What on earth?! I gained 4 pounds this week! *sob*

Yes your sodium was way too high the last few days. Your sodium shouldnt exceed 2500 mg on any given day, and even if it goes over, it shouldnt be so many days in a row. So there is a possibility you have retained water due to your high sodium content and making the scale 5 pounds heavier.

Also, was it MFP that adviced you to be on a 2200 calorie plan? Seems kind of high to me

Do you eat in between meals, because you should be eating 5 meals per day. I see you eat after dinner, but its cookies and chocolate and thats quite a few nights, you may need to narrow that down to once a week or something like that

So, I looked at your food diary to see if I could help. It looked to me like Monday and today were the closest to your calorie count, but your sodium seems way over most days. You're drinking lots of water (Yay, especially in the heat), so perhaps some of the weight is water retention because of the sodium?

(Of course, my BA is in English, so I would totally listen to a more credible source.... lol)

I looked at your diary. What are your profile settings? I.e. how much per week, what lifestyle did you describe. Those things factor into your calorie allowance. I wasn't that far under where you are and I set mine to 2lbs a week at a sedentary lifestyle (I work in an office) and I'm allowed 1450 calories a day.

Also, over the course of a week, you exceeded the total calories by somewhere around 2800 calories. That is almost a pound in and of itself (3500 calories = pound). I would say the sodium and possibly the carbs/sugars also comes into play depending on your particular body chemistry - I know they do for me.

Check your goals on the main page (tab = goals) and make sure that your settings are right. Once that's done and you're keeping your diary, make sure you mark down all your water so you can start to see trends in what you eat and when you gain. It's a learning process. You learn what is good for you and what isn't - everyone is different and reacts to different things differently. That part might take a few weeks of experimenting

It looks like you're having a good week so far Keep it up! And I was happy to see the exercise on the diary, it gets fun after a while!!

I do not want to sound rude but you are eating horribly! On Saturday you had a 1500+ calorie MEAL. You should eat more real food and stay away from the junk food. Your diary does not sound like a diet at all more like a free for all. Once again, I am NOT trying to be rude. Good luck to you!

I agree with all the above. You are consuming too many calories and too much sodium which will cause you to retain water. This will keep you from seeing actual results on the scale. I also would like to see Carb intake on your diary as well as Fat and Sat Fat intake. Since the body metabolizes these differently I suspect your carb intake is also too high to see results. Alot of the carbs you are consuming are not the good carbs so they will negatively impact your goals. I would try to stay under the recommended carb amount and make sure they are good carbs( oats, whole grains, vegetables, fruits). You don't seem to be satisfying your appetite when you eat so definitely try to eat more protein and alot of fiber such as fruit. Aside from the nutritional value they add, the additional water intake will help keep you from retaining water. I like having a protein shake in between bigger meals since it is very low in carbs and obviously high in protein, allowing me to feel fuller longer. Just for reference, I eat about 225 gram of carbs each day its just that I eat them throughout the day and they are good carbs. Lastly, just like Jamiebee said get rid of the snacks. If they're in your house they will be eaten. Don't set yourself up for failure. Hopefully your family will embrace the positive things you are trying to do and join you in this life changing event by banning said snacks from the house. I promise you, you won't regret it! Best of luck!

I noticed you said you weighed in tonight. How soon before did you eat? The best time to weigh in is mornings right after using the restroom. I know that doesn't explain all of the 4 lbs, but a lot of the other people covered the rest of it.

Actually your calorie intake sounds fine for your height and weight. As you lose weight, MFP will adjust your cals downward as it requires fewer cals to sustain smaller bodies. The weight gain could be sodium as mentioned by others, or (and there some threads on MFP) waste weight. As far as eating healthier, if you are just starting out on your weight loss journey, it can be a struggle just to chronicle all the foods eaten. Once you see trends from your diary, you adjust to eating gradually healthier foods. Not everyone can go cold turkey. Keep it up!

Be proud that at least you wrote it all down... even the cookies & pizza. At least you are owning up to those kids of foods.... When I first started MFP, I only wrote down the days where I didn't eat everything and anything... so there's only a few days filled out in the months of May, June and July - HA!

Now that you can see how that stuff works against you/us.... maybe change won't be so hard (?)

I"m still trying to figure out how to not crave/eat junk everyday. But this site is making me more accountable. But, it's not easy when the stress hits and when the plain ol'hunger sets in .

Watermellon is in season and very tasty around here.... maybe that would be a good subsitute for cookies??
Keep logging and keep trying... we'll figure this out eventually.

It is not the weight I weighed in at 305lbs and they only gave me 1870calories a day. but I am trying to lose 2 lbs a week so that is probably why they gave you extra calories.... definitely limit the sodium intake and of course the "junk" food. Like everyone else says fruits and veggies are the best for you. It is harder at first, but once you cut out the bad foods your body will start to crave the good foods and the bad food will make you feel like poo, which they are probably doing anyway.