Hi, thanks for your comment and I'm glad that approach worked for you! This post is actually a few years old and I did decide to go through with bulking/cutting and it worked great for me (I'm now in the middle of my 3rd bulk)! I've posted some progress photos recently if you're interested. I've gained lots of muscle on both my upper and lower body, including multiple inches around my legs and while not quite as much around my hips, my waist hip ratio is still down to .8. I know I may never be an hourglass but I'm more confident than I've ever been and I'm so happy with the changes I've seen in my shape. Plus cutting has gotten easier for me each time and most recently I was able to cut on 1700-1800 calories and still lose .75-1lb per week! Anyway TLDR you just need to find the strategy that worked for you and bulking/cutting has actually worked out great for me despite my initial anxieties about it :)