When Jesse Ramos Jr embarked on his quest for love, he never imagined it would lead him on a transformative health journey.

Growing up in Santa Paula, California, just outside Los Angeles, Jesse was always considered on the heavier side. His family affectionately called him ‘gordo,’ which means ‘fat’ in Spanish.

At the age of 17, he landed a job at a fast-food restaurant, where his eating habits took a turn for the worse. He routinely indulged in a triple burger after every shift. As he navigated his identity as a gay Latino man, Jesse found himself consuming ‘unhealthy foods’ and drinking up to 15 beers each week.

By the time he reached 21, his weight had soared to 256 pounds.

It wasn’t until his appearance began affecting his dating life that he realized a change was necessary.

“I noticed that I would have crushes, and they wouldn’t reciprocate. It was clear it was due to how I looked,” Ramos, now 39, shared with the Daily Mail, noting how ‘different’ he appeared compared to other men.

‘There was a love interest that I had, that I liked… and this person was in great shape,’ he added. 

‘So, I decided I really wanted to get in shape for this person.’

At his heaviest, Ramos (pictured before weight loss, left, and after, right) weighed 256lbs 

That was in the late 2000s – two decades before glucagon-like peptides (GLP-1s) would burst onto the weight-loss scene and trigger the Ozempic craze – and Ramos was forced to shed pounds the old-school way: on a treadmill. 

He started by walking 30 minutes a day, every day, and the weight just started to ‘fall off.’ Within four weeks, he’d lost 10lbs. 

Then, he graduated to jogging daily for 30 minutes, and, inspired by his bodybuilder parents, incorporated weight lifting multiple times a week.

But his efforts weren’t isolated to the gym. His diet changed, too.

He cut the burgers and fries, replacing them with chicken and vegetables. Beers were eliminated, too. Ramos continued to drink, but cut down on how much and switched to lower-calorie alcoholic sodas.

The weight fell off in bursts – 30lbs at a time over the course of a decade – and, despite regaining about 40lbs back, he managed to lose it again.

All in, he lost a whopping 130lbs.

As he started to lose the weight, he even reached back out to the guy he was originally interested in.

‘I lost 30lbs initially, and then I said [to him], “Hey, what do you think now?”‘ Ramos recalled. ‘He said, “I think you look great, but I don’t want to date you.”‘

He added: ‘That was the biggest lesson, because I realized that you should never do things for other people. You need to do things for yourself. That’s my philosophy.’

Today, he has maintained a 96lbs weight loss from his starting weight at 21 – and is convinced shedding it ‘the traditional way’ – slow and steady – is best.

Today, he has maintained a 96lbs weight loss from his starting weight at 21 – and is convinced shedding it ‘the traditional way’ – slow and steady – is best 

‘You see a lot of people complaining about their skin that’s loose, you know? I don’t have a lot of that. I do have some stretch marks, but they’re faded,’ Ramos, now a personal trainer told the Daily Mail.

‘When people see me then [compared to now], they are like, “I can’t believe you were this person,” and I say, “Yeah, because I took my time and I really, truly, fell in love with it.” I know that this will never go away from me.’

No need for GLP-1s.

He added: ‘With Ozempic… after you get off that, you’re going to go back to the same eating patterns that you did. And most people gain their weight back. It’s terrible.’

But an estimated one in eight Americans have taken a GLP-1 drug – such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Zepbound – and, as of last year, an estimated 15 million adults were currently using the medications.

GLP-1 patients often complain of loose skin after weight loss, a result of dropping weight too quickly, and studies have suggested that approximately 80 percent of Ozempic and Wegovy users regain the lost weight – and, occasionally, then some.

While the drugs make you feel fuller for longer, they do not help users overhaul their lifestyle to be healthier. Often, when people come off the drugs, they revert back to their poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyle.

These medications weren’t available to Andrew Hulbert, 39, when he embarked on his own weight-loss journey – and even if they were, he wouldn’t have changed a thing.

He told Daily Mail: ‘On the one hand, I understand that people feel they have tried everything but nothing has worked, so for those who have lost hope, I understand it may feel like the only option.

‘But on the other hand, I can see the argument that people who take the [drugs] are potentially lazy.’

Andrew Hulbert, 39, decided he wanted to start to lose weight in 2023 after he tipped the scales at 335lbs

Hulbert is shown above at his heaviest

He called it ‘an easy way out.’ 

‘There are alternatives that can work. People need to focus on their mindset and achieving their goals,’ he continued.

‘For me though, I never wanted to take something that changed the way I thought about food. I want to love food but do it in a controlled way.’ 

Hulbert, a UK-based father of two, lost about 100lbs without surgery or GLP-1s, though he achieved his rapid transformation in only five months using an extreme diet that experts advise against. 

At his heaviest, he tipped the scale at 335lbs, relying on take-out twice a day and consuming 1,000-calorie boxes of donuts while prioritizing his work.

But after returning from an all-inclusive vacation to Spain in 2023 and noticing his waistline, he ultimately decided to slim down – if not for himself, then his children.

Hulbert lost about six pounds a week via an extreme crash diet that saw him fast for 18 hours, avoid caffeine and alcohol, drink two liters of water and eat only 1,000 calories per day – approximately half the recommend caloric intake for men. 

According to the Food and Drug Administration, men should consume 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day depending on age, height and activity level, while women should eat 1,600 to 2,000 calories per day. 

Experts warn that fasting can pose risks, including nutrition deficiency, muscle loss, fatigue and, in extreme cases, organ damage.

Hulbert – who forced himself to exercise by parking his car a 30-minute walk away from his office – dropped 125lbs in just six months, weighing 210lbs.

His friends and family, however, had started to ask questions and raise concerns about his health, prompting him to regain 25lbs.

Today, he still tracks his calories, fasts and stays hydrated, but on Saturdays, he said, he allows himself ‘to enjoy life more.’ 

He’s maintained the weight loss, telling the Daily Mail that his new weight meant he looked ‘a bit more like the old me, just much healthier.’