Thread: BULK OR CUT? Cant seem to figure it out

So I am 32 yrs old 5'11 and currently 170lbs..I was weighing 182 with broad shoulders and decent arms but definitely had a gut so I did an intermediate fasting last summer with 30-45min jogs every few days and after 3 months I was down to 165 and could see a few abs but lost more muscle than I wanted to and had no concept of how much protein intake per day and wasnt packing in enough calories during feeding window I guess..I hit a plateau in October or November and was discouraged so I ended up stopping the fasting and gaining more fat and somehow lost more muscle in the process..body fat on FitIndex scale is 17.6 now with abs covered and can grab a handful of fat and I was down to 16.2 at my lowest from the fast with top 2 abs showing and pretty much rock hard...weight training before and during fast was just at home 25lb dumbbell work every few days mainly just curls and then id do a bunch of pushups and hiit type stuff and still had a good amount of muscle..Im now in the gym and doing more but lost on how I should be eating and training all week including cardio to gain more muscle and get my fat down..appreciate any advice anyone has, thanks!

Originally Posted by EiFit91

Post a picture, impossible to give advice otherwise.

Here is 2019 with more fat..2nd pic 2020 I lost alot of muscle in my chest but arms I guess werent too different but after the plateau I ate like ****..3rd pic is now and I gained back some fat but must not be eating enough cause muscle is definitely sufffering...4th and 5th pics is the arm size drop...my "maintenance" was so low during the fast that I have no idea whats too little or too much..after morning workout I have oatmeal with banana and pb, protein shake, and sometimes yogurt..11 or 12pm its 3 hard boiled eggs with a salad and protein bar/almonds and then maybe another shake or yogurt and then dinner has been wide open with anything from chicken, pasta, turkey, meatloaf with potato or veggies..feel like my calories have been near 2k and protein 110-130 per day..So I basically want to get the arm size I had in the 4th pic back but without adding tons of fat..I had more fat and muscle to lose when I started in 2019 obviously so now I put myself in the middle where im currently in a surplus but I cut cardio down alot at the risk of losing muscle because idk how to properly manage this