I hadn't heard about what freckles suggested, but it makes sense and is worth considering. Also keep in mind that you lost 18 lbs in 5 months, which is fairly fast IMO (but it depends on a lot of factors, like what your weight was before that, for how long, etc).

But I think if you do a slow and steady bulk (about a 1 lb gain a month) you should be good. Since your body fat % looks pretty low that's pretty much the only option. You definitely don't want to cut obviously. You could recomp (just eat at maintenance) if you wanted, and it sounds like you're kind of doing that now since you're slowing increasing calories. In reality, you'll probably be at maintenance for a few months anyway because it takes some time to figure out your true maintenance.

Yeah it seems kinda fast....how much did you have to drop your calories in order to lose the weight in that period of time? Is 100 lbs uncharted territory for you, or did you weigh that much in the past? The reason I ask, is because if you suddenly dropped 18 lbs in 5 mths by severely cutting calories (like below 1200 or thereabouts), it might be a bit of a shock to your body to suddenly start putting the weight back on. But in any case, slow and steady gains should be good. I definitely thinking gaining is a good idea, but you'll just have to gauge how your body responds to the calorie increases. Every person is different. Personally, my body does not respond at all to quick and sudden changes. I have to take things very slow and steady. But other people are able to make changes and adjust quickly.

I can definitely vouch for recomping as being a bit of a waste of time in most cases. I think it can work though in a couple scenarios- 1. you're a newbie lifter or 2. you're significantly overweight/overfat. For me, I think it worked when I started strength training 2 yrs ago. But then a year ago, I continued with the recomping for 6 months and saw little to no progress. It wasn't until I started bulking in Jan. of this year that I saw more progress.

I would probably focus on consistently eating 1400 calories every day for a couple months and see how that affects your body. And definitely keep lifting Since you were sometimes below 1400 previously (and you were doing a ton of cardio), it's going to take a little while for your body to adjust. And the last thing you want to do is put the weight back on quickly, which might trigger you to do a drastic cut. If you want to do cardio, just do 20-30 min HIIT sessions (high-intensity intervals). But you don't have to do cardio. Just see how your body responds. So I guess you could think of it as a slow bulk. Just let your body acclimate and then continue making small, slow increases. I think you'll make some good progress!

It won't really make a difference if you increase by 100 calories each week or if you immediately bump up to your bulking calories now. The only real difference is time. Do you want to get on with it and start your bulk now? Or do you want to wait another month? It's up to you.

In my case, I just bumped it up immediately. I think it was AliceDark that said it best on your wall - you can only tolerate the bulking frame of mind for so long. So why not get on with it and start building muscle now?

Like I said before, you will gain some water weight in the beginning. And you'll probably feel fluffy for your entire bulk. But it's all temporary.

Once you make a decision, commit to it and don't waiver. Just do it!