Sure, happy to explain (along with a gratuitous note that it’s a good idea to triple check your ken of knowledge before rushing to call something BS). Couple references for claims are below, both well known for digesting scientific articles to make them easily palatable to the general public. All numbers below are approximate estimates, but scientists have no disagreement on the qualitative conclusions based on these estimates.
Calories from burning a pound of fat: ~3600
Calorie surplus needed to store a pound of fat: ~3600
Calories from burning a pound of muscle: ~700
Calorie surplus needed to generate a pound of muscle: ~2700
Density of fat: ~0.9 compared to water
Density of muscle: ~1.1 compared to water
Consider a person who has gained say 1.2 lbs of muscle (using 2700x1.2 = 3240 C) and lost 1 pound of fat. They have done so, i.e., gained 0.2 lbs, at a calorie deficit of 3600 - 3240 = 360 C.
It’s likewise easy to show that one can either gain or lose weight at maintenance as well as show that one can lose weight in a surplus. The differential densities can be used to show that one can become smaller in size while gaining weight or bigger in size while losing weight; or to show that one can maintain weight in an overall modest surplus or deficit.
[2] Can You Build Muscle In a Calorie Deficit / Lose Fat In a Surplus? (Science ...YouTube · Jeff NippardNov 17, 2018