Water weight varies naturally. You seem to have a fairly stable physique, but it is natural to fluctuate up and down with differences in salt intake and/or water intake in the days of the week.
I think the most important question is whether your knee and back feel better. That’s key. Also have you had time to check out some of the resources I posted about and learn some more?
I think in general the worst thing you can do when life is absolutely crazy is try to put a huge physique or fat loss goal on your plate. The stress you incur trying to balance life and ALSO push on your goals can make you crazy and be self defeating. The flip side of that is also true though–there is no reason to go off a healthy diet because you “feel bad” and want comfort food or “don’t have time” and so can’t eat healthy. There is also no reason to stop training hard. That’s a different big mistake people make. So, I think in the immediate term maintenance and keeping training is a good goal. While you feel like you haven’t made any progress, that’s not quite true. Rehabilitating your diet to a healthy calorie level is good, as is gaining strength. And staying consistent is a good thing regardless–as long as your habits are there and kept up, it is much easier to make progress when your life allows you to focus hard on your body (say, after you move). Patience is key.
If the bloating does not go away in a couple days and if it is not “that time of the month” then adjust carbs down a bit or activity up a bit–don’t cut calories overall.
Also, what you need to not worry about is the scale. If your waist is the same but the scale is heavier, that means you probably gained muscle not fat. In order to get stronger and get leaner, you DO have to gain muscle. And that means the scale will have to move up at some point. You need to not let it freak you out. Of course I would never recommend doing a “bulk”, but the idea of gaining muscle means the scale may move. What you don’t want to have happen is have your waist measurement move up–excepting natural monthly variations of course. Those are unavoidable.
You can change up the weight on the bar you’re lifting, you can change the exercises you’re doing, and you can change a lot of other things if you feel bored or stale.
The big picture keys I would say are: 1–don’t try to force a really big transformation in the middle of life upheaval, wait until life is at back to normal 2–stay consistent while life is going crazy 3–don’t be afraid of the scale if your measurements are still good. In fact it might be a good idea to measure your arms and legs to keep them as baseline measurements for future changes.