What would you do?

I have lost 46 pounds since my pre-op consultation with my surgeon.  I've gone from a size 18 to a 8/10, depending on the brand and cut of clothes.  I joined a gym exactly 6 weeks after my surgery, and i have been working out religiously for 8 months.  I feel great, and i am looking pretty good.

Here's my dilemma.  The gym i belong to is a small, private training gym.  I love the guys and gals, they are wonderful to work with, and i am grateful every day for the help they've given me. 

Last month, the owner asked if he could use a photo of me in my old jeans in their advertising.  We'd snapped a shot just for fun one day when i was taking a donation to goodwill.  It's the classic "too big jeans, held out at the waist" shot.  I gave him the go-ahead, no problem.

Yesterday he approached me about being in the next commercial they shoot, to show prospective clients results.  And here's where i get stuck.  I have put in the work - i am in there with my trainer 8 hours a week, and the reshaping of my body is due to that work.  But i also have the band.  So if i help advertise for the gym, am i being dishonest about where the results came from?

Or am i letting my stage fright rationalize me into turning down the offer?

I think it might rebound on the gym. We all know that to look good we bandsters work hard - no easy options! But that is not the outside perception.

If you appear in the advert and then it becomes known you were banded, it will appear to the ignorant that you and the gym cheated. If you say you are banded, the assumption will be the band brought about the change. If you don't say it, people will see it as misleading. I even think that in the UK it would be breaching the legally enforceable Advertising Standards not to say you were banded in such a context.

IMO, you should not to do it - the gym could come out of it badly.

Kate

Kate

I think full disclosure in their advertisng would be the right thing to do.  They could say that "Lap band patient Shamr0ck lost x amount thanks to her WLS as well as a regular routine of fitness, etc.  It would be dishonest for them to take all of the credit.  I don't think I would do it if they aren't willing to be honest.  It's basically false advertising.

I'm impressed with your ethics!

Congrats on your awesome success!  Keep it up!

Lisa O.

I have to agree with the other posters. The gym has definitely been great for you, but to be part of any photo or advertising campaign that would omit the help from the Lap Band could look really bad, borderline fraudulent, for the gym.

Plus, we all know exercise is so awesome for our overall health, endurance and strength building, and definitely for weight loss maintenance, but diet plays a bigger part in the actual weight loss phase. Therefore, at the very least the gym should disclose "in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet" or something like that.

Congrats on all your success!
Lindsey

I agree with the other posters. If they are willing to put in that you lost with the gym and a reduced calorie diet then you should certainly go ahead. I remember several years ago I joined curves. On their bulletin they posted the losses of any member that had lost weight that past month. Every one on their was .5-5lbs. then there was another that had lost 37 lbs. All the other members were discouraged by their puny stats but I knew the woman. She had gotten a RNY and had started out huge and was losing quickly. Since she only went to Curves for 1/2 twice a week and in between did nothing it certainly wasn't as a result of working har, as the rest had done. It gave newbies false hope and established members just wanted to give up. In that respect if the ad for the gym gave the impression that you lost every pound by working out, rather than working hard all around it might indeed look bad.

What ever you decide, I have to say ,You go girl! You done good!

Sue

full disclosure to the gym owner is needed, should you want to be part of their ad campaign.

let him decide vs being blindsided.

As long as you disclose somehow that with the help of your gym membership and your band you have been successful , I don't see the problem.

Congrats.

Thank you for the feedback, everyone.  Both my trainer and the gym owner are aware of my surgery, and neither of them see a problem with my participation in the commercial because of it.  My trainer told me i was silly today for worrying about it.

I need to give this some more thought before i decide.

Think of it this way. Your story could be great PR not just for the gym but for WLS. Too many people think that WLS patients have taken the easy way out. Your workouts at the gym prove them wrong!

Jean

I had the same thing happen with me except it was my before and after picture and story posted for months in a frame at the service desk. I was sure to add my band date and my start and stop weight...so forth and so on...so that no one could say that anyone was being dishonest. However, at my second gym and most prestigioius one in the county..there was a really expensive booklet made up with success stories from personal training and a lady who had RNY did not disclose and the ad made it seem as if she lost all of her weight from personal training. The ad was so misleading that even the staff members would secretly reveal that the ad was dishonest and didn't tell that the lady had RNY. They were disgusted that the gym allowed it to happen.