personally Doug i think your diet is pretty bad and i'll tell ya why:
no veggies (seriously, do you crap more than once a week???
)
hardly any variety of fruit
waaay too much reliance on cottage cheese, milk and powders for your protien needs.
(all that dairy could possibly be contributing to your gut expansion too) you dont mention if it's fat free or whole dairy either.
too many nuts.
hardly any complex carbs.
also you seem to be at cross purposes here. are you looking to gain muscle or are you cutting? please dont say YES to both either!
lastly, when you had your first measurements done were the variables consistent with when you had them done today? meaning: same day, same time of day, same tape measure, etc etc.?
but congrats on the muscle gain, imo that is pretty good for 5-6 months of work.