4 Long Islanders who shed the pounds the old-fashioned way

It seems like every time you turn on the television there’s a commercial for GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1) injectible weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound, with A-list celebrities — from Serena Williams to Oprah to Kelly Clarkson — singing their praises.

“They can be a tool for some people who need to lose a significant amount of weight, 50 to 75 pounds, which can be hard to do without surgery or medication,” said Josephine Connolly-Schoonen, clinical associate professor and executive director of the nutrition division at Stony Brook Medicine.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first GLP-1 for weight loss in 2014, and annual spending on the drugs rose from $13.7 billion in 2018 to $71.7 billion in 2023, according to the Chicago-based American Medical Association. And while many have found remarkable success with the medications, they are not a cure-all and experts caution they are not without risk.

“They don’t work magically,” said Bonnie Taub-Dix, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist from East Hampton and author of “Read It Before You Eat It — Taking You From Label to Table.”

Side effects can include gastrointestinal distress, muscle loss and, in some cases, more serious complications. And for many patients, weight often returns when the medication stops. Both Taub-Dix and Connolly-Schoonen said the drugs should be paired with balanced eating and behavior changes.

In addition, the drugs may not be covered by insurance for people seeking to lose weight, and the out-of-pocket costs — which can range from about $300 to more than $1,000 per month — puts the drugs beyond many people’s reach.

Some Long Islanders are still choosing a different path than GLP-1s for weight loss and instead making sustained lifestyle changes. Here are the stories of four who found success going the slower, old-fashioned route.

Meal plans and training sessions

Anthony SantaMaria

From the time he was 16, Anthony SantaMaria has battled his weight. The Commack resident, 63, said he tried Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, cleanses, pills, juicing and all kinds of diets, and nothing worked in the long term.

In 2020, weighing 340 pounds, SantaMaria turned to a structured nutrition and fitness program run by his friend Anthony Badalamenti, a Merrick-based weight loss coach. He offers meal plans and training sessions through his Innoeba Wellness.

Within a year, SantaMaria dropped to 270 pounds, where he remains today.

“Anthony saved my life,” said SantaMaria, whose obesity contributed to high blood pressure and high cholesterol, as well as to heart issues that led to him getting a heart stent in 2019.

SantaMaria said he wasn’t interested in weight-loss injectables. “I know people who did, and when they stopped, the weight came back because they didn’t learn to eat differently,” said SantaMaria, a retired ice company manager.

Badalamenti’s program required a major shift for SantaMaria. He had been eating 5,000-6,000 calories per day, sometimes starting the day with leftover pizza or Chinese food and finishing with sweets before bed. “I was eating for a family of four,” he said. Breakfast became protein shakes and half of a banana.

SantaMaria said he was able to break bad habits because Badalamenti’s high-protein, low-carb prepared meals were not only tasty, but filling. Exercise was also key. “I had many personal trainers before, but none like him,” he said. “He doesn’t stand around and watch you work out, but he works out with you.”

He believes paying a bit more to eat better is worth the money. SantaMaria said that he feels good and that, at his last medical checkup, his blood pressure and cholesterol were normal and he’s no longer pre-diabetic. “A cardiologist told me that I invest in myself when I eat healthy, especially when you think of the copays and hospital bills that happen when you don’t do right by your body,” he said.

 

Intermittent fasting was key

Juanita Winfield

In 2024, Juanita Winfield, of Medford, got tired of feeling uncomfortable in her clothes and breathing heavily when walking. She said she had avoided stepping on a scale because she didn’t want to see the number. When she found the courage to do so and saw that she was almost 200 pounds, she said enough was enough.

“I was wearing size 16 to 18, not feeling well,” recalled Winfield, an assistant principal at David Paterson Elementary School in Hempstead. “I went to my general practitioner, who told me to go to a weight management doctor. I had gone to a nutritionist, which really didn’t help. I needed more direction.”

Blood tests showed she was pre-diabetic. Three years ago, she took Ozempic to get her insulin levels balanced, but she didn’t lose weight on it and wasn’t keen on taking it or any medication. She was given Metformin, an oral medication that controls high blood sugar and is used to treat Type 2 diabetes. She said the pills made her ill and were difficult to swallow. The doctor put her on a weight management plan in January 2024, the chief component of which was intermittent fasting. She would eat between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and her customized plan eliminated dairy and carbohydrates — bread, pasta, sugars — and included lots of vegetables, meat, protein shakes, salads, fish, beans, lentils and peanuts.

“After four to six months I could start to see the weight loss,” said Winfield, who dropped more than 50 pounds by the end of 2024. She’s maintained her eating habits and kept the weight off, and she now weighs about 130 pounds. Her success inspired her husband to eat better too, and he has also lost 50 pounds.

Winfield no longer cooks with salt and relies heavily on herbs, spices and olive oil. She loves to bake but now uses sugar substitutes. “I bake with natural ingredients,” said Winfield. She said she learned to look at the back of packaging to better understand what she’s eating. “I know what I can and can’t have, and what affects my body.” She mostly stays away from carbs and still does intermittent fasting.

Food alone didn’t do it, though. “My doctor told me I had to walk,” said Winfield, who gets a lot of exercise just walking around her school much of the day. In addition, she regularly walks and jogs on a small, portable treadmill at home.

The weight loss journey hasn’t been easy. “You have to be ready mentally to lose weight, to change eating habits — it’s a mindset, a lifestyle,” she said. “To stay disciplined, all I have to do is look at pictures of how I looked. I don’t want to look like that again.”

‘Working out with others helps me stay on course’

Caesar Figueroa

Caesar Figueroa, 51, got serious about losing weight in 2017, when he sat down one day and wrote all the food and drinks he typically had in a day. He was consuming 5,000-6,000 calories, about twice the daily recommended amount, with heros, pizza, soda, bagels and more. “I Googled my age, 43, and how much calories I should be consuming. The truth scared me,” said Figueroa, a vice president of sales at a mortgage company who spends time in Parkland, Florida, and Miller Place.

After that revelation he went to the gym and said he couldn’t run on the treadmill for even a minute. He started walking and changed his diet. He reduced carbs and sugar. He’s big on water, vegetables, protein like chicken and steak. You won’t catch him with soda or at McDonald’s or Taco Bell.

In less than 18 months he said he went from 341 pounds to just over 200, where he remains today. Exercise has been key. In 2019 he ran his first half-marathon in New York City. He has since run marathons in Miami and Chicago. “I wake up at 5 a.m. and work out,” Figueroa said. “I don’t get into a debate with myself. Just like you wake up and brush your teeth, working out is a habit.”

You’ll find him running with the Selden Hills Warriors or the rucking group (walking with weights) he started in Florida. “Working out with others helps me stay on course,” he said.

This past October marked the eighth anniversary of Figueroa’s major weight loss. “I’m not going back,” he said.

Walking with friends, not eating with them

Elaine LaPersonerie

Elaine LaPersonerie, 49, said she decided to take action on her weight in 2020, after getting tired of not fitting into her clothes and not liking the way she looked. “I wanted to make a better commitment to myself and my health,” recalled LaPersonerie. She didn’t have to look far for help. She is the wife of weight loss coach Badalamenti. The Merrick resident said she was 205 pounds and, in a year, lost nearly 70 pounds. She currently weighs about 130 pounds.

“I learned how to eat, and it changed me forever,” said LaPersonerie, who owns a public relations firm. The meal plan designed by Badalamenti worked for her, she said, because she could eat her favorite foods but made with healthy ingredients like Greek yogurt instead of mayo, pasta made with sauce without sugar and techniques like air frying.

There was a motivating factor that was key to her staying the course. “I had to consider what would be at risk if I didn’t do this. How would I suffer?” LaPersonerie said.

LaPersonerie said she had to be willing to feel uncomfortable in social situations. Before going to a baby shower, for example, she would eat healthy and bring a protein bar to eat at the shower. “People want to meet for breakfast, for dinner,” she said. “I would go out to dinner with friends, and they would say ‘come on, you can just eat this or that.’ They were uncomfortable with me not eating.” She began to ask friends to do activities other than eating, like taking a walk or shopping.

In addition to eating better, she stays active by playing tennis and walking. “I’m proud of myself,” she said. “I did it, not with a pill, but a lot of sacrifices. Losing weight taught me that I can do anything. It’s not a diet, but a new way of living.”