Calorie surplus vital for recovery?

So I have an interesting observation.

I was following a high fat diet with carbs only backloaded after the workout. While it has allowed me to lean out significantly; with a loss of around 10 pounds, my libido/ erections really took a beating.
However, yesterday I just had a big ass cheat day where I indulged in pizza, burgers and ice cream. I thought I may have pushed myself back.
However, today as I woke up, I could recall more erotic dreaming, my morning wood returned, although still fairly weak, and I feel the need to watch porn and fap, which was non-existent for the past 2,3 weeks when I was on the diet.

So this begs the question, should we be on a calorie surplus if we are to recover from pfs?

I think a mild calorie surplus yes. As caloric defecit I think is very harsh for androgens and more for aesthetics. I rocked 8% bf for 5+ years but I put on a bit more mass 10-12% to give me adrenals a rest. (I maintaned my lean look with 330mg+ of caffeine daily to blunt my appetite.)

Ah. An overthinker, my favourite. Hey bud, I don't know anything about your physical state or anything so this is just a hypothesis but here goes.

You're not listening to your body and misinterpreting the signals. The amount of calories isn't actually the issue here but the amount of carbs you're getting and you sir are not getting enough. Try a different style of backloading or adjust the frequency of your back loads. Carbs and dht are actually bros.

Have a study: Nutrition-endocrine interactions: induction of reciprocal changes in the delta 4-5 alpha-reduction of testosterone and the cytochrome P-450-dependent oxidation of estradiol by dietary macronutrients in man.

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Originally Posted by jacknap

I think a mild calorie surplus yes. As caloric defecit I think is very harsh for androgens and more for aesthetics. I rocked 8% bf for 5+ years but I put on a bit more mass 10-12% to give me adrenals a rest. (I maintaned my lean look with 330mg+ of caffeine daily to blunt my appetite.)

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Jack what do you mean? what is the relation between bf, mass and the adrenals?

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Originally Posted by Holistic

Jack what do you mean? what is the relation between bf, mass and the adrenals?

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the golden ratio for males i think is 10-12% lower than 10 and it's taxing on adrenals because it's hard to maintain without stims. Too high and you're increasing aromatase which increases estrogen.

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Originally Posted by jacknap

the golden ratio for males i think is 10-12% lower than 10 and it's taxing on adrenals because it's hard to maintain without stims. Too high and you're increasing aromatase which increases estrogen.

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Yeah...keeping body fat below 10% is pretty un-natural in general. The guys you see on the front of Mens fitness magazines work up to that physique weeks leading up to the shoot only. After that, they put it back on. You have to think, you're actually fighting nature in this regards.