So, are you saying I should not worry about calories and just add more protein? Or, try to keep my calories about where they've been but SHIFT the mix to more protein?
I know you are really well read on different approaches, but the ONE thing you will see that fits almost every approach - increase protein.
Bodybuilders often say that you need at least 1 gram protein per pound of bodyweight to grow. This may be an overestimate, especially when a lot of that weight isn't lean tissue in some cases, but if you want to grow, you should be taking in at minimum 1 gram per pound of lean bodymass (again, to grow- minimum)
In the RFL handbook - Lyle suggests 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean bodymass just to avoid excessive muscle loss. This of course, is in a high caloric deficit, but he also doesn't expect anyone will actually grow on such a diet.
Then you have IIFYM, which doesn't care what foods you eat, as long as you (of course) hit your macros, which in most people's case involves higher protein.
And of course there are the people who will say calories don't matter at all, it is WHAT you eat; i.e.- eating 1,000 calories of broccoli doesn't have the same impact as eating 1,000 calories of twinkies - even though they are both full of carbs, etc. Of course this, IMO, is overly simplistic and ignores the fact that macros do matter and that even within macros there are chemical differences - not all carbs are equal, not all fats are equal, not all proteins are equal. But - in such a case, eating healthy foods to get higher calories will either involve some high protein foods, or you are going to be eating a TON of broccoli (bucket fulls).
If I were taking your approach to cut calories by 500 give or take below maint. - I'd usually start with 1 gram protein per pound of lean bodyweight, maybe 1.5 grams if I can get it that high. Then, the first fat I would add to that is coconut oil for a good source of MCTs - cook all that protein in it, mix it in coffee, whatever it takes to get a few tablespoons/day. The next goal would be healthy fats and fill in the blanks with whatever carbs. Carbs usually just take care of themselves.
Unfortunately, your current plus is that you enjoy what you're doing, so I don't want to change that too much - and making these changes may skew things a little more away from just enjoying it to maybe avoiding some things. What you are doing is working, so you can't really argue against it too much at this point.
