Losing weight with a doctor's help

In May 2008, Roy Zimmerman weighed 539 pounds and was acutely aware of the havoc his weight was causing. "I couldn't sleep, I couldn't walk, I couldn't take a shower," he recalls.

Eleven years ago, Edmund Heinsohn weighed 392 pounds and was turned down for a hospital-sponsored weight-loss study because he was too heavy. "That was really depressing, but I didn't let it get to me," he says. "I just bought bigger clothes." By February this year, bigger clothes could no longer camouflage reality: Heinsohn tipped the scales at 456 pounds,

For Denise Bynoe, seeing her 5-foot-3, 180-pound body reflected on a 50-inch TV screen last year was the moment she decided to do something about her weight. "It was a rude awakening," she says. "I couldn't believe how big I was."

Heinsohn, Bynoe and Zimmerman knew they had to lose weight and were determined to do it under a doctor's care and without surgery. Physician-directed, nonsurgical weight management has been around for six decades but has "come to the forefront" in the last 20 years "as the obesity epidemic hit such astronomical proportions," says Dr. Wendy Scinta, a member of the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity and the American Society of Bariatric (weight loss) Physicians.

Heinsohn and Bynoe went to Healthbridge, a medical complex in Manhasset whose founder, Dr. David Edelson, is a senior medical examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration. The center offers a holistic approach to weight loss that includes doctors, nutritionists, a chiropractor, psychologist, acupuncturist and fitness specialists who can provide integrated nonsurgical services.

"We see people when they've tried everything else," says Edelson, 51, Healthbridge's director and an assistant clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "We treat weight problems as a complex medical disease. . . . We recognize that each individual has a unique set of circumstances surrounding their weight issues."

At 6-foot-3 and weighing 456 pounds, Heinsohn couldn't bend to take off his socks. "If I walked a block, I'd be out of breath," he says. When doctors repeatedly told him to lose weight, Heinsohn, 62, of New Hyde Park, stopped going to doctors. But after starting a physician-supervised obesity program at Healthbridge in February this year, he's now 106 pounds lighter and determined to lose more.

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"At my age I didn't think it would come off that fast," he says. "I have 75 pounds to go. I'm staying on the eating plan. I don't know how long it's going to take me, but I'm going to do it." A former sales manager who has been doing seasonal work for Nassau County, Heinsohn says he's been rewarded for adopting the recommended high protein-low fat-low carb diet. "I couldn't walk a city block. Now I do 11/2 to 2 miles a day," he says proudly.

Determination and commitment have been key to Bynoe, 44, of Westbury. She was in good health, but the first officer for Continental Airlines felt her livelihood was at risk because of her weight. Bynoe flies a Boeing 747 out of Newark to the West Coast, Mexico and the Caribbean, and she feared developing diabetes or other weight-related disease that might ground her. While searching the Internet for an FAA-approved doctor, she found Edelson's center.

In September 2007, she signed up at Healthbridge, filling out an eight-page questionnaire about her eating habits, lifestyle and family background. A raft of physical tests and consultations with the medical staff followed. After six weeks on a customized lifestyle program, including a diet of high-protein, high-fiber and low carbohydrates, Bynoe's weight dropped to 153 pounds. She's now 13 pounds away from her 140-pound goal.

"Because I'm healthy and more focused," she says, "I got rid of debt and won a car from my company because I haven't had to call in sick for a long time. It's all about my well-being."

Zimmerman, 59, of Lindenhurst has that same determination. In May 2008, the retired LIRR track worker sought the weight loss advice of Dr. Michael Kaplan, 40, founder of the Long Island Weight Loss Institute and the Center for Medical Weight Loss, in Amityville, Smithtown and Westbury.

"There are not too many medical specialties where you're actually changing people's lives," says Kaplan, who trains other weight loss physicians.

In 2½ years under Kaplan's care, Zimmerman has dropped a life-changing 230 pounds from his 6-foot-5 frame, and he vows to lose more. But not everyone would find his diet appealing. His primary source of food has been nutrition bars and shakes, and a salad for dinner. Recently, he's added a bit of chicken and an occasional vegetable. Mostly, he continues to rely on nutrition bars.

Losing weight under these supervised programs hasn't been cheap. Heinsohn estimates his costs so far at $1,000. Bynoe says she spent about $700 during the first six weeks of her program and another $2,000 since then for a personal trainer. At Healthbridge, some services are covered by health insurance, others are extra.

Zimmerman spent about $200 a week for his visits to Kaplan's facility, including the special nutrition bars and shakes. A small portion of expenses are covered by insurance. Now, he says, he buys nutrition bars available at many stores, which cost less.

But it was never about the money. "For the last 2½ years, I couldn't get behind the wheel of a car and, I couldn't drive. I was a diabetic," he says. "Now I'm driving, and I'm not a diabetic anymore."

It hasn't been easy, he says, but his weight loss has been worth the effort. "That man who weighed 539 pounds? He's history. I'll never see that guy again," Zimmerman says adamantly. "My wife is happier, my daughter is happier, and I'm 100 percent happier. They can get their arms around me now."

Is it time to see the doctor?

Some indicators of a possible need for medically supervised weight evaluation and treatment:

-- Overweight by 20 pounds or more, and inability to shed pounds with routine diet and exercise

-- Weight gain primarily around the midsection

-- Overweight with Type II diabetes

-- Overweight with sleeping problems

-- Concern medication may be causing weight gain

-- Concern weight gain may be due to hormonal imbalance such as menopause, low testosterone or thyroid malfunction

Source: Dr. David Edelson/ Healthbridge