Need advice for a "middle-of-the-road" diet

[Colbycheez]

This is a long post so bear with me please. I am really in need of some advice. The last time I posted was a few months back in the muscle building/workout forum. I had been having some back trouble and some knee problems. So I took the good advice from wonderful members of EF and went to see a chiropractor. First visit he took some xrays and found out what was causing my back pain. Come to find out, I have a birth defect. My lowest vertebrae (L5 I think) is larger than it is supposed to be. It never fully developed and separated from my tail bone. So it turns out I have 3 joints in between my hips and my L5. One side is slightly larger which caused my hips to get some 2 inches out of alignment which was giving me a dull back pain on the left side that radiated across no matter what I did. So after 4 weeks of going to the doctor, I am feeling 110% better. I have patellar tendinitis in my knees caused by the improper hip alignment. But my knees are really starting to heal up and I am ready to really focus on building my core strength as well as overall size. I am 19 and 195 lbs at around 17-18% bf. Ideally I should just cut down but I am almost 6 foot tall and am pretty lanky. If I did drop 20 lbs of fat I would look really thin which I don't like. Winter is approaching anyways so I figured if I eat around around 3000-3300 cals on workout days and drop the intake to 2500 on non-lift days I might be able to drop a little bf while maybe gaining some lean mass. I will be lifting four days a week and doing am fasted cardio 3-4 times a week. Also, I am assuming high protein, moderate carbs, and moderate fats will give me the best results. I am really having a hard time with this decision. Will it be worth my time? What do yall think? Any help is greatly appreciated!