Ask Men's Health??? Ask the college grad intern chick, actually
Finally, the first issue with my written work has hit newsstands. I’m totally thrilled that NY Yankee Derek Jeter is the cover boy—excuse me, cover healthy man—for my first written work. I won’t go as far as to tell you every page my writing is on. I will, however, tell you about some of the highlights of writing for “Ask Men’s Health” (closer to the front of the magazine), which is the interns’ main project. Our editor gives us each a couple questions and we are responsible for providing a fun, surprising, actionable answer—all in the witty masculine tone of MH writing. Also, I wrote some tips on how guys can pick up chicks. I never thought I’d be advising hundreds of thousands of men on their love life.
My hardest question for April was: “Is it bad to drink 3-4-5 diet cokes a day?” This question was interesting for me, mostly because I drink TONS of diet soda. Maybe not 4 a day, but at least one can, if not two. I had to interview tons of experts regarding countless studies that link diet coke to everything from weight gain to teeth enamel loss. Since the word count is short—maybe 150 words—I have to pick the most interesting angle, with the help of my editor. There was one study I found that talked about how soda gives you “fake” heartburn. Basically as you swallow soda, in some people the carbonation makes your throat think that it is experiencing heart burn, so it sends signals to your brain, which actually induces heartburn symptoms. Ergo, soda can give you fake heartburn. This is the kind of random stuff I learn working here. Fake heartburn is rare, however, so it didn’t make the cut for something that is surprising and actionable for most Men’s Health readers. This was just one of the angles I had to research only to later have it nixed. There are theories that diet sodas can make you gain weight because it makes you crave real sugar. There’s also a theory that diet soda drinkers think they can overeat because they’re saving drink calories. These theories haven’t been proven yet. The angle that made the cut is about teeth enamel loss. You might want to pick up a copy so you can help yourself prevent diet soda teeth erosion!
My Conn College undergrad experience, both actually lived and what I heard from friends, truly became practical for the sidebars I wrote for the piece, “Dorm Room Confidential.” The first sidebar was simply a compilation of statistics regarding college sex. Did you know 1 in 5 girls regret sex they had on spring break? Don’t look at me, I vacationed with my parents every spring break, so no Cancun misadventures for this Camel alum. The next sidebar, “College Kink, recaptured,” is a guide to recapturing the cliché college sexual scenarios in the real world. I had to talk to “sexpert” Ian Kerner for this piece. I spoke with other sexperts before him, all of whom were HYSTERICAL. Let me tell you, female sexperts are incredibly comfortable talking candidly about men. My favorite line was from one California sexpert. She said, “I love the kind of things clichés do to the perception of sex. For example, the fact that people think the average penis is 7 inches long. Who do you think started that rumor? Yup, men definitely did. I mean how is the average that big? Have a coffee, people!” I also put together “College Sex Real-World Campuses” to help healthy men find campus-like settings in the real world where people are more comfortable and, theoretically, women will be more willing to sleep with guys. I never thought my college education would take me to a place where I clue guys in on how to exploit girls.
My other big sidebar is in the clinical trial feature article, and my actual name appears at the end of it! It’s the only example of my name showing up in a sidebar, so I was quite thrilled to see “Sophie Fitzgerald” even if it was in size 5 font. Clearly, I’m leaving my mark on the world, as I help one healthy man at a time.