gbrice75 - Very apt question to which I am still attempting to discern an answer - and you are right, obviously if I had goals of 7% bodyfat even a couple hundred extra calories would be a bad thing, whereas at 12% it might not be a big deal, if that is what you were getting at.
My only goal right now is getting larger, leaner muscle, which is tougher at my age than it was a decade ago.