Need Help understanding how and where to progress.
Hello, I am an 18yr old m, coming onto 19 years of age. I used to be slightly overweight (around 155 pounds at 5,7) and ended up cutting a lot of weight at the very beginning of my weight-lifting journey (to around 128 pounds). Once I got consistent, I fluctuated in weight from 128-135 while going through a bit of body recomp and putting on some muscle. I am now a little over 1.5 years into consistency in the gym and in tracking calories and have notice my strength starting to stagnate. To accomodate, I began to eat in a slight surplus (around 2700 calories based off my maintenance) but have also begun to notice that my weight is starting to stagnate and I havent experieced the strength gains that people preach about when it comes to eating more. I am happy with my physique from a leaness standpoint, but when I put on a shirt it looks like I havent touched a weight in my life. Is the next step really just as simple as eating more and pushing harder in training??
For reference, I run a pplxul split with about 2 exercises per muscle group and 2-3 sets per exercise. There have also been a couple of circumstances like begging college and traveling that have stopped me from being able to track progression as standardized as a could when sticking in one spot.
If anyone has any advice or guidance from being in the same position please let me know! Just reaching out and trying to see if theres anything about my changes that resonates with anyone.