Yesterday I sent out the draft of the September newsletter for the fitness center. The management company of the complex sends it out on our behalf because they don't want us to have everyone's email address.
For some reason a few months ago, they held up distribution of the newsletter for 2 weeks while they "proofed" it. Half the promotions were over by the time they got it out after I ranted and raved and asked when they decided they were going to start proofing the newsletter. The girl that did that was terminated.
Okay, so here we are with the September newsletter. In it is a Fitness Question & Answer - a regular component of the column. The woman asking the question wrote it to ME, asking for a response about the diet drug phentermine. Here is the question and the answer.
FITNESS QUESTION AND ANSWER OF THE MONTH
Deborrah Cooper - Fitness Manager
Q: “What do you know about phentermine? A friend of mine just got a prescription for it from her doctor. She told me that she has friends that have been taking it and they’ve all lost a lot of weight! Do you think it’s worth a try?”
A: Phentermine is an appetite suppressant that works like amphetamines in the body, which means it elevates blood pressure, increases heart rate and stimulates the nervous system. What’s scary to me about this drug is that no one really understands HOW it works to suppress the appetite! It bothers me that medical professionals would prescribe a drug with no true understanding of how it works and what it may be impacting on the body.
My concerns are augmented by historical data on diet drug use in this country (both prescription and over the counter), many of which were subsequently proven to cause permanent damage to the heart, liver and thyroid. Fen-fen is just one example in a long series of drugs that were popular and did more harm than good. Side effects of phentermine include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, hives, impotence, heart palpitations, and high blood pressure. Central nervous system side effects include hyperactivity, insomnia, restlessness, tremor, and dizziness.
My preference is that people stop using a crutch instead of their own will power. No one needs a drug to tell them when to stop stuffing their face. When you are full, just stop eating! If you eat all the food on your plate, don’t put so much on your plate then! It’s really not difficult and certainly not worth the risk of killing yourself with a heart attack or stroke.
And remember, these drugs are for short-term use only. I expect that when your friends stop taking this drug, they will go back to go back to pigging out and regain all that weight plus some. That’s how it usually goes. With all that said, I do not think you should take this drug to lose weight. No one should take it. You know what to do and how to do it to be successful on your program and respect your body. Get busy! Stop looking for an easy out…there isn’t one.
This is what I got back from the management company representative after I sent it to them to send out.
We’ve completed a quick review of your newsletter. Can I ask that you revise the last two paragraphs of the Fitness Question & Answer of the Month? I think it’s a good subject, but the response becomes too opinionated at the end. Can you rephrase it in a more motivational and professional manner? I appreciate it!
WTF? Her subjective assessment of what I wrote when she has no background in fitness, none in drugs, none in motivational speaking, none in anything but real estate and bitchery is supposed to be meaningful?
I am on fire, and decide if she wants to send crazy emails she should be prepared to get one back. I write her back with:
Hmmm, the whole point of the question is that the writer was asking for my opinion and WANTED a personal response. If our members want mundane facts they can get that from the internet. The question sender is one of my personal training clients as well. I was not aware that you were now going to be performing editorial services and censoring the content of the newsletter. When did this start?
She got so upset at my response that she ran to HER boss, who then ran to MY boss and complained that my response to her was harsh. My boss, trying to soothe things over, said I should not have taken it personally and that she was talking about my stance against the drug. I told him there was no mention of a drug or stance on one in her email and that he was wrong - her response to me was a personal judgment and condemning and that I judged and condemned her silly ass right back and she couldn't take it.
He wanted me to change the response to say what they wanted. I refused. I told him it was directed to me for my opinon and I gave it in my way - with humor, wit, hard core factual analysis, and terms commonly used by clients when discussing their behavior and weight gain, and that I was not going to be censored and bossed around by anyone not in the industry with no undertanding of being heavy and struggling with weight. (This woman is like a size 1 blonde).
Instead I deleted my response from the newsletter and informed him that I would no longer be producing one... if he wanted it done or they and written a specific way, they would need to collaborate on that and make it happen. I'm done.
So what do you all think about that whole exchange?
