Help me understand

Do you have a food scale, and if so are you weighing everything you eat? A lot of your entries are identical, like the 4 oz of tyson chicken. Normally there should be fluctuations in the weights.

If you aren't weighing food, you are probably eating more than you think you are.

I'm curious about your logging. You have a lot of 'guesses' and repeated entries. For instance, last Monday, you have several of the same item logged at the same meal in the same amount. You should be able to go in and change the serving size of the item to make it easier to log. I also noticed on day last week where you had fast food entries from different restaurants in the same meal. Is that what really happened, or are you just guessing or looking for a close match?

Since you're just starting and looking for beginner's advice, the first thing I would tell you is to look at the stickies on the top of the community forum pages and spend some time in the "Getting Started" section. There is a lot of great advice. Also - but a food scale. I think that mine was $12 on Amazon, but they are very easy to find at a Wal Mart or Target. Don't stress out too much about hitting your calorie goals *yet*. If you can, great, but it's probably worth taking the time to just learn how to accurately log and get a good feel for what your current eating habits are. For a week or so, just log EVERYTHING that you eat or drink, no matter what it is, so that you can get a better idea of how much you're actually consuming. The next step is to adjust from there. Depending on how much you have to lose, set MFP goals to lose 1-2 Lbs per week and then look at which foods you already eat and consider how they fit into your goals. You don't have to change anything about the type of food you eat unless you want to and you find that eating differently satisfies you more. You do have to eat less than you are now. That's it - super easy formula. Eat less than your body burns off on a consistent basis, and you'll be off to a great start.

Edit to Add: you seem to eat a lot of chicken and broccoli. Do you actually like them that much? You don't have to eat them if you don't .

The other thing, perhaps the most important thing, is to HAVE PATIENCE. Weight gain doesn't happen overnight and it won't come off immediately, either. But, if you have patience and stick with I even when you feel like it's not working fast enough, you'll be amazed at how it's suddenly 4 or 5 months later and you're so much lighter than you were.

Best of luck!

ETA 2: My diary is open, feel free to take a peek. I've had an unusual amount of over calorie days lately, but you'll be able to see what I mean by 'log everything'.

Number 1 Priority! Get a food scale. You can pick up a decent one at Walmart for less than $20. Once you have one and start weighing, you'll be on your way. I'm 20 years your senior, weigh 265 (now -- have seen the wrong side of 290 from time to time) and about the same height. I'm losing consistently eating 500 calories less each day than my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) as calculated at https://tdeecalculator.net/. 500 calories a day is 3500 per week or a setting to lose 1 pound per week.

1420 sounds low to me. I put your stats in https://tdeecalculator.net/ and your TDEE-500 would be 1826 calories a day. What I do is probably overkill but I recalculate every time I lose a new pound so I am now down to 1570 calories per day. You, like me, just starting out, are likely to lose more than the pound a week. I've lost 14 pounds in the last six weeks.

The advantage of setting a reasonable calorie number like this is that it is easier to stay with that level without being too hungry. I did go "off the reservation" last night with Chinese take out and other snacks but that was the first time in over two weeks. Most days I am fully satisfied within my calorie limit.

My diary is open so feel free to browse. It's not complete for yesterday but every other day is there in full. When you see a big list of ingredients and are curious what I made, just give a holler. Cooking is my hobby so there's lots of variety -- but I'm also a lazy cook so nothing very complex. Tonight is marinated chicken, cucumber & yogurt salad, and summer squash. A light supper partially in response to last nights monstrous General Tso's chicken, pork fried rice, and egg roll extravaganza.

I personally would add more healthy fats in like avocado and nuts. What kind of vegetables and fruits do you like? I would start "crowding out" the candy and fast food. When you have an auto immune disorder you really need to watch your diet in order to relieve your symptoms. You are also at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Lean protein, low fat dairy, whole grains, healthy fats and a rainbow of vegetables and some fruit are where you would start to see a drop in weight and some improvement in your health. Not all calories are created equal. You can swap out ice cream for plain greek yogurt with fresh or frozen fruit. It may be hard at first but soon you will be craving healthy food,not soda and candy. Baby steps. I'm not saying to do it all at once. I wish you the best with your health and your journey.

Oh! It looks like you drink 300 calories worth of soda at a time. If you really need soda, I'd recommend switching to diet colas like Coke Zero. Zero calories in your drinks means 300 calories you can use eating solid food.