Carbs.....how many??

No, you do NOT need that many carbs!  Yes, you need some, but you will get as much a s you need from a normal, healthy post-RNY diet since some proteins and veggies have carbs.

Do not intentionally add carbs to your diet! As you have seen, you WILL gain weight! There is no difference in how your body treats carbs after RNY.  The remaining intestine (which is what does it, not the stomach) still absorbs all the carbs you eat, and you are far enough out that, for practical purposes, you are also absorbing every calorie you eat as well. Most of us just need to be vigilant about carb intake because it is SO easy to get too many.  Have you tracked your food recently to see how many carbs you're getting? My guess is that you're probably getting around 100 as it is (and that may be too much for you). Not all carbs are created equal.  Eating green vegetables isn't goign to make you crave more green vegetables, but eating flour-based snacks (crackers, pretzels, etc.) or -- even worse, for many people -- sugar-based snacks (candy, cookies, ice cream, etc.) DOES usually make you crave more of those.

Go back to basics: high protein (and protein first at each meal, at least for a while until you get back on track), limited carbs (primarily from protein sources, with some from fruits and veggies, and VERY few from flour/sugar/rice/etc.), and lots of water.

You also don't NEED to exercise to control your weight.  What you eat contributes far more to your weight than how active you are (but being active does help, of course).

Lora

Thank you Lora.  Good advice.  I avoid sugary foods because they make me sick and that's a good thing.  I do track on Sparkpeople but not every day and I need to do that. 

I don't really get the difference between good and bad carbs as I've never tracked carbs before now. Right now I'm just limiting mine as much as possible but I'm still super early in my post op.

I'm interested in what people have to say about it though.

Look up Glycemic Index.

Broadly speaking, bad carbs are refined starches and sugars found in highly processed food: table sugar, bleached flour, high-fructose corn syrup, etc. Good carbs are intact starches and sugars found in whole food: fruit, whole wheat, vegetables, etc.

Carbs come in three categories: fiber, sugar, and starch. Generally you want to avoid carbs found in processed foods, and fiber is the best kind of carb. One reason is that our bodies are unable to digest all fiber, particularly insoluble fiber. I particularly like nuts and seeds because the carbs in them tend to be primarily fiber, but you certainly don't want to eat them in excess because they can be high in calories. Hemp and chia seeds also contain protein and high levels of omega-3s. Other good carbs are found in vegetables and whole pieces of fruit, but I try to avoid the higher carb fruits and vegetables. Beyond that, I will probably add dry beans and quinoa back into my diet, but I haven't had much of a use for them so far. There are also whole wheat products, but I put those at the bottom of the list because they tend to be more processed. They are certainly better than refined processed carbs, but I intend to limit them as much as I can.

It's exceedingly unlikely that a 1200 calorie/day energy intake wouldn't result in weight loss over time.  I'm afraid the most likely explanation is that you were eating more than you think (unless you're very petite).

At the end of the day it's about calorie restriction and energy balance.  If limiting carbohydrate intake is the easiest path for you to restrict calories then absolutely go for it; however, there is no physiological basis for carbohydrates inherently preventing weight loss over time.  You can't escape thermodynamics.