Doubts regarding WOD nutrition + planning

Hello there!

I've been using MFP to track my calories and macros since the ending of December of 2017. Ever since then, I've set a goal of 1500 calories per day and for the most part I've been quite successful at maintaining it. However, I'd like to step it up a notch and start (as you might have guessed by the message board we're in) gaining weight by building some lean muscle. Even though there was a fair amount of sporadic research and look-around I've done in the past, there are still some questions I came around after starting this new goal that I'd like to clear out.

Firstly, I wonder whether it is more time-efficient when it comes to results to start by going on a cut, get lean, and then start putting the work in and amping up your calories to cover the resources needed by your body to build muscle, or if alternatively it doesn't really matter whether you go on a cut before you start doing all that jazz and the results would still turn up (after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, of course).

Secondly, my main concern is regarding the topic of nutrition (just like most of the members of this community). During the past 8 months, I've tried staying at that 1500 calorie limit while maximising the protein intake (which is of about 75 grams) and consuming clean carbs (such as fruit and whole-grain bread, for instance). Now, facing myself with the prospect of adding exercise to complete my diet, I am somewhat afraid that the 1500 calories I've restricted myself to consume aren't enough to build lean muscle and provide the building blocks that are required for this task; Conversely, I am also somewhat afraid that consuming calories over that limit would destroy any chances of results due to the accumulation of body fat (at least while my BMR adjusts to the new intake). I was wondering whether reverse-dieting would be a good strategy when it comes to slight caloric increments, especially when coupled with exercise 4 times a week, which makes it so that I am usually on a calorie deficit on most of my WODs.

In third place, I'd like some input when it comes to the planning of my workout routine. I've been changing these every few weeks so that working out doesn't become tedious and so that I'm also able to target other areas. My current plan consists of the following sets:

20x5 sit-up punches
20x5 sitting punches
20x5 flutter kicks
10x5 back extensions
10x5 back stretches
10x5 mountain climbers
——-
10x5 mountain climbers
20x5 knees-to-elbows
20x5 jab-cross-squat
10x5 basic burpees
10x5 tricep dips
10x5 plank-jack burpees

2-minute rest between sets

As you can tell, most of it is cardio-based with some strength training targeting primarily the abs. Would you consider this an effective workout, or do you have any particular exercises/training regimens that you have tried and that ended up being effective? Let me know, I'd love to have a chat with you!

Finally, I'd like to tackle pre and post-workout meals. So far, I've been doing my workouts with a pre-workout and *when necessary* a post-workout meal. My pre meal usually consists of about 20g of peanut butter with 100g of banana on a whole-wheat toast, which totals about 258 calories with 9g of protein, 31 grams of carbs, 17g of sugar and 11g of fats. While this makes for a great source of clean carbs, one of the other options I've been considering would be 70g of Weetabix Crunch, which delivers about double the protein and a few more carbs, while minimising the fat (which, btw, I know is NOT an enemy. . My main concern here lies within the more protein=less clean carbs / less protein=more clean carbs dilemma. I am aware that when it comes to doing cardio the best regimen is a fasted workout, however, since I'm on a cut, I fear that a fasted workout wouldn't allow me to perform at my peak levels and therefore not maximise the time put into the WOD, so a pre-workout meal rounds things out (or at least that's the placebo effect). Any thoughts?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read the post (I know it is quite extensive, but so are my doubts!). I'd really appreciate any feedback and would love to have a debate with you guys on the other side.

Cheers!