The FIRM studio in Columbia. (Color distortions from my camera - not the studio itself!)

Exhausted as I was, I was just too excited to sleep Friday night, and found myself waking up every hour to check the clock. I could not wait to get up and get the day started! Somewhere in the early morning hours I was able to finally drift off for a length of time, but when the alarm went off at 6 a.m., I was up and ready to get going.

The 18 testimonials had been divided into two groups of nine who would take two separate workout classes. After lunch and a change of wardrobe into our "cute street outfits", we would all gather as a group with the FIRM instructors for an on-camera town hall-style discussion (or "talk around") at the end of the day. I was in group 1, which meant I'd be taping the first class of the day, led by Allie del Rio and Emily Welsh, so my call time was 7:25 a.m. I was instructed to be ready for pick-up in the hotel lobby already dressed in my approved workout clothes, with hair and makeup "as I usually wear", to be adjusted by the professionals later. For me that meant no makeup and a ponytail. Lisa Kay told me the night before that Allie would be demonstrating her new "fast and light" workout, while Emily's class would be AWT - aerobic weight training. Group 2 would be testing Jen Carmen's new sculpting workout immediately after my group finished taping.

We arrived at the FIRM Studio (i.e., the gym) around 7:45 a.m. to discover that the crew had already been there for quite some time. The studio itself sits in a building on a sloped corner lot, which allows for entrances at many different levels on three sides. There were so many doors, stairways and hallways that I never quite got my bearings. The FIRM shares part of its building with a flower shop and a beauty salon (which I believe can be accessed from inside the studio), where appropriately enough we were sent for hair and makeup. I took a quick look around and then put my things in our designated weight-room-cum-dressing-area, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed downstairs to be made camera-ready.

Our dressing area.	FIRM instructor Emily Welsh (blonde) before our workout, in front of the FIRM store.

I walked in to find the salon literally buzzing with activity - hairdryers running, instructors milling about and my fellow testimonials sitting in the corner chairs just trying to take it all in. I was almost immediately called over by one of the hairstylists who sat me down and turned my chair away from the mirror to face the rest of the room. I looked to my left to see none other than Janet Brooks sitting beside me, and Alicia Higgins in the chair behind her. Reality hit me in the face. Everywhere I looked, there was a FIRM instructor live and in person... this was really happening, and I was really there. No more imagining what this would be like, or how it would feel. The moment had come!

God bless Janet Brooks, who must have read the look of astonishment on my face and struck up a conversation which immediately put me at ease. She was pleased as punch to tell me that the first FIRM Infomercial had just been named infomercial of the year, and that it was the most watched infomercial in country at the time. Janet's gracious conversation also kept me distracted while the hairstylist worked covertly on my ponytail.

Instructors everywhere in hair and makeup.	Working on my 'do, with Janet Brooks in the foreground.
The work continues on me and FIRM instructor Alicia Higgins.	Stephanie Corley in makeup - my curls in the foreground. (Photo courtesy Cindy Lhamon)

I'd been turned away from the mirror, remember, so I had no idea what she was doing with my typically conservative hairstyle. She must have had a vision, because she set out full force from the moment I sat down in her chair, taking it down, blowing it straight, putting it back up and using the curling iron. I could hear and feel, but I couldn't see, and could only gauge what was going on by the reactions of the people around me. Janet kept telling me how cute it looked, and Joni Williams seconded her opinion while taking pictures of the work in progress. Finally I was whirled around for the grand unveiling to see two high curled pony tails I immediately dubbed my "Pippy Longstocking". It did look cute, but in my heart I knew I'd probably never live it down with my friends in San Francisco or New York. (However, I'd be a liar if I didn't admit right here and now that I've attempted to recreate it twice since returning home.) Unfortunately, Joni was in makeup herself by the time I was camera ready, in sole possession of my camera (which later died), while I had hers. The one snapshot taken of the finished product is actually on Joni's camera, not mine, so I'm sorry to say that you'll have to piece the look together from the few images I've included on this page.

Now I must say, being fawned over by hair and makeup people was worth the trip alone. They were excellent - and with good reason I'm told, as their film experience includes Braveheart, Sweet Home Alabama, and the Last of the Mohicians.

Me in the makeup chair - silhouette due to a dying camera.	Bryce demonstrating that men get makeup, too. (Photo courtesy Bryce Chicoyne)

I have never felt like such a princess in my entire life. After they made me pretty, I headed back upstairs to the wardrobe department which had been set up in the studio's day care center. My outfit was given one final thumbs up before I was back downstairs to take my fitness "after shots" (as in, post weight loss, not workout) with the still photographer in the "mural hallway". Then it was time to head into Studio A to tape my workout.

Members of group 1, waiting for makeup. (Rear, left to right) Catharine Carroll, Amanda Grossman, Susan Boekholt, Wendy Hopkinson. (Front, left to right) Cindy Lhamon, instructor Janet Brooks, Bryce Chicoyne. (Photo courtesy Bryce Chicoyne)	Members of group 2, before taking Jen Carmen's class. (Rear, left to right) Kathy Davis, Tara Miller, Tim Davies, Suzanne Postlethwaite, Stephanie Babin. (Front, left to right) Joan Boadway, Leigh Cosby. (Photo courtesy Joan Boadway)

Studio A, prior to taping.

My little corner of the FIRM.

We walked into the studio to find we'd each been assigned a position, we simply had to find our names on the workout mat. Sarah the producer gave us a brief rundown of what we'd be doing and how we'd be doing it: Allie would lead us through approximately 15 minutes of her new workout, with music, then we'd repeat the same segment again while they taped class shots. Then Emily would step in and lead us through about 20 minutes of her tape, then the music would be turned down and they would tape us repeating the segment while mother-daughter "sweaty interviews" were recorded. Both workouts would feature the FIRM's new Sculpting Stick. Finally, an intro segment with host Alicia Higgins would be taped while we demoed the Sculpting Stick in the background.

As fate would have it, my cute Pippy-Do FELL down about 10 minutes into taping, right about the time my supermodel makeup went south for the winter, I broke my Sculpting Stick, and kicked over my Fanny Lifter. The "g" in "mg" ain't for grace, folks. At one point, I looked around the room at my fellow classmates and was deathly jealous of their slightly dewey glow, while I however was best described as dripping wet. I knew it wouldn't be pretty, but I guess somehow I hoped I would get through the taping without deteriorating into Lake Melissa. In between takes everyone kept telling us to keep moving so we'd look like we were really working hard. Not a problem here! At one point the director came out from the sound room for a minute, and I just smiled and pointed to my big wet self. "We like that," he said "Americans love to sit on the couch and watch other people sweat. It sells tapes." Pleased to hear it, 'cause they should make a bundle off of me!

Stephanie Corley, Tim Davies and Jen Carmen, after Jen's class. (Note the quiet sign on the right.) (Photo courtesy Tim Davies)

There are no showers at the FIRM, so after two hours of working out it was back to hair and makeup to be blown dry and redone for the talk around segment. This meant another change of clothes, another run by wardrobe for approval, and another set of still photographs. Then it was time for lunch before heading back to the set. It was during our lunch break that the funniest thing happened - a woman walked in off the street and right up to the counter at the FIRM store - which was open so we testimonial-folks could buy some souvenirs. This woman came barreling in and said "This is real, this is really real! I can't believe it! I saw it on TV, but I didn't know it was a PLACE. I was just driving down the street and I saw your sign and I told my son we HAD to stop so I could come in and buy something!"

When we returned to Studio A, we found it set up auditorium-style with three bleachers and a few cushions to seat all the FIRM instructors and 18 testimonials.

The "talk around" set, complete with instructors. You can see the Sculpting Stick in the foreground. (Photo courtesy Cindy Lhamon)

Yours truly was positioned front and center by the producer, so if nothing else makes the cut, I'll probably get some passing screen time should the group setting make air. After a brief introduction by Stephanie Corley, each and every one of us - instructors included - had an opportunity to express what the FIRM meant to us and how it had changed our lives. I can't remember what I said, other than basically admitting that I used to weigh 240 lbs on national television. I just hope I sounded coherent. After talk around was a brief demonstration of the Fanny Lifter by Sophia Floyd and Libby Heath, and then Jen Carmen introduced the Sculpting Stick. When it was all over, we were free for the night, but most of us lingered a little while to speak with some of the instructors and get some pictures taken. Sadly, I had dropped my camera on the floor right before the workout that morning, and I didn't realize that it stopped recording images immediately afterward. All my pictures of Libby, Stephanie, Janet and Nancy were gone, and some of the images taken earlier in the day were ruined - but I wouldn't discover it until I got home. In any case, I was delighted and flattered to learn that many of the instructors already knew me from the FIRM forum, but hadn't realized how much weight I'd lost. Stephanie Corley said some very lovely things, including encouraging me that my story will help a lot of other people. That one comment reinforced my feeling that any embarrassment I may have had about being so honest about my weight loss would be worth it if just one person heard my story and decided to make a change in their own lives.

A glimpse of me in my "cute street outfit." (Left to right) Catharine, Susan, Cindy L. and yours truly. (Photo courtesy Cindy Lhamon)	Stephanie Corley and Libby Heath present Amanda Grossman! (My favorite shot of the weekend.) That's Janet Brooks in the upper left hand corner. (Photo courtesy Amanda Grossman)

FIRM instructor Emily Welsh with Cindy L. before the talk around. The camera just didn't do Emily justice in the first infomercial. (Photo courtesy Cindy Lhamon)