It's hard for most people to add mass & get lean. Basically they are 2 different things. To add muscle mass you need extra calories, to lose fat you need too few calories - I'm not saying that is impossible, just hard & many can't do it. The most common method is to either add mass first, then cut, or if you having more than enough fat already, cut down to a lower fat level, then add mass (& some fat), then cut again (repeat as often as needed).
Diet is obviously an important part of the puzzle, so the first question is which of the above do you wish to do? From there we can sort out a rough diet plan of cutting or bulking.
Next up is training. I believe in heavy (for you) weights whether cutting or bulking (obviously the weights will increase a lot more during a bulk up, than a cut). Big compound movements like squats, deadlifts, pressing & heavy pulls cause huge increases in hormone production, they make the body remodel into a better shape & aid you in carrying less fat naturally.
If you are sensitive to sodium that might explain some of your 'fat', sodium can lead to water retention & so you look smoother than you would on lower salt.
My suggestion would be, if you have time to move to a more wholefood diet. Don't change everything overnight, but start to include more food you cooked yourself, don't rely on fake meats. Buy tofu & tempeh & start using those (there are 1001 recipes for them online find one or 2 you like), beans are awesome, something like beans & quinoa (pronounced 'keen-wa' for some reason) make an great protein meal, just add a whole mountain of green veggies & you're sorted! You can get seitan has quite a bit of sodium in it, so if you're trying to lower your intake - there may be some lower sodium versions out there, or you can try gluten flour & make your own (like here) - but many commercial brands are packed with sodium, so be aware. Buckwheat is another food you might want to explore (buckwheat isn't a grain, it's a seed & not related to wheat at all) - I've found buckwheat pasta to be pretty good & it has a better nutritional profile to wheat pasta. Of course we also have protein powders to choose from so pea, hemp ,rice & soya are the most popular. I steer clear of soya simply because I eat soya products & so why not vary your amino acid profile with different sources of protein. Oh yea & good old unsweetened soya milk - this takes some getting used to for some people, but it's really low in carbs (much lower than any animal milk) & as high in protein as cow or goats milk, so you get a better drink. Just bear in mind because of the lower carbs & fat soya milk has less calories than cows milk, so if you drink say a pint, you might need a pint & a quarter to get the same calories from that.
For a basic guides on the macros I suggest check out this guide & if you need more let me know.
Sorry about the whole 7 day wait thing, we have no control over that, it's built into the board we are using, I'm guessing it stops spammers posting links to dodgy places.
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