Thick body

[TheDarkHorseAC]

Hey,

I've been working out now for around a year and I've made some pretty good muscle and strength gains so much so I'm thinking about competing in a power-lifting event one day. However, right now I'm having a bit of problem with the way my body seems to look. I'm 6'0 and from a distance I look shorter because I have this stocky kind of build to me. I've always had this thick core with love handles and my legs always touched causing there to be a difficulty finding a pair of jeans that fit me properly. My waist size , at its smallest, was probably around a 30 inches and now that I've put on a lot of muscle mass and fat it's gone up to around 36-38. This is all fairly normal as with an increase in size, but sometimes people ask me if I even lift. I have 16.5 inch arms and a big chest but I can't seem to get ripped at all... I'd be lying if I said I kept on a strict diet plan or anything and I've only really started doing around 2-3 hours a week in HIIT and I always hit super sets and stuff during lifting.

So my question really is, is what I'm going through normal and shouldn't I worry about 'getting too big' and with the right change in diet can I eventually get to a small waist and wide shoulders look? Also another strange question is will getting your bodyfat % down make your nose a little thinner lololol?