Entertainment

Amazing weight loss

After
Winfield KO’d butter and fried food, in favor of bok choy.

After
Winfield KO’d butter and fried food, in favor of bok choy. (David Rosenzweig)

As the co-owner of a health-oriented chain restaurant in Brooklyn, Dimitrios Verteouris wasn’t especially interested in nutrition.

And it showed.

The 28-year-old restaurateur behind Nature’s Grill was obese, hitting rock bottom last year when he tipped the scales at 327 pounds. But his entire life was about to change.

After appealing to the Food Network’s “Fat Chef,” he got a slot on the weight-loss show, which aired in February.

The spotlight got him motivated: He spent several hours a day exercising, split between bouts at the boxing gym and two-mile runs. He also eliminated fast food from his diet — opting for the meals he serves at his own restaurant, with lots of vegetables and grilled, lean proteins.

“After losing the first 50 pounds, I realized I could inspire other people to do it, too,” says Verteouris, who has now lost more than 100 pounds. “With obesity, it’s kill or be killed; you have to fight back!”

PHOTOS: NEW YORKERS’ BEFORE & AFTER PICS

He created “Knockout Obesity,” a four-month challenge built around healthy eating and exercise — and a lot of boxing. Recruiting participants through Gleason’s Gym in DUMBO and radio appeals, Verteouris found five motivated New Yorkers to endure 16 weeks of daily boxing with cardio and interval training coupled with a nutritionist-assisted diet overhaul.

In just four months, with nutritionist Niti Patel, he’s guided the gang to a grand total of 203 lost pounds — and counting! Check out all of the participants’ stories in the final webisode of “Knockout Obesity” at koobesity.com.

overset: “Motivating them is difficult, but you have to show them you care for them as much as they should care for themselves,” says Verteouris, who has lost more than 100 pounds since last year.

“If they didn’t want to push hard enough, I had to make them push harder; when they didn’t want to finish an exercise, I would add another. And they fed off of that. With obesity, it’s kill or be killed; you have to fight back!”

A typical training day includes a two-hour workout of multiple rounds of jump-rope, shadowboxing, bag work, plus sets of interval training exercises and 20 minutes on the treadmill or Stairmaster.

Janell Winfield, 30, Hell’s Kitchen, administrative assistant

Height: 5-foot-8

Weight Before: 290 pounds

After: 242 pounds

LOST: 16.55 percent of original weight

“I’ve been overweight my whole life,” confesses the administrative assistant who’s also a budding rapper and fashion addict. “It was something that really bothered me.”

Winfield hit the gym five nights a week.

“Some days I didn’t think I was going to make it. It was like boot camp,” she says. But after losing weight early on she kept at it, and even began looking forward to hitting the 300-pound bag.

Verteouris taught her how to cook simple, healthy meals — she cut out butter and fried foods and even surprised herself with her newfound tolerance for steamed cabbage and bok choy: “It’s delicious!” Winfield says.

“I see the difference, feel the difference and my clothes fit differently!”

Lorraine Frazier, 32 Stuyvesant Town, child protective specialist at ACS

Height: 5-foot-4

Weight Before: 283 pounds

After: 245 pounds

LOST: 13.43 percent of original weight

Having grown up with seven brothers and four sisters, Frazier knows a thing or two about competition. “I knew how to fight way before boxing,” she laughs.

Though she’s tried many diets, she’s never lost more than 10 pounds in a year. “I came in doubtful,” she says of the Knockout Obesity challenge.

The hardest part was when Verteouris cut salt, sugar, bread and rice from her diet, and made her switch to almond milk.

She hit a low point — cheating with a meal at Dallas BBQ.

But her fellow plump participants kept her motivated — especially with their initial rapid weight loss.

And the former junk-food junkie has reformed her ways: “I have salad every day now,” Frazier says. She no longer skips breakfast, opting for oatmeal with fruit, and her mainstays now include grilled chicken, tuna, shrimp and salmon.

And, most importantly, she makes fewer trips to the local barbecue joint: “I hated to cook before, and now I cook for myself.”

Tommy Hondros, 25 Bay Ridge, manager at family gas station

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight Before: 314 pounds

After: 295 pounds

LOST: 6.05 percent of original weight

Hondros’ weight yo-yo’d for years, with a high of 345 and a low of 175: “I looked like a scarecrow,” jokes the onetime model.

His current strict diet consists of four egg whites in the morning with spinach, pita with hummus and green apples (which contain less sugar than red varieties). Lunch and dinner include light fare such as 4 ounces of grilled chicken with fiber-rich broccoli and asparagus, plus raw almonds for snacking.

“Once everything is prepared fresh, you taste the difference,” says Hondros, who notes that before the challenge, “I could eat cheeseburgers all day!”

After an initial loss of 15 pounds, Hondros was forced to bow out of the program for personal reasons. He’s now back on track, and credits Verteouris with keeping the gang motivated and mentally tough: “Dimitrios would always run with us and roll up his sleeves with us.”

Delen Parsley, 51 Brownsville, boxing trainer at Gleason’s Gym

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight Before: 394 pounds

After: 350 pounds

LOST: 11.17 percent of original weight

A professional boxing trainer, Parsley let his weight spiral out of control for years. But as a new dad of an 8-month-old son, he knew that it was really time to drop the weight.

“When I started this, I could hardly walk; I thought I’d need a knee operation, I was so big!” says Parsley, who trained champion boxers including Mike Tyson, as well as Hilary Swank for “Million Dollar Baby.”

He eliminated sugary juices in favor of SmartWater — consuming about a gallon a day. “Now I can eat one or two meals a day and feel full — instead of three of four,” he says.

And he never eats after 8 p.m.

Along with vigorous exercise five days a week, including 45 minutes on the treadmill, sit-ups and eight rounds on the bag, Parsley vows to wake up to egg whites and oatmeal, and to stay mentally tough.

“It’s never going to end. This is a new way of life for me now. I’m happy; I’m good; I’m not stopping.”

Andy Jimenez, 20 Borough Park, college student

Height: 5-foot-9

Weight Before: 252 pounds

After: 198 pounds

LOST: 21.43 percent of original weight

Overweight as long as he can remember, Jimenez was a victim of a killer Puerto Rican diet. “I ate horribly before,” he confesses. “I grew up in a Puerto Rican household: I didn’t eat a [green] vegetable until I was a teenager! I grew up on rice and beans.”

He cut out white bread and white rice — “basically everything I used to like” — in favor of whole grains, vegetables and his new-found favorites: lentils and tuna.

He also had Verteouris to keep him on track: “People can say, ‘I know what it’s like to be you,’ but he really knows. He doesn’t let you get away with anything.”

Of the group, the baby-faced college student shed the most — more than 20 percent of his body weight — and he was the only participant to slide below a 30 in body mass index, dropping him from obese to overweight.

And now he wants his family to adopt his life-changing diet, as well.

“They’re supportive, but I just wish they’d join me.”

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