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 By: Louis Dorman My week was extremely busy so I didn't really plan much for the show or really ask a lot of questions on what to expect. I have never even been to Ohio before and didn't even pack for cold weather. I was on the way to the airport on Thursday when I finally got a chance to call and find out what hotel I was staying at. After landing in Columbus, I took a taxi to my hotel room (1 am). I didn't go to sleep very fast since I was getting text messages from a few friends till pretty late because they were expecting me to make it to a fashion show that night.
After my wake up call at 8:00 am, I was very curious where I was going, what time to be there, or what to prepare for.
I figured the best thing to do was to eat a big breakfast and get down to the convention center ASAP. I ate a sealed pack of Salmon, oats, almonds & a whey shake and then headed off to the convention center. Once I got there I asked some questions and found out that I should be going to the exhibitors area to get a badge. They spelled my name wrong on the badge, but I didn't care (later in the day after many people asked whether the name was misspelled on the shirt or the badge I took a marker and fixed it). There was already a really long line to get into the Expo area where all the booths were since the Expo did not open until about 9:00 am. I was able to walk in and see all the booths. After walking around I found the Bodybuilding.com booth and no one was around.
 The Escalators Into The 2005 Arnold Expo. Then I started walking around and heard someone call out my name, "Louis Dorman?". It was Chris Slatt who works for BB.com. He told me he was carrying a box of ads that I was going to be giving out along with T-shirts. I was very excited to see the ads, since I was not aware that I would also be handing those out (see ad).
  Click To Enlarge.
I then walked to the booth with Chris, started looking at the shirts, and grabbed a few different sizes to take home. More of the pros & fitness models started showing up at the booth, everything was happening so fast. Bob Cicherillo showed up, Brenda Kelly, Laura Mak, Christina Lindley, Valentina Chepiga (Ms. Olympia 2000). I slowly got to meet all of them and got a chance to speak to them about my story and they were all very impressed with my results and this was the first time speaking face-to-face with professionals (Editor's Note: Bob and most of the others are IFBB Pro's). So it was very gratify to hear what they had to say.
 Chris Slatt, Brenda Kelly, Bob Cicherillo, Christina Lindley, Valentina Chepiga, Louis Dorman & Monica Brant. I started to hand out t-shirts, ads and speaking with everyone coming to the Bodybuilding.com booth. Before I knew it there was already a long line to meet me and get a free shirt. All the people in line were inspired and congratulated me with excitement after I spoke to them about losing the 125 pounds. It was about lunch time, I didn't want to leave the booth since there was a very long line and I was having fun speaking & meeting everyone. I was dragged out of there by Brenda, after hanging out with her I told her she was my new favorite person since she is a little fire cracker, we got along very well. I bought lunch and she said she would buy lunch tomorrow. Well, I went back to the booth and really started to chat with Christina, I forgot her name and she had to catch me on it a few times. She is a great girl and I got along with her great. I'm sure after hanging out with my sarcastic ass she wanted to strangle me with those t-shirts.
 Christina Lindley & Louis Dorman - No Strangling Here... LOL. It was so amazing getting to meet so many people that read what I wrote on the forums and getting to meet individuals that were able to lose weight from my articles.
He told me a story how he has never went clothes shopping before until a few weeks ago, he was going out to a bar with some friends and actually for the first time he picked up a girl at a bar. Thanks to me? I actually almost teared up.
I got a chance to meet a lot of owners of companies, models and pros that first day. It was good to meet the people behind the companies and also get a chance to speak to people whom I admire that have spent years and so much hard work on their bodies. Later in the day I finally got to meet Russ, he was in the booth and it was great to finally meet him, he was screaming out come meet Louis Dorman - Pud To Stud. I later got to meet Ryan and Will, I was not aware of what they looked like so I was speaking to some people about my weight loss and answering some questions and they were both standing right there. I was excited to meet them booth as they both seemed excited to meet me as well. I told them a few stories from whom I met and how much fun I was having speaking to people about achieving goals. Well after the first day of the show I was really tired, but I made plans to meet up with Val for dinner then go out with Chris & Rob later. After going back to the hotel I decided to go to the mall to buy some new clothing since I was not prepared for the cold weather. Then I met Rob at his hotel and then we went to a nice restaurant for dinner. While we were there a few people recognized me and congratulated me again for my weight loss. I saw a few bodybuilders there eating, like Shawn Ray. I ordered the Sesame Seed Ahi Tuna & Asparagus. We then met up at a bar then went to my hotel to get Fawnia's (a fitness model I met at the show) number because she invited me to a bar, but I could not find her number so we went to the bar at my hotel. (Editor's Note: Fawnia also is a writer for Bodybuilding.com. Click here to read her articles.)
On Saturday, I got to sleep at about 8, then I was at the show by 9 to help Chris set up the booth. The whole day was amazing meeting so many people. I would get people coming up to me that got to read the ad after I handed it to them and coming back today to tell me how inspiring my transformation is to them. Even people who are already in good shape.
 Some Of The Girls @ The Bodybuilding.com Booth! I finally got to meet Layne and Derek at the Scivations booth. There were very cool and gave me 2 duffle bags full of products. I spoke to Quincy Taylor about a boy who lost 50 pounds but had 5 inches of loose skin.
Click To Enlarge.I also went to lunch with Brenda and Valentina - Brenda bought lunch (Thanks!). Around the show I saw so many people wearing the shirts that I gave them the previous day. It was a great feeling to be around so many people that knew about accomplishments.
 Layne Norton, Ryan Deluca, & Derek Charlebois. I would tell so many people that it was not about my physique getting transformed, but what I gained from achieving the results. After the show was over Dan Gastelu interviewed me with his camera for about 10 min (Check back Friday, 3/18 for the interview. (Editor's Note: Dan is also a writer for Bodybuilding.com, read his articles here). Sign up for updates to the site here). I then made plans to go to dinner with Val, after going home and showering and relaxing, it was tough to get back into some clothing and go to dinner since I was exhausted from the show, so I spoke to Val and she was going to go to hang out with Brenda at her hotel. I then put on some shorts and a hooded sweatshirt with my Bodybuilding.com beanie and walked around the area to find a good place to eat healthy at. I went to one bar, Chipolta's, an Italian restaurant, a blues bar, and then finally I deiced to go to Quiznos' and I ordered a salad with extra Turkey and Steak. I was so tired of eating chicken that I just wanted to switch the meat up a little. It was a good salad. I topped it off with a diet Pepsi.
While I was walking back to my hotel room, I shared an elevator with 4 girls and one guy that came from Iowa to go to the Arnold Expo. They asked me if I was at the show since I was wearing a Bodybuilding.com beanie and I explained who I was and they wanted some free stuff and to look at the copy of the ad. So they followed me back to my room and I spoke to them for a while. A few of the girls insisted that I should take off my shirt, so I did and got a phone number from one from one of them. Well it was time to head on over the the after show party. I took a taxi over there and I was going to meet Rob. I got there a little early, which was good so I could find a good spot and stay there all night. I decided on the room that reminded me the most of the clubs that I go to back In Scottsdale. It was a loungey area with not very loud music. I asked the bartender for a type of wine, but they didn't have it, then I asked them to make me a Mojito, and she didn't know how. So I just grabbed a few bottles of water and sat down. Rob showed up and we were people watching for a while when a blonde girl that was a model at the show started talking to me and we had a good conversation and she gave me a massage. Layne, Derek, Jeff, Marc, and Marc's wife came and sat next to us and we talked about products. It was good to hear how Marc started the company - from his kitchen.
??? We made fun of some of the guys there and the music that was playing. This blonde and I started talking more and then I left to go to the bathroom and then got lost walking around the club because so many people would grab me and speak to me and say hi and congratulate me on what I have accomplished. It was good to see so many people that I recognized from magazines (Ex: Magazines like Maxim, Muscle & Fitness & More...) Danny from BCS started talking to me and he told me that the blonde I was with earlier was one of the models that was working at his booth that day. He wanted me to come by his booth in the morning. I then went back to my spot and met another girl that I ended up leaving with to go back to my hotel and relax with. We hung out for a while and I walked her to the lobby of the hotel. I ended up calling one of the 4 girls that I got a number from earlier, and spoke to her and she was going to come back to my room after she made it back from one of the bars.
On Sunday, Val wanted me to wake her up at 7:30 A.M. since she missed her alarm on Saturday and showed up late. So I was up at 7:30 after going to bed around 5 A.M.. We spoke on the phone for a few minutes and she told me what she did on Saturday night. I then showed up at the show and opened the booth with Chris again. I met some great models at the show that I got a chance to speak to on Sunday, and since it was the last day everyone was giving away more free products.
I had to leave to catch the flight at 5 P.M. so I left the show at 2:30 P.M.. Before I left, the blonde from the previous night showed up at the booth a few times and saw the ad and I gave her a T-shirt. I then went to see Danny's company and he gave me some free supplements. I also had all the girls from the booth sign a photograph of themselves to give me. They all wrote some very nice comments. So I left the show and went back to my hotel to get ready to leave. I ended up leaving one of my smaller bags there and putting everything in the larger bag I came with and the 2 PrimaForce bags filled with supplements. I then went to the airport with all my bags and checked in. I was very hungry and tired and I was beginning to lose my voice. So I was looking for a place to eat and I was following a sign that I thought said "family restaurant" since I didn't want to eat any other processed foods. I thought I would get a good meal there. But I stood next to a couple in line at Burger King and asked them about the "family restaurant" because they looked in pretty good shape, but they told me it said "family restroom". I was just so exhausted I forgot how to read. The couple I was speaking to turns out to be Sara Morin and her husband. (Editor's Note: Sara is also a writer for Bodybuilding.com, read her articles here). She e-mailed me a few months ago and congratulated me on my success with weight loss and inspiring others. I spoke to her about what I have been up to and my experience at the show. I ordered 2 grilled chicken sandwiches and just ate the meat, tomatoes and lettuce.
I then followed them to the gate since we were on the same flight to Cincinnati. I spoke to them in front of all the other people waiting. I spoke about my weight loss and what I have gained from it and some stories from the weekend. Everyone around was watching me speak and started asking me questions. It was a great feeling since several pro's were there along with other people that were in the competition and in some of the events at the show. In The End... So I got on the plane and left and I sat next to a few people that came to the Bodybuilding.com booth and they were really surprised to see me and I ended up chatting with them for the duration of the flight. When I got to Cincinnati I ended up walking to the spot and a guy started talking to me who lives in Phoenix and was a competitor at the show so we ended up talking about Phoenix and the nightlife there. It was then time for the flight back to Phoenix. It was good to be back home but I do wish the Expo was longer and I got the chance to meet more people and touch more lives face-to-face.
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We ran out of copies of the ads pretty early on Sunday then we ran out of t-shirts. I then started giving away license plate covers, 
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