same muscle group. Unlike cardio, you can overdo weight training and kill your gains. There are several resources online that will personalize a weight program for you for free simply by filling in your statistics and goals.
http://www.freetrainers.com/ is one of them. I'd start there to get a foundation to work from. They also cover nutrition, which was my lowest scores in nursing school, so I'll leave that to someone else, lol. But you're definitely on the right track with 6 small, high protein portions a day. If you are not fueling the muscles properly, your progress will be seriously impeded.
You're looking at a good two hours in the gym each workout, at the least. Bring some Gatorade with you because hydration is extremely important for optimal muscle function and growth.
Good luck!
