Should I Increase Calories If I'm Not Gaining Weight

If you're asking 'should i increase calories if i'm not gaining weight,' the answer is an immediate yes. But the real solution isn't just eating one more chicken breast; it's about ending the guesswork and using simple math to guarantee results.

Key Takeaways

• If the scale has not moved in two weeks, you must increase your daily calories by 300-500 to start gaining weight.
• You are not gaining weight because you are not in a consistent calorie surplus, even if you feel like you are eating a lot.
• Before adding calories, track your current food intake for 7 days to find your true maintenance calorie number.
• The target rate for sustainable muscle gain is 0.5 to 1.0 pounds of body weight per week. Any faster, and you risk gaining excess fat.
• Liquid calories from shakes, milk, and oils are the most effective way to increase your intake without feeling constantly full.
• Weigh yourself daily but only pay attention to the weekly average weight, as daily fluctuations from water and sodium will hide your true progress.

Why You're Not Gaining Weight (Even If You Feel Full)

It’s one of the most maddening experiences in fitness. You're eating until you’re uncomfortable, you’re lifting heavy, and for two, three, or even four weeks, the number on the scale has not changed. You start to think you're a "hardgainer" or have a uniquely fast metabolism.

Let's be direct: you are not gaining weight for one reason. You are not in a calorie surplus.

Energy balance is a law of physics. To gain weight, you must consume more energy (calories) than your body expends. There are no exceptions. If the scale isn't moving up, you are eating at your maintenance level, no matter how much food it feels like.

Most people who struggle to gain weight make two critical errors:

1. They overestimate how much they eat. A huge lunch and dinner can feel like a massive amount of food. But if you skipped breakfast and had no snacks, your total for the day could easily still be at maintenance. The feeling of fullness does not equal a calorie surplus.
2. They underestimate how many calories they burn. An active job, fidgeting, and daily walking all add up. Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is likely higher than you think. A 180-pound man who works a desk job and lifts weights 3 times a week needs around 2,500 calories just to maintain his weight. If he works a construction job, that number can jump to 3,500 or more.

The term "hardgainer" is a myth. People who call themselves hardgainers are simply people who have a poor appetite, a high activity level, and a habit of misjudging their calorie intake. It's a math problem, not a genetic curse.

Stop guessing at your calories.

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The Biggest Mistake: "Eating More" Without Tracking

Telling someone who isn't gaining weight to "just eat more" is like telling someone in debt to "just spend less." It's directionally correct but completely useless without a system.

Guessing does not work. You cannot manage what you do not measure.

Imagine trying to build a house without a tape measure. You could guess the length of each board, but the final structure would be unstable and crooked. Your body is the same. Without tracking your calories, you are guessing every single day.

A "big scoop" of peanut butter can be 150 calories or it can be 400 calories. A "splash" of olive oil in the pan can be 40 calories or 200. These small, untracked additions or omissions are the difference between a surplus and maintenance.

When you don't track, your daily intake is inconsistent. You might eat 3,000 calories on Monday, feel full, and then unconsciously eat only 2,200 on Tuesday. Your weekly average ends up right back at your maintenance level of 2,600, and you gain zero weight. You're left frustrated, believing you're eating a lot because you remember the 3,000-calorie day, but the math tells the real story.

Tracking removes all emotion and guesswork. It provides cold, hard data. With data, you can make intelligent adjustments. Without it, you're just hoping for a different result while doing the same thing.

How to Increase Calories the Right Way (A 3-Step Plan)

Stop guessing and start building. Follow this exact three-step process. It works every time because it's based on your body's actual data, not a generic online calculator.

Step 1: Find Your True Maintenance Calories

Before you can add, you need to know your baseline. For the next 7 days, do not change how you eat. Your only job is to track and weigh everything that you consume. Use an app like Mofilo, MyFitnessPal, or Cronometer.

Be brutally honest. Log the oil you cook with, the sugar in your coffee, the handful of almonds you grabbed. At the end of 7 days, add up the total calories for the week and divide by 7. This is your average daily intake.

Also, weigh yourself every morning after using the bathroom and before eating or drinking. At the end of the week, calculate your average weight. If your weekly average weight was stable, your average daily calorie intake is your real-world maintenance number. This number is 100 times more accurate than any online calculator.

Step 2: Create a Smart Surplus

Now you have your starting point. Take your maintenance number and add 300 to 500 calories. This is your new daily target.

• If your maintenance was 2,600 calories, your new target is 2,900-3,100 calories.

Why this range? A 300-500 calorie surplus is the sweet spot. It's large enough to provide combinatie resources for muscle growth but small enough to minimize fat gain. A larger surplus, like 1,000+ calories, will make the scale move faster, but a much higher percentage of that gain will be body fat, which you'll just have to diet off later.

Step 3: Track, Weigh, and Adjust

Continue tracking your intake to ensure you hit your new target of 2,900-3,100 calories every day. Consistency is everything.

Continue weighing yourself daily and calculating the weekly average. After two weeks in your new surplus, assess the change in your average weight.

• If you gained 0.5-1.0 lbs per week: Perfect. This is the target. Keep your calories the same and continue.
• If you gained less than 0.5 lbs per week: You are still not eating enough. Add another 200-300 calories to your daily target and repeat the process for two weeks.
• If you gained more than 1.5 lbs per week: Your surplus is too aggressive. Decrease your daily target by 200-300 calories to reduce fat gain.

This is a dynamic process. As you gain weight, your maintenance calories will slowly increase. You must continue to track and adjust to ensure you stay in that productive surplus.

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What to Expect and How to Troubleshoot

Knowing the plan is one thing; navigating the real-world challenges is another. Here’s what to expect and how to solve common problems.

Realistic Timeline

Aiming for a 0.5-1.0 pound gain per week means a 10-pound weight gain will take 10 to 20 weeks. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Trying to rush the process by eating 5,000 calories a day from day one is the fastest way to get fat, not muscular. Be patient and trust the process of slow, steady, controlled gains.

Problem: "I Feel Too Full to Eat More"

This is the most common barrier. The solution is not to eat more volume, but more density. Stop trying to eat more chicken breast and broccoli. Instead, add calorie-dense foods that take up less space.

• Liquid Calories: This is your secret weapon. A shake with 1 cup of whole milk (150 cal), 2 tbsp peanut butter (190 cal), 1 scoop of protein (120 cal), and a banana (100 cal) is a quick 560 calories that goes down easy.
• Fats are Your Friend: Add a tablespoon of olive oil (120 cal) to your protein shake or drizzle it over vegetables. Eat more nuts, seeds, and avocados.
• Switch Your Sources: Swap chicken breast for chicken thighs. Swap 99% lean ground turkey for 85/15 ground beef. Choose whole milk over skim milk.

Problem: "I'm Gaining Too Much Fat"

If your waist measurement is increasing faster than your chest and shoulder measurements, your surplus is too large. Reduce your daily calories by 200-300 and hold for two weeks. Also, ensure two other things are in place:

1. Protein Intake: Are you eating at least 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (about 0.8g per pound)? If not, your body lacks the building blocks to synthesize new muscle tissue, and excess calories are more likely to be stored as fat.
2. Training Stimulus: Are you on a structured progressive overload program? You must give your muscles a reason to grow. If your training is random, the extra calories have nowhere to go.

Problem: "The Scale Still Isn't Moving!"

If you've added 300-500 calories and the scale hasn't budged after two weeks, one of two things is happening.

First, you are not tracking accurately. Go back over your logs. Are you logging the creamer in your coffee? The sauces on your food? The 3 beers you had on Friday? These untracked items can easily erase a 300-calorie surplus. Be honest with your log.

Second, your activity level may have unconsciously increased. Sometimes when we eat more, we have more energy and fidget or walk more, burning off the extra calories. If you are 100% certain your tracking is perfect, then you simply need to add another 200-300 calories to your daily target.

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast should I gain weight when bulking?

Aim to gain between 0.5% and 1% of your body weight per week. For a 150-pound person, this is 0.75 to 1.5 pounds per week. A more conservative target of 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per week is ideal for minimizing fat gain.

Do I need a mass gainer supplement?

No, you do not need a mass gainer. They are just a convenient, powdered form of calories, typically maltodextrin (a carb) and whey protein. You can easily make your own, healthier version in a blender with oats, protein powder, milk, and peanut butter for a fraction of the cost.

What macros should I eat to gain lean weight?

First, hit your calorie target. Second, hit your protein target of 1.6-2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight. After that, fill in the rest of your calories with carbohydrates and fats. A good starting point is 20-30% of total calories from fat, with the remainder from carbs.

How long should I stay in a calorie surplus?

You should stay in a surplus for as long as you are making progress without accumulating an uncomfortable amount of body fat. A typical bulking phase lasts 4-6 months, followed by a 2-3 month cutting phase to shed the excess fat and reveal the new muscle.

Conclusion

Stop wondering if you should increase your calories. The answer is yes. The real work is to stop guessing, start tracking, and methodically apply a 300-500 calorie surplus. This is the only path to breaking your plateau and finally building the size and strength you're working for.