Increasing calories but not gaining / losing weight?

GainingTheGains

Im a 5'10 - 5'11, 18 year old male. Currently I am doing the PPL program six days a week. For the first couple weeks of the program I gained nearly 6 pounds, but for the past couple months I have either remained stagnant or lose a little weight. Originally I started out at 2650 cals, but as I increased to my current cals of 3000 I am still not gaining weight. I checked out the TDEE calculator featured on r/gainit just now, and according to that I need to eat about 3700 cals a day which seems pretty high. Does this sound about right for my specifications or should I continue to gradually increase my cals like I am now? I'd also like to add that I am trying to clean bulk as much as possible. So I purposely avoid foods with lots of empty carbs, saturated fats, additive sugars, etc. Is this necessary do keeping body fat to a minimum?

DancingMoosie

If you haven't gained any weight, and have actually lost some, then you are not in a surplus. It's time to increase calories. Bump them up 250 a day for a week or two to start. Track your weight with something like libra or happy scale. Watch what the graph and trend do. Aim for about .5lb a week gain. Keep adjusting calories as needed. Keeping your surplus low is more important than avoiding "empty" calories.

trigden1991

GainingTheGains wrote: »

I'd also like to add that I am trying to clean bulk as much as possible. So I purposely avoid foods with lots of empty carbs, saturated fats, additive sugars, etc. Is this necessary do keeping body fat to a minimum?

You are in a deficit and the above is bro-science. An excess of calories causes body fat, not sugar or fats.

LivingtheLeanDream

If you're losing weight you need to add more calories.

sijomial

"Does this sound about right for my specifications or should I continue to gradually increase my cals like I am now?"
Keep it simple - you aren't gaining (or even maintaining) on 3,000 so eat more. Adjust based on results not calculators.

"I'd also like to add that I am trying to clean bulk as much as possible. So I purposely avoid foods with lots of empty carbs, saturated fats, additive sugars, etc. Is this necessary do keeping body fat to a minimum?"
What a load of cobblers!
Your rate of fat gain is in relation to the size of your calorie surplus (if you manage to be in a surplus!) not particular kinds of foods.

psuLemon

If you aren't gaining on 3000, add another 300 to 500 calories. You don't need to use an online calculator to understand you just need a few more calories.