Behind the scenes thoughts

Tweet

Pin It

On Thursday morning my alarm went off at 4:15 am - much earlier than normal, even on days when I have an early conference call!  The reason?  I had a plane to catch at 7:20 am from Chicago to New York City.  While walking through the airport I passed a lady who was in a wheelchair being pushed by airport personnel.  I was immediately thankful that I was able to get around on my own and even welcomed the chance to walk a little before being cramped in the plane for a few hours.  The true irony was that when I got to the book store I bought the latest issue of Runner's World magazine.  Once I boarded the plane I sat down and comfortably fastened my seat belt (had to tighten it quite a bit!) and even put the tray table down with plenty of extra room to move around (I get a little squirmy after take off so that was good).  The realization that things have really changed was absolutely amazing and it made me cry a little bit.  For the record I blame the nervous sleep I got on Wednesday night for making me a sappy sally on Thursday!

After getting to my hotel I was whisked off to a wardrobe fitting at Lord & Taylor.  All the excitement I had from the airport/airplane kind of drained away and every insecurity returned.  Lord & Taylor?  In my head the store only sold small clothes - like 00 or 0 sizes.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to fit into quite a few pretty cute outfits.  This definitely boosted my confidence!

Soon it was time to head to the salon.  When I sat down with my colorist he asked what I wanted to have done with my hair.  I honestly had no idea because let's face it I'm not exactly the most knowledgeable person when it comes to fashion or style (I know you're shocked, right?).  I told him he could do whatever he thought would look good - I mean he's the expert, right?  He asked if I would mind strawberry blonde highlights?  I told him as long as I wasn't going to look like Strawberry Shortcake I'd be fine with anything!! So, he got busy and I pulled out my kindle.  Honestly there is really no better feeling (to me) than getting my hair done.

After my hair was colored I was moved over to another chair to have it cut and to have my make-up done.  This is where I thought I'd died and was living someone else's life!  With my hair curled and pinned and half my make-up done Katie Couric walked by.  Seriously.  After picking up my jaw from on the floor she asked me why I was getting all done up.  I told her that I'd lost a bunch of weight so I was going to be on The Dr. Oz Show as part of the Transformation Nation Million Dollar You contest.  She congratulated me and then went to get her hair done.  As she was leaving she stopped back by me and wished me luck on the show.  Honest to god this really happened and I couldn't believe it!  I only wish I had gotten a picture taken with her, even if my hair was not done and only half my face was on!  Oh well, I've already scrapbooked that moment in my mind!

Once I was all put together I was off to do some filming that will be used to profile the contestants (you can watch it on my voting page).  I got to use a bunch of the outfits that I was shopping for last weekend and the field producer and camera/sound guys were so nice to work with.  They were also funny and that really put me at ease because I was as nervous as I've ever been.

Since a lot of my weight loss has been because of my activity level, specifically my running they wanted to film me running.  Originally the plan was to film me outside but we were behind schedule and suddenly it was too dark so we did the next best thing and hit up the gym in the hotel.  While in full hair/make-up I ran on the treadmill for 2 mins at 6 mph.  It wasn't until we had started filming that I realized that 6 mph is faster than I normally run at home and I had no warm-up!  Thank god they got the shot quickly!!

If you haven't voted for me (you can vote up to 10 times per day through May 13) please do - I will be eternally grateful!
http://finalists.sharecare.com/finalist/jen+mcelroy