Diva Taunia

The toughest part of the journey is the emotional and mental part of it. Worrying, we're always worrying...aren't we? I'm almost nine years out and I've maintained almost all of my weight loss. I started at 320 and I maintain my weight between 160-165. Today I'm at 165. Some weeks I'm at 160. One summer a couple years ago, I got up to 191 again. I freaked out. FREAKED OUT. But I took a look at what I was doing and got honest with myself: I was drinking coke again, I was eating at night again, and I wasn't exercising. I changed those three things and I lost 30 lbs in 4 months. The surgery is a tool, and it's a gift. It makes being honest (above) a LOT easier as a post-op, but you still do have to keep an eye on things. But what I've found in these nine years is that the way I live my life is dramatically different now. Before I had surgery, my life was take-out and frozen foods and there was barely a fruit or vegetable in sight. Now, I cook EVERYTHING and I LOVE TO COOK! I also LOVE fruits and vegetables and my fridge is packed with them. I dance, swim, and walk my dog now. Life just changes a lot post-op and maintenance becomes easier because of the changes in your life. You're not the same person you were before. So while you may have heard stories of people gaining weight back, I hope my story of maintaining for almost a decade (ok, I'm pushing it a little bit...lol) gives you something positive to look forward too. And believe me, my story is just one of MANY! I promise!

I am almost nine years out and I have an odd relationship with dairy products. Things I don't do well with: Regular Milk Ice Cream Frozen Yogurt (Gives me the shakes, almost like a pre-dumping syndrome type of situation.) Lactaid is better, but not great. I tend to avoid these things all-together. Things I do just fine with: Cottage cheese Greek yogurt (love!) Regular cheeses (double love!) I just make sure I get enough Calcium in my diet and with my supplements. I thought my life would be over without ice cream, but I actually don't even really miss it. I miss Cereal and milk more than I miss ice cream!

I'm having trouble editing my profile and keep getting an error message on a number of different pages. I'm getting these two error messages: "Bad Gateway" and "nginx". I've tried using both Google Chrome and Firefox and the same thing happens. I've also cleared my cache and tried for several days now. Any idea what's going on? Anyone else having this problem? Thanks for any help!

Hi Everyone! First - apologies for my empty profile. I'm getting an error when I try to edit and update this this morning. Next, I wanted to let you know that The Backstage Pass Radio Program is coming back to the air on Friday, October 7th at 7:00pm PST and our first featured guest is CARNIE WILSON! We'll also have Antonia Namnath from the WLSFA on as well and I'll have my first-ever super-fabulous surprise new co-host with me! I'd love for you to jump on over to the Facebook Page and like it. Everyone who likes the page before the first show gets entered into a raffle to win a prize pack of two cannisters of Bell Plantation PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter: one in regular Peanut Butter flavor and the other in chocolate peanut butter (must live in the US to ship, or can pay shipping costs). The Facebook Page is: https://www.facebook.com/backstagepassradio The show will be streaming live online and you can listen at www.backstagepassradio.com. There will also be a live chat that happens where you can chat with us AND we'll be on Facebook live (video) as well, so you can hang with us in a variety of different ways. We want to be as entertaining as possible, but give you great and valuable information. We'd also LOVE to hear from YOU about what topics you'd like to covered, what type of guests you'd like on the show, etc. We want you to be involved and engaged. Tell us in the comments what you'd love from the show! Thanks so much for your support!

Alex, what an awesome picture of you and Carnie! And SO nice of you to be doing a $25 Bariatric Pal Online Gift Certificate giveaway that night too! We'd love for you guys to like our Facebook Page! www.facebook.com/backstagepassradio You can listen to the show streaming online that night Friday 10/07 at 7pm PST at www.backstagepassradio.com, but you can also "watch" it as a Facebook live feed on the Facebook page or on my personal Facebook page (@divataunia) and there will also be a live feed where you can ask Carnie questions, as well as the call-in # at 347-857-2052. We hope you'll all tune-in and be part of the show and the Backstage Pass Radio community! Thanks to Bariatric Pal and to Alex for supporting us!

Hey Lap Banders! Wondering if anyone might know how to get a hold of Ashley "thebandinme" from YouTube? She hasn't made any videos in years, and there doesn't seem to be any way to get hold of her on YouTube, but I'm hoping that someone might know her personally or still keep in touch with her? I need to contact her about a story that was written about her that she should be aware of. I'd REALLY appreciate it if someone could ask her to get in touch with me! Email: info@divataunia.com. If emails don't come through on here (not sure), please direct her to the contact page on my website at www.divataunia.com. Many thanks!

I wasn't such a young kid (lol), but I loved all their music too. Sang it endlessly!

I thought I'd just chime in here because I'm an 8.5 year gastric bypass post-op and I'm also an 8.5 year Slimpressions user. I also wear shapewear DAILY, so I like to think of myself as a bit of an expert in this area and I'm happy to give my feedback on this. I buy shapewear for two reasons: 1) daily wear and 2) onstage/performance wear. (I'm a professional musician and perform often, most often in an Andrew Sisters tribute group which requires "pinup" dresses and costuming.) When I wear pieces onstage, they're generally extra-firm and extremely uncomfortable (also VERY pricey $$$), and I'd never wear them on a daily basis. When I wear daily shapewear, the compression is generally moderate and the material and compression is much more comfortable. Slimpressions falls into this category, and some of the pieces I have from them (and there are LOTS), I've had for over eight years. About my "problem areas" I carry my extra weight (no reconstructive surgery here, unfortunately) in my belly, back, and lower abdomen. I usually buy cami shapers, and I have LOADS of them. Slimpressions makes my favorite because of the super-thin (but sturdy) spaghetti straps that make it look like I'm wearing a top and not a shaper. What I like about Slimpressions is the fabric. It's breathable, washable, and very comfortable. The one thing I *will* say is that I generally always size DOWN so that I can get the extra compression that I am looking for. That way, I get a great firm hold, but still get super-comfortable fabric. I have almost every top piece they make (the Have-Nots are the BOMB! They give your bust a boost!) and a few of the bottom pieces as well. Most have lasted me a very long time. Like I said, I have shapewear from almost every brand out there, but I've been wearing Slimpressions the longest because of the fabric and the versatility. I like them quite a bit. Just two cents from an eight-year wearer!