at my wit's end

bump

I had a quick glance through a few days of your diary and here is what I am seeing. Somedays you are WAY under in calories you are not even consuming 1200. then other days you are WAY over in calories. Also your sodium more often than not is over too. So one you need to cut back on your sodium as it makes you retain water. 2. you should try hard to stay within your calorie limit everyday and eat at least 1200 or more on exercise days. Your body will hold onto all the extras when you starve it on other days. Therefore creating a weight gain. It thinks you are starving it so thinks right this day I have more cals than I need so I will store these as fat for the days I am not getting enough calories to live on. My opinion so take it for what it is worth.

It's difficult to tell from your diary, as there seem to be quite a lot of gaps (especially weekends). However, I don't know if you have Sunday as a cheat day, but if so that could account for the weight gain. A big calorie surplus like that (especially if it's eaten in one meal) can cause a large amount of fat gain and sabotage the good work you do for the rest of the week. If you also have a few drinks every weekend, those calories add up pretty quickly.

I follow the principle that even if I am going to eat something unhealthy, I still eat it in moderation so that it doesn't negate the calorie deficit I had for the previous few days.

You are doing what I tend to do.

I would say that your body is holding weight due to your erratic eating patterns.

I went back a week or so on your diary, your food intake varies between 450 cal and 3000 cal plus, with the odd unlogged day.

You are obviously quite slim, as your base cals are 1200 cal.
When you overeat to such a great extent ( ie the 2000cal Pizza, not judging we all do it occasionally, me more than others) you wipe out multiple days of good behaviour. If you are in the green 300 cal on a good day it will take you nearly 7 days to correct the 2000 cal over eat. If you are over eating like this once a week you will stay the same, which is disheartening to say the least. If you are doing this 2 days a week you will see an increase.

If you increase your exercise you will be able to eat more each day, this helps to smooth out your food cals, but I would say that you need to get your treat days under control. It is so easy to overeat, and so hard to burn it off afterwards. A bit of extra exercise and a half a pizza less and a salad may be all it takes to see you going in the direction you want.

I hope this helps

In regard to the thyroid issue, a word of caution. The TSH test is actually very reliable (it goes without saying "very reliable" is not the same as perfect), and if it is less than 3.0, you are not hypothyroid. If it is normal, but slightly higher (3-5.6 in my lab), you may be at increased risk of hypothyroidism, but it is extremely unlikely your thyroid is responsible for current symptoms. There is a lot of misleading information out there regarding thyroid deficiency, including Mary Shomon's. I would like to think my thyroid is responsible for my problems, and I could take a pill to fix it, so I get it tested every 4-5 years. So far, it's been perfect.
Chasing the wrong answer when it has already been ruled out will only delay you from finding more useful answers.

Dont feel like an idiot. We are all here for support and advice. Sometimes, it is right there, but we just dont see it. :flowerforyou:

Hey, your nutrition's not that fantastic. A lot of white bread, processed meats, processed cheese, cakes and skipped meals. Try to have more fruit and vegetables I reckon and just generally more of a variety.

Well done on the exercise though! I wish I could be motivated like that!

How do you measure calories burned?

That would be my problem without my monitor, MFP says I am burning more than I do. If I ate all those back I would be gaining for sure!