> high fat percentage lowers the testosterone levels, which is not great for gaining muscle.
Anecdotally speaking, I was able to gain muscle / increase strength just fine when I started dieting, and I was definitely above 30% fat. Even if this isn't the case, the fat should melt away quickly on a good diet, so it probably isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Even if I had only been gaining strength, that's still a good thing. So in practice this doesn't change the fact that it's a good idea to train while dieting.
That leaves just over 1000 calories to eat nutrient dense foods like broccoli and foods that bring even more protein.
(Just for fun, 1000cal of kale/broccoli aka 3kg fills all nutrient bars in cronometer except b12 and d3 and it has 70-90g protein)
Though i’m also not very convinced that we need nearly as much protein as broscientists think. If you aren’t jacked and you can’t grow on 100g protein per day at 200lbs, you aren’t covering enough of your max effort at the gym. Most people make that mistake and do grow no matter how much protein their ingest.
I was getting great results with about 110 calories worth 30 minutes after exercising (25-30g? "1 scoop" at any rate) plus creatine. I simultaneously lost a lot of fat according to the fat percentage scale at the supplement store.
It's hard to say because many overweight people already have a significant muscle mass, just those muscles are underused and hidden under the fat. When one starts to exercise and looses some weight their muscles' volume will increase with a better blood flow, and will get the proper shape and also become more prominent with less fat over them, but they'll probably not actually increase the muscle mass itself - it's just that we're now able to see them better.
I'm severely obese. Significantly less so than I was when I started fasting, but still over 35 BMI.
I think I've gained a small amount of muscle? It's definitely slowed down since before I was fasting, but lifts are progressing still. It may just be skill progression but these are simple lifts that I'm pretty familiar with (overhead press and deadlift), and I feel like I'm still gaining real strength.
I don't know how to judge muscle size really, especially since I'm losing body fat which is obviously making them look more pronounced.
I do take one "testosterone-boosting 'supplement'" (the main one). I've been running a test level of around 900.
That's basically a PED for your condition. That + protein + muscle load from lifting, means you will be gaining muscle and losing fat.
1. you have to do resistance training (lifting weights)
2. you need to consume enough protein so that it can be used to build the muscle mass (100-150g per day)
3. you limit calorie intake by skipping carbohydrates and fats - this is what your body fat can easily replace.
You probably cannot limit yourself to just one meal per day, or skipping eating some days - your body being in the "fasting mode" is the opposite of "muscle building mode".
another problem here is: high fat percentage lowers the testosterone levels, which is not great for gaining muscle. Some testosterone-boosting supplements, like zinc might be useful here.