Work-out limbo

[CTeen]

I'm stuck.

I had been making great progress then just hit a wall which has lasted much too long. I've been through a lot of life changes recently, and that has negatively impacted my workouts. So now I'm in limbo, not 'lean' and not 'fat' and not sure where to go from here.

Would eating at maintenance, or slightly above maintenance, help me lose some of the fat and slowly gain muscle? Or would it just be better overall to bulk then cut, or vice-versa? Just need an outside opinion, as sometimes thats what you need.

Stats to give you an idea:

Chest 43"
Legs 25.5"
Arms 14.5"
Waist 35"

Wt: 185lbs
Ht: 6'

And additionally, what kind of routines do you prefer? I was doing HST for awhile with great results, then hit a plateau and switched to HIIT for awhile. But again, now at another wall. Advice please!

[inflated]

If you want to put on size, keep your diet clean but eat more and more often. More healthy foods, stay away from processed crap, fruit juices that contain high fructose corn syrup, fast foods, and too many starchy foods. Stick to vegetables and fairly lean protein sources for most of your diet. Eggs are a great bulking food, eat the whole egg not just the whites. 6 meals a day minimum, it gets your metabolism moving and is better for lean mass than 3 meals a day.

Workout, try a core power workout. Deadlifts, squats, bench press should be the foundation of your workouts and you should always work your abdominals, strong abs are necessary if you lift heavy weight. Try a 20 rep squat routine--incredibly difficult but it will definitely get you growing again.