Diva Taunia's Backstage Pass Official Blog

HUGE, HUGE APOLOGIES (AND THANKS)! Radio show - 11/23

I have to extend HUGE apologies to my listeners!  I mistakenly did NOT change the length of the show (as I thought I had) and got cut off about 30 minutes too early.  Therefore, I was not able to read the dedications aloud on air, to thank my features, to thank my listeners, or finish the show.

I will post the dedications here on the blog within the next day, and I'll read them on next week's show on 11/30. 

I really wanted to mention how very grateful I am to all of you for your support...for listening to the show, watching my youtube channel, reading the blog, and generally just being really supportive.  It means a lot to me, and I'm sorry that I was able to express that tonight as planned.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Cheers,
Diva Taunia

WEBSITE LINKS:

Michael Aaron Music
Michael Aaron on Youtube (Shibbopics)
Eric Hahn on Facebook
Tom/winelover215 on Facebook

11/16/09 WLS LOVELY FEATURE: YVONNE/BARIATRIC GIRL

 A lot of you out there have probably already heard of or spoken directly to Yvonne McCarthy.  Why?  Because she’s an active and prominent member of the WLS, advocating all of the wonderful and dramatic changes your life will go through post-surgery.  Yvonne is otherwise known in the WLS community as “Bariatric Girl.”

I first met Yvonne several months ago when she hosted a news segment on me for the WLS Channel News.  What I love most about her is that not only is she excited about her own post-surgery life, but she’s excited for other people too.  She said lovely things about me in the segment feature, and now I get the opportunity to do the same for her.

Yvonne is 55 yrs old (which is amazing to me, because I thought she was much, much younger) and HOT.  Seriously.  She’s blonde, vibrant, gorgeous and a super-sweetheart to boot.  She had open RNY on 3/31/01, and lost 130 lbs off of her 260 lb frame.  She’s maintained that 130 lb loss for the past 8 years, and is an inspiration to all of us that weight loss can be maintained post-surgery.

She documents her journey and other WLS-related topics on her website at bariatricgirl.com. There you can find links to her blog, YouTube page, WLS Channel and more.  She’s also a Life Coach and passionate animal lover.  She does volunteer work for WLS advocacy 24/7 and has a website and organization called RYD Obesity.

Yvonne also plays cello, guitar, and sings and is passionate about music as well.  Need some inspiration?   You’re sure to find it from this talented and passionate woman.  Go check out everyone’s favorite Bariatric Girl today!

URL REFERENCE LINKS FOR TONIGHT'S RADIO SHOW - 11/16

DIVA TAUNIA STORE:  www.divatauniastore.com

DIVA TAUNIA HOLIDAY IDOL INFO ON WEBSITE: www.divataunia.com

PAWS NEW ENGLAND:  www.pawsnewengland.com

"BIG MEDICINE" - BIG MEDICINE ON THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL

WHITE OWL WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/whiteowlru

FREE WHITE OWL "PEPPER" ALBUM DOWNLOADS: http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/4329

YVONNE ON YOUTUBE:  www.youtube.com/user/justyvonne

YVONNE ON OBESITY HELP:  http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/silverkatt/

YVONNE'S BLOG:  www.bariatricgirl.blogspot.com

SUSAN POWTER ONLINE:  http://www.susanpowteronline.com/

YALE'S RUDD CENTER :  http://www.yaleruddcenter.org

SIZE DIVERSITY AND HEALTH: http://www.sizediversityandhealth.org

BODY POSITIVE: www.bodypositive.com

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION TO PROMOTE FAT ACCEPTANCE:  http://www.naafaonline.com

HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE / LINDA BACON: http://www.lindabacon.org/

BODY POSITIVE: www.bodypositive.com

INTERNATIONAL SIZE ACCEPTANCE ASSOCIATION: http://www.size-acceptance.org/

BODY POSITIVE: www.bodypositive.com

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AGAINST OBESITY:  http://www.actionagainstobesity.com

THE OBESITY SOCIETY:  http://www.obesity.org

WLS LOVELY FEATURE: FRESHORANGINA, SAVING THE WORLD!

Imagine this: you lose a ton of weight, take a well-deserved trip to one of the most beautiful places in the world, and then you become so inspired by all of this that you decide to change your entire life and pursue something with passion. That's what happened to Carey, and that's why she was featured as the Backstage Pass Radio WLS Lovely this week.

Carey, otherwise known as freshorangina on YouTube, is from Ontario, Canada, and took a life-changing trip to Costa Rica after losing over 150 lbs. Carey had gastric bypass surgery on January 14^th of 2009 at the St. Rose De Lima hospital in Henderson, Nevada, by famed surgeon, Dr. Rutledge. Her starting weight was 302, and after only 9 months, she's already below 150 - amazing!


Her trip to Costa Rica was booked as a birthday gift for herself based on her projected weight loss. She was more active than she had ever been - hiking, swimming, zip lignin, horseback riding and more. She was inspired by the conversation projects she saw there, and decided that she could make all of the parts of her trip that she loved the most her LIFE. She decided to pursue a career path of Environmental Studies and is working towards beginning a Master's of Environmental Studies program in the Fall of 2010.

Carey's attitude is infectious with one of my favorite quotes ever: "I am no longer an observer in my own life, I'm the MVP." Backstage Pass Radio looks forward to Carey saving the world - literally. To read more about Carey and to watch her WLS journey online, please visit:

www.youtube.com/freshorangina
www.minigastricbypassrus.ning.com/profile/CareyS

WLS LOVELY FEATURE: MISSJANIEHERE - A WORK OF ART

 Ok, I admit it:  I gush way too much about how gorgeous Janie is, but gorgeous is gorgeous, and this girl is like a work of art.  Jane, otherwise known as MissJanieHere to the YouTube community is not only beautiful on the outside, but on the inside as well.  Anyone who wants a healthy dose of inspiration should definitely check out her channel.

Jane is 42 years old (although she looks about 10 years younger, and I have to hate her a little bit for that), and had her surgery on June 4, 2008 at Methodist Specialty & Transplant Hospital.  At 5’5” her start weight was 273 lbs.  She currently weighs….drum roll please….151 lbs.  YEOWZA!  She’s lost 122 lbs with the help of gastric bypass and with a whole lot of gumption.

Jane lives in Texas and has a wonderful family with her husband and three sons.  She’s a teleworker for an insurance company and is going back to school to become an elementary school teacher.  Her hobbies include reading, writing, vlogging, and she just recently signed on to administer the YouTube WLS calendar (as if she doesn’t have enough to juggle already!).

Her videos are incredibly motivational:  she is uplifting, positive, an active part of the WLS community, and she even dances and gets her groove on in her videos.  She's also in the process of creating a blog that will be made public as soon as it's finished.

For anyone going through the weight loss surgery journey, check out the wonderful missjaniehere channel:  she’s gorgeous inside and out!  For more information about Jane, please visit:

www.youtube.com/missjaniehere

10/19/09 WLS LOVELY FEATURE: NIKKI / 3FOLDUTOPIANDREAM

Like most You-Tubers, I found Nikki when I was searching (and researching) gastric bypass. Nikki’s channel is refreshing:  she tells it like it is.  Sometimes that’s not pretty, but it’s always honest.   Known as 3folduptopiandream on YouTube, she’s a must-see if you’re looking for inspiration.

Nikki had her surgery on 8/22/07 with a start weight of 267 lbs.  She’s currently maintaining an average weight of 170 lbs, which is an impressive 95 lb weight loss.  Her surgery was performed by Dr. Bryan Freeman at The Freeman & Co Center of Excellence in Anniston, AL.

What I love about Nikki’s videos is that she is real.  She talks about the emotional and physical struggles that post-op patients can go through and offers real and honest advice.  But don’t think she’s all about the struggles:  there’s lots of fun stuff too, including her love of music and product suggestions and reviews.

Nikki is in her senior year currently doing a double major in Biology and Pyschology.  Her career path goalis to graduate and work as a surgical physician’s assistant.

You can find out more information about Nikki/3folduptopian dream at the following sites:

www.youtube.com/3foldutopiandream
www.tattooedgirl.livejournal.com
www.twitter.com/nikkihay
myspace.com/spankadelic
www.facebook.com/nikkihay

RESOURCES & LINKS FROM TONIGHT'S RADIO SHOW

Hello, Lovelies!

Thanks so much for tuning in tonight.  I think this was a topic that really hit home with a lot of us, and it was great to hear from you all.   I threw out a TON of URLs tonight, so I wanted to follow-up with those for you all here.  (Please note the New Music Feature and WLS Feature reviews will be up within in the next few days.)  Everything you need:

• DIVA TAUNIA WEBSITE
• DIVA TAUNIA "VIRTUAL VOICE LESSONS" INFO PAGE (also, use the dropdown menu for more info)
• NASHUA ELECTROLYSIS
  
• RADIO SHOW RSS FEED (to hear archived info)
• NEW MUSIC FEATURE:  KOTADAMA WEBSITE
• WLS LOVELY FEATURE:  NIKKI / 3FOLDUTOPIANDREAM
• WLS CHANNEL'S CHEF DAVE (wls friendly recipes)
  
• THE WORLD ACCORDING TO EGGFACE BLOG (wls friendly recipes)
• POUCH FRIENDLY (wls friendly recipes - AJ & Rebecca)
• MANDY'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL (maddsmarie)

THE THINGS PEOPLE SAY: NEGATIVE COMMENTS DURING THE WLS PROCESS

Would LOVE for folks to comment or call-in tonight about this topic. Airs tonight, from 6-7pm EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/divatauniamusic. Call-in at (357) 847-2052. Thanks for listening!

NEW MUSIC FEATURE: Kotadama

WLS LOVELY FEATURE: Nikki/3foldutopiandream

WLS LOVELY FEATURE: HOW TO SPLIT AN ATOMX

Ok, let's just state the obvious:  he's hot.

He always has been, but even more so now.  And not just because of his outward appearance (although that's admittedly easy on the eyes), but because he's just he's just a super-supportive and nice guy.  The WLS Lovely feature for this week is the one and only Mike, otherwise knows as AtomX71 on YouTube.

Mike started his WLS journey at 415 lbs back in 2008.  At surgery time, he had already lost a good chunk of weight and was at 363 lbs.  His surgery was on December 30th 2008 at Kaiser Bariatric Surgery Center in Fremont, CA.  So far, he's lost an incredible amount of weight - he's down to 211 lbs!  His own personal goal is 210, while his surgeon's goal is 197.  I'm guessing by the time of this writing, he'll already have reached his goal.

Mike is a single dad raising his 10 yr old son, who's in 5th grade.  He works at a world leading research and development non-profit institute.  He also recently met his lovely girlfriend Emilie, who very clearly makes him incredibly happy.  It's great to see two kids in love!

Mike is developing a website called Mobile Nuptials (www.mobilenuptials.com).  The site is focused on performing wedding ceremonies for people in love, and will be launched soon.

To see Mike's incredible journey, please visit:  www.youtube.com/atomx71.

CUE STEVIE WONDER: I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU

"Is she in a coma?!"  Score points for anyone who gets that reference.

Thanks to everyone who helped make my radio debut a success!  I am lucky to have such cool people in my life and community.  And so, I shall call on you again!  Or vice-versa, actually....

LISTENER CALL-INS:  (347) 857-2052
STREAMING LIVE: www.blogtalkradio.com/divatauniamusic
TOPIC:  Dating and Love Life after Weight Loss Surgery
WLS LOVELY:  Mike / atomx71
NEW MUSIC FEATURE:  Stacie Rose

Would love for anyone post-op to call in and share their stories and about dating before AND after weight loss surgery.  Don't worry - you don't have to be at goal, you don't have to have any certain amount of weight gone yet.  I'm interested in hearing your dating experiences - good and bad. 

So give a call to say I love you.  Stevie would totally want you to.