Is this weight gain normal?
I am a 22 year old man and I have struggled with weight all of my life. I am 5'11" and currently weigh 215 pounds. The lowest I have ever weighed was 175 pounds. Regularly my weight swings between 220 and 175 pounds in a matter of months with little to no change in my diet. The only way I can stay at 175 pounds is to spend hours a day in the gym (almost twice as much as my friends do), which is fun, but can wear me down after a few months. And even when I am the most active (the gym, heavily aerobic sports etc.) if I eat more than 1800 calories a day I gain weight. Even the smallest change can affect me. One semester I went from 5 days of rigorous workouts to 4 due to a new class schedule, by the middle of the semester I had gained 30 pounds. Since I was 16 I have stayed away from fast food, other snack foods, and I rarely eat out. I currently feel pathetic because of my poor weight but I am also concerned that my quest for fitness is taking over my life to the point that I no longer have time for anything else. I do have symptoms of hypothyroidism, and a family history of it but I feel like blaming this on a theoretical thyroid problem is a cop out and a poor excuse, and that this is just a moral failing on my part and it is making me depressed. But I can't help but wonder if my experience is normal. IIN?