Am I over thinking this diet thing?

Lean gains is what I do. I think keto is fine for losing weight but not optimal for gaining muscle

So I think lean gains is the approach you should take but with really high protein like martin has his actual clients do. Think 1.5 to almost 2 grams per pound of body weight.

But one thing you are going to have to understand is, it's not gonnna happen overnight. The D.C. Training approach would be faster but you will put on more fat also.

Let's put it this way, watched what I ate by tracking macros almost the whole last year, lifted heavy as hell and pushed my strength on all the major lifts and pretty focused on nothing but barbell and db lifts as I lift at home with only a few machines. I gained a whole damn 11 lbs of muscle in a damn year. That's less than a pound a month.

Think about that, pounding away in the gym 3-4 times a week, week after week, month after month to gain a whole 1 lbs a month. I have done this for almost 36 months With the last 20 or so really consistent. Now granted quite a bit of that I was cutting but in the last 22 months, in the last 36 months I have gained a whole 20 lbs of muscle.

All of this and I have an advantage being that I am on TRT for life so my hormones don't flucuate like a normal person. My levels are about the same as normal 35 year old though even towards low end of scale.

I say all this for you to understand building muscle without packing on huge amounts of fat is not easy at all and takes lots of time and patience. 8-10 lbs of muscle built then kept over a year is a great pace unless you are new and doesn't sound like you are.

You should get a complete hormone panel, seriously. It seems pretty general that bulking equals getting fatter if your hormones are out of whack, especially post 30.

Otherwise, I am a fan of bulking only if you are sub-12% BF. The conversion of T to E by body fat is too much of an issue at higher BF%.