The 2500 cal surplus threw me for a loop at first. I'm glad you clarified eventually that the 2500 cal was over the course of a week, not per day. But it's a good example of a problem I find a lot of fitness advice/influencer videos where they tend to talk in a way that doesn't usually assume someone has no idea what they are talking about. For example, I have been doing relatively light training for a decent amount of time, but I still think of calories in terms of per day rather than per week, perhaps with more intense training and more experience then per week makes more sense, but to the average person they only ever really think of it in terms of "daily calorie intake".
I was very skinny, weight 60kg with 1,79m - and for three years I tried exercise with no food plan. And I still have no food plan, but got on 74kg - how? Smoothies. Not bought from the store, way too much sugar, make your own. Buy a blender (1L) and then throw Protein powder (neutral, this way you have no Stevia, sugar or sucralose), almond milk, and then fruits as you like; banana, strawberry, blueberries, you can even put a cookie in there. Blend your food, this way, I was able to reach my calorie limit and finally gain weight - and muscles.
I know how you feel. My best advice is to add more calorically dense foods, that way you don’t have to eat as much. Steak instead of chicken breast. Peanut butter. Add a spoonful of olive oil to protein shakes or smoothies. Eat some nuts. Drink whole milk. I recently switched to sourdough bread for my sandwiches instead of whole wheat.
Geez, every time he says 2500 calories above maintenance I want to slap my head, for how misleading it sounds. I know he explained it's per week, but usually peeps talk about per day. Because nobody counts their weekly calories, or am I wrong?
You're right. He should be saying 200 to 400 calories per day as you should target calories on a daily basis instead messing it up at the end of the week and then have to eat 1500 less calories on the last day to hit the 2500 surplus