freaked about gaining!

I had my surgery in Nov of 09 I had a personal goal of getting to 140 I'm now 139. I'm very happy at the weight that I am now but am very scared of gaining it back. I don't do much exercise and I eat pretty normal. If I don't do the whole  super strict eating and working out is it just a given that I will gain weight back? can I just maintain living as I'm living now?

Yes, if you truly maintain the amount you're eating now, you should maintain.  The problem is as we get further out, we can eat more, and the weight may slip back on without us even realizing it.  This is why I weigh everyday fanatically.  It's easier to get 5-10 pounds back off than to let it slide into 30-40 pounds.  Just stay diligent!!

Laura

 You may be coming to the end of the malabsorption, at least as far as food goes.  That means as your intestines adjust to their new configuration they will be able to absorb more like they did before your surgery.  This may be the reason for the bounce back you hear about.  Even without changing what you eat you may gain more.  Not trying to scare you, just giving you the heads up.  You can help prevent this by monitoring your weight and adjusting your intake at the first sign of significant gain (like 5 or 10 lbs).

You will continue to maintain as long as you continue to eat just as many calories as you burn.

LadyTazz, where are you getting your info regarding malabsorbtion and RNY? We will always malabsorb. Hence why we take vitamins for the rest of our lives. Our systems have been altered. We no long use our stomach juices to aid in the breakdown and absorbtion of food before it hits the intestines. Our pouches may mature as time goes on adjusting to what and how much we can eat. But the malabsorbtion issue stays

Actually someone posted the other day about how malabsorption of calories and fat goes away as your body learns what has happened to it and makes the appropriate adjustments. Your body cannot however adjust for the vitamin loss.

My surgeon explained this to me. That is why they say RNYers lose the majority of their weight in the first 18 months. That is usually how long it takes your body to re-adjust to what has been done to it via the surgery. 

Right, but we still malabsorb our nutrients. That is why we take vitamins

Malabsorption of CALORIES (macronutrients) diminishes over time. No-one can say how much, but in general, you can expect that if you eat 10 g of protein, 10 g of sugar, and 10 g of fat at 2 years, then you will ABSORB all those grams (this would not be true of the protein and fat when you are a new op)

However the parts of the digestive system that absorb MICROnutrients (vitamins) have been bypassed, and while the body can learn how to circumvent the bypassing of intestines and absorb FOOD it cannot adapt to the loss of absorption locations for the micronutrients, so we have to take vitamins for life to make up for the malabsorption (or rather, the lack of absorption) of the vitamins.

Two different issues.

When it comes to regain, a person could easily consume (for example) 1000 calories at 1 year out and maintain, but that same 1000 calories might not have the same effect on that person at 2 years out.

My personal plan in maintenance, since I'm at or near goal, is to weigh frequently, and more importantly, to be very mindful of my clothing. If it gets tight, then it is NOT time to buy a larger size, it's time to reevaluate my diet. Am I eating too many carbs (question #1)? If I am doing good on carbs, I should then say "Am I moving my body enough?" Because ultimately it's calories used versus intake.

Right now my smallest sizes are a bit snug. I know that I need to move my body more and cut a few carbs out. I never worry about protein, and mostly never worry about fat. So if I can cut back on the carbs, that is a good thing.

It's a balancing act, but in general, unless my pants get snug (FAR more important than the number on the scale), I just LIVE my life and enjoy it.

Stupid shrinking pants.

Congrats on reaching goal!! And love the stupid shrinking pants comment