Over the last few years, taking a GLP-1 medication — drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound — has become an ordinary experience in the United States with important implications for Americans' health.

For the last installment of the America in Focus project this year, we spoke with 14 Americans from all walks of life who are using or have recently used GLP-1 medications. Our conversation covered health, health policy, politics and the medications themselves.

We talked about both the personal and the big picture: What does it mean to feel healthy? What makes being healthy harder or easier in America? Where do mental health, work-life balance and the high cost of living today factor into health? “Trying to balance everything else out financially to eat good, you have to be able to afford it,” one said. “And I think a lot of people can’t.”

While several participants had complicated thoughts about the medications — some were frustrated with the cost, side effects or reaching a plateau — many described immensely positive effects on their overall health.

A few also mentioned the judgment, discrimination or mistreatment they’ve faced at times in their lives because of their weight. “I’ve gained and lost 100 pounds several times in my life, and I would feel it every time,” one participant said of discrimination. People who judge those on the medication, she added, “don’t understand what the battle with obesity is and how this drug helps with it.”

What is going well in your life right now?

Health is good. No major problems, nothing insurmountable. So I would say everything.

My exercise regimen.

Friendship.

I’m focusing on my walks with my puppy and losing weight, and that’s going well.

My weight and my health.

Weight loss.

My health.

My family finances. We’re really financially secure, and my boys are doing great in school.

Low stress level.

My mental health.

Joseph, you started us off by saying everything’s going well. Tell me more.

I feel very fortunate. I’ve had some setbacks in the past. I’ve had some things to overcome, but my health is better now. I’ve lost some weight. I work out a lot in my home gym, and I just feel like I’m in a very good place right now.

Virginia, tell me about your mental health going well.

I suffer from anxiety and depression, and they’ve just been stable. I have a really good psychiatrist. I have a good support system. And my cats make me laugh. I have good friends.

Ricardo, tell me about friendship going well.

Coming up on the holidays, everything that’s going on, I kind of lean on friends and community right now. We just support each other in whatever we’re going through.

A couple of people said weight loss was going well. Yessenia, let me start with you. Tell me what made you pick that word.

I’ve been on a weight loss journey since I’ve been in high school. I did all the trends and then I’ve never been able to keep the weight down. I’ve found something that can actually keep the weight down.

Yeah, I was considered obese. I got on Zepbound and I prioritized working out, trying to get fit and lean. I’ve lost a good amount and I’m happy where I’m at now.

Financially, I’m in a little bit better space than I was a few years back. But for the most part, I still struggle like everyone else, but I think I just feel like I’m in a better spot now where I’m at.

I said better because last year, I found out I had diabetes. My A1C was extremely high, a 13.9. And this year I got it all the way down to a 5.7. So I’ve really been focusing on my diabetes and getting the numbers down and keeping them down.

I said that things were worse because things feel harder right now: just getting older, gaining weight, facing health crises and trying to get everything under control. I just feel like it’s harder for me right now.

From a financial standpoint, things are just costing so much these days, and the pay is not really going up. It’s been really hard to keep up.

There’s a hiring freeze at my job. We have had to let a lot of people go, and I’m really close with people at my job.

What does it mean to you to live a healthy life?

Living a healthy life is watching what you’re eating, maybe having more self-control, not overindulging, moving your body, drinking lots of water, making sure you have the protein and just not overeating.

I feel good almost all the time, despite some health conditions that are managed. That’s what healthy means to me.

Limiting media consumption and making sure that you’re feeling a sense of joy, doing things that bring you joy. I want to do things that mitigate the way that the negative things out there will make me feel. So I will go to the park, walk my dog, cook, listen to music, hang out with friends to just refill myself with joy.

Mental health is probably the most important part of a healthy life. But just being able to walk around and breathe is really important, too. Whatever that looks like for someone, that’s what healthy would be.

It’s a little bit of this, a bit of that, a little bit of finances, a little bit of health, family time, balancing work and life, that type of thing.

I agree that I think it’s a combination of mental and physical. I think when you’re in a good frame of mind and things are going well, you feel better. Physically, I think it has a lot to do with what you eat. I just lost a lot of weight myself. It’s hard, but I feel 100 times better than I did.

How easy or hard is it to live a healthy life as you define it?

I think it’s hard. There’s so many temptations; I have a sweet tooth. It’s been harder with the health journey now, because food is way more expensive. And so changing in our family, our eating habits, like our grocery bill, I don’t know. It’s jumped through the roof. So trying to balance everything else out financially to eat good, you have to be able to afford it. And I think a lot of people can’t.

I think it’s harder, because the easiest food to get is the cheapest food to get. And I live in a rural area. It’s not very easy to walk.

I think it’s a daily challenge, a struggle, just making those right decisions. You have to get up every day and just have a mind-set that you’re going to make good nutrition choices and move your body. They’re all connected: mental health and nutrition and physical movement.

Anybody else? Is it harder or easier than it used to be? Andrew, what do you think?

As I get older, keeping the weight down and being active and things like that get harder. But if you make a mental shift toward being healthy, then it just comes naturally.

How do you make a mental shift?

You make yourself do it, and then eventually it becomes second nature. It becomes part of your life and part of your routine.

It’s hard. It’s hard to eat right. It’s hard to not eat desserts. So that’s kind of a challenge for me sometimes, just eating right, eating healthy and getting out, walking, exercising. It’s kind of hard sometimes.

Yeah, I think as we get into the holiday seasons, the sweets spark up, unfortunately. Trying to withstand that is a hard thing.

I was just going to say, it’s kind of hard to maintain good eating habits, especially if you’ve been engaged in bad........

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