Whatever look you are most happiest with is the one you should strive for and it sounds like you are content.
Do you ingest a lot of calories still or did you back them down?
I believe I address this several years ago. Heck, I address this several MINUTES ago, on your thread.
I don't eat nearly as much as I did back in the day, for multiple reasons:
1) I'm older.
2) I'm not as active, outside the gym (i.e. no pinch-running for the the middle-age guys with bad knees in my church's softball league).
3) My metabolism isn't quite as fast.
Do I need 5000+ calories to grow now? No.
DID I need 5000+ to grow nearly 20 years ago? To borrow from the source of this thread's title,
"YEAH, BUDDY!!!" That seems to be a common theme with a lot of pro bodybuilders, from the oft-romantized 90s era. In their earlier years, they were ingesting enough food to feed a family of 5, with leftovers (i.e. Mike Francois, the late Nasser El Sonbaty, Dave Hughes, Jim Quinn, Gary Strydom).
But, once they get to a certain size, maintenance (even future growth) can be done with fewer calories.
My protein intake now is in the low-to-mid 200s. Back in the day, I'd go through that before dinner, easily exceeding 300 grams before day's end.