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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Semaglutide is helping dispel the myth that weight loss is about willpower, patients say.</li><li>People taking the drug say it validated their experience that dieting didn't work, reducing stigma.</li></ul>For most of her adult life, Cora Moyer struggled to lose weight. She tried nearly every diet she could find, from keto and intermittent fasting to calorie counting and Weight Watchers.In the short term, she could manage to shift the scale by watching what she ate. But nothing seemed to stick.Then, 18 months ago, Moyer tried a prescription medication called <a href="https://www.insider.com/semaglutide-how-does-drug-work-for-weight-loss-diabetes-2021-5">semaglutide</a>. Touted as a "game changer" in the weight-loss world, the injectable drug works by increasing the production of insulin, a hormone that helps manage blood sugar.Immediately, Moyer's relationship to food changed. Previously insurmountable cravings dissipated, and "it was the first time in my life I felt like I was neutral toward food," she told Insider. But it wasn't just the hunger that resolved. Moyer said the medication also helped her come to terms with decades of guilt and shame about her eating habits and weight."For almost 40 years, I felt, and was made to feel, like I was lazy and had no willpower where food was concerned," she said. "It wasn't until I took medication that changed my chemistry that I realized that the 'food chatter' in my brain wasn't my fault."<div type="image" title="An image of a woman in glasses and a flowered dress, next to an image of the same woman wearing a sleeveless shirt and jeans taking a mirror selfie" height="1009" width="1346" msid="96014720" hostid="261"></div>In conversations with Insider, semaglutide patients reported strikingly similar experiences with the drug — namely, a sudden end to cravings and an abrupt quieting of obsessive thoughts around food. After years or decades of self-doubt, shame, and stigma, they say the drug feels like validation: their inability to lose weight long-term was never a matter of self-control. They're relieved that they can stop enduring the deprivation of yo-yo dieting and frustrated weight loss efforts.<h2>Semaglutide can change people's relationship to hunger</h2>Initially developed to treat diabetes, semaglutide was FDA-approved for weight loss in June 2021. It's the first medication to receive that authorization since 2014.Typically dosed via weekly injections, the drug acts on the brain's reward center, curbing hunger and dampening other appetites, including <a href="https://www.insider.com/semaglutide-alcohol-addiction-alcoholism-treatment-weight-loss-drug-2022-10">alcohol cravings</a>. (Its mechanism can also cause some gastrointestinal <a href="https://www.insider.com/side-effects-of-semaglutide-wegoy-ozempicweight-loss-drug-2022-11">side effects</a>, such as nausea and diarrhea.)<a href="https://www.insider.com/appetite-suppressing-drug-helped-people-lose-15-of-their-weight-2021-2">Research published in early 2021</a> found that people taking the drug lost 15% to 20% of their body weight over 68 weeks, compared with 2.4% for people taking a placebo. It also found people need to continue taking the drug to maintain weight loss.The drug has drawn praise from medical experts, as well as high-profile public figures like venture capitalist <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marc-andreessen-semaglutide-medication-for-weight-loss-2021-3">Marc Andreesen</a>, who called it a "silver bullet" for weight loss. In late 2021, just months after its approval, demand for the medication had already overwhelmed supply, prompting <a href="https://www.insider.com/weight-loss-drug-semaglutide-called-game-changer-for-obesity-2021-12">shortages</a> that are still ongoing, per the <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/drugshortages/default.cfm">FDA</a>.Patients told Insider that semaglutide dramatically changed their experience of hunger and satiety.For Stacey McGrath, a 50-year-old construction worker from Washington, semaglutide was a revelation. Nearly 110 pounds overweight, McGrath had suffered from joint pain at her job. Since starting the drug in June, she's lost a total of about 40 pounds, without the persistent feelings of hunger and yo-yo dieting that plagued her previous efforts. "I could lose five pounds and gain back six," she said. "Before, I would eat until my stomach hurt. Now, between one bite and the next, my brain will say 'You're done.'"<h2>For many patients, taking the drug opened their eyes to how little their willpower mattered</h2>Like other semaglutide patients, McGrath had tried a number of diets and strategies to lose weight, without success. Over the years, she said, comments from strangers, acquaintances and even family members made her feel she should be ashamed of her size. At one point, her father told her that she needed to lose some weight and "have some pride" in her appearance, which she said still stings to this day. McGrath said that semaglutide has given her a sense of relief: it's clear evidence that despite all her discipline, physiology was an irrefutable factor in her weight. "It's hugely validating, because that's all you hear, that people are overweight because they have no willpower," she said.Taking a drug like semaglutide can help kickstart the process of separating weight and willpower to relieve internalized stigma, said psychologist J. Ryan Fuller, who works with weight loss patients, including those on medications. "It's not about trying to white-knuckle through weight loss, thinking you aren't as strong as everyone else," he told Insider. "I think it can be very validating for clients to see that when they take the medication, it's a lot easier."52-year-old Tina Baylocq, a California-based communications consultant, has lost 70 pounds on semaglutide. She told Insider that the drug <a href="https://www.insider.com/weight-loss-medication-semaglutide-stopped-sugar-cravings-woman-says-2022-7">curtailed cravings for bacon and sugar</a>, and helped put the brakes on her urge for second helpings at most meals.Prior to the medication, Baylocq said she consistently felt scrutinized for her appearance, her food choices, and her exercise habits. She said everyone from strangers to intimate partners seemed to feel entitled to comment."I was judged very harshly," she said. "At dinner, people would say 'I'm just going to have a salad' and the implication was clear that I should be following their example."When Baylocq was in college, she said her mother once bought a new outfit for her sister, and made it clear Baylocq would get one too, if only she lost some weight. "Every boyfriend I ever had would make comments about how I used to be cute before I gained a few pounds," Baylocq said. "If you're heavier, people's impression of you is that you're lazy, you just need to have some willpower, stop eating so much and go to the gym." Since she lost weight, Baylocq said she's noticed people pay more attention to her and treat her with more respect."When I was heavy, I was invisible and now I'm not. This is fucked up in so many ways," she said. "I'm trying not to be angry about it."<div type="image" title="Tina Baylocq took weight loss medication semaglutide and took pictures from June 2021 and August 2021" height="897" width="1196" msid="96014723" hostid="261"></div><h2>Some activists are glad to see the 'willpower' myth die — but they don't think semaglutide is the answer </h2>Underlying the use of semaglutide is the medical argument that obesity is a treatable disease, caused by genetic and environmental factors outside of patients' control.The website for <a href="https://www.novomedlink.com/obesity/products/treatments/wegovy/obesity-is-a-disease/causes-of-obesity.html">Wegovy</a>, Novo Nordisk's semaglutide drug for weight loss, offers a section dedicated to the obesity-as-disease model, detailing the biological reasons why a person may not lose weight "despite their best efforts." The approach can help reduce misconceptions about weight as well as help providers offer better care to patients, according to Dr. Jason Brett, executive director of medical affairs for Novo Nordisk. "We should have a goal to reduce weight bias and stigma and make sure people understand obesity is indeed a disease that needs medical management and is not an issue of willpower," Brett told Insider. "But by doing that, it doesn't mean we say that any weight is healthy or it should be disregarded. We want to improve health."Yet Wegovy's marketing plays both sides, said <a href="https://weightandhealthcare.substack.com/p/weight-loss-drugs-part-3-wegovy-and">Ragen Chastain</a>, an activist and writer specializing in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27289009/">a weight-neutral approach to health</a>. Chastain said the drug's marketing aims to reduce stigma around weight by acknowledging that it's often out of a person's control, while still capitalizing on the societal pressure to lose weight for profit."People have been conditioned to believe that fat people's problem is that they eat too much, and anything that helps them stop doing that, no matter how painful or uncomfortable, is 'worth it,'" she said. Chastain said that she supports personal autonomy and people choosing what's best for their lives. But she thinks people should think seriously about the potential risks of semaglutide, and discuss them with their doctor before taking the drug.Wegovy currently carries a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538521/">boxed warning</a> (the <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2021/215256s000lbl.pdf">most serious designation from the FDA</a>) for pancreatitis, kidney injury, gallbladder disease, and depression/suicidal ideation, and for risks of thyroid tumors, based on animal studies.Several patients who talked to Insider said they experienced mild side effects like nausea or adverse reactions to overeating from the medication, particularly when they first began taking it. Those concerns warrant further study, said Dr. W. Scott Butsch, director of obesity medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. But he noted that many medications with boxed warnings are safely used by patients every day, including antidepressants, anti-inflammatory drugs, and antibiotics. "There's enough evidence to make us feel comfortable that we're providing appropriate care to patients," Butsch said. <h2>For one dietitian, medication brought balance without burnout</h2>Sara Nejat-Bina, a critical-care registered dietitian in California, has been taking tirzepatide, a drug similar to semaglutide, since June. Despite her own expertise in nutrition, Nejat-Bina, 46, had been unable to address her high blood pressure with a calorie-cutting diet. She was only able to lose weight through an exhausting three-hour daily workout routine: two spin classes and CrossFit."I do believe in health at every size, but I wasn't healthy anymore," she told Insider. "I knew if I didn't start controlling my weight, it wouldn't stop with hypertension."Medication, she said, brought balance without burnout."I can eat like a normal person without feeling deprived, and I can exercise like a normal person," Nejat-Bina said. "I have more time to focus because I'm not constantly trying to control my appetite or judging myself about what decisions I'm making in the kitchen."While Nejat-Bina shares Chastain's concerns about the marketing around medication, she's taken aback by the aggressive opposition from weight-neutral advocates and practitioners. "I'm shocked," she said. "If you're denouncing medications that could help people, I think it's counterintuitive to what the movement says."Nejat-Bina believes medication offers a much-needed alternative to some patients dealing with long-term health issues, stigma, and the harm of chronic dieting."I don't think it's for everyone — it's a personal choice and needs to be talked about with your doctor," Nejat-Bina said. "Taking long-term medication is always a concern, but I was more fearful of the effects of hypertension, stroke risk, and possible cancer." <h2>Semaglutide has changed patients' understanding of themselves</h2>Patients interviewed by Insider expressed gratitude for the way semaglutide helped them overcome internalized guilt and shame over their bodies. They said the medication kickstarted a process of making lifestyle changes and mental shifts they hope will persist, regardless of whether they stay on the drug. "It allows you to change your relationship with food, but you have to put in the work," McGrath said.To maintain the benefits of treatment over time, Fuller said, patients may still need to confront the root causes of issues like emotional eating, as well as social or environmental triggers of unhealthy habits. "The drugs aren't going to teach people different coping mechanisms," he said. "They are going to have to find ways to feel connected, feel pleasure and manage negative emotions without it."But patients and experts said semaglutide could have an impact that goes beyond individual patients' results: potentially moving the needle in how society thinks about weight and willpower.Moyer said the drug opened her eyes to the reality of weight as a physiological fact, instead of a moral flaw. She hopes it will do the same for others. "Obesity is the only condition that doctors tell patients to treat themselves," she said. "Having finally had measurable success with medical help, I will never look at obesity again as the result of a personal failure."

A 'game changer' weight-loss drug helped people lose weight after years of dieting and exercise. They say it highlights how society unfairly blames weight gain on low willpower.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider spoke to <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/mercedes">Mercedes</a> team principal <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/toto-wolff">Toto Wolff</a> about being the most successful team boss in <keyword id="11953261" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="f1" source="Orion">F1</keyword> history.</li><li>Under Wolff's stewardship, <keyword id="11953265" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mercedes" source="Orion">Mercedes</keyword> has won a record seven consecutive <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/formula-one">Formula One</a> world titles.</li></ul>In the history of <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/formula-one">Formula One</a>, no one can claim to be more successful than <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/toto-wolff">Toto Wolff</a>.The 49-year-old Austrian arrived at <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/mercedes">Mercedes</a> in 2013 and set about transforming the team into a relentless winning machine.With the help of <keyword id="11953260" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="formula-one" source="Orion">Formula One</keyword> legend Niki Lauda, he lured <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/lewis-hamilton">Lewis Hamilton</a> away from his boyhood team <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/mclaren">McLaren.</a> Hiring Hamilton, the sport's hottest talent, laid the foundations for a period of dominance unlike any other in the sport.Under Wolff's stewardship, Mercedes has won a record seven consecutive world championships in both the drivers and constructors categories, surpassing the likes of <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/sebastian-vettel">Sebastian Vettel</a>'s <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/red-bull-racing">Red Bull</a>, Ayrton Senna's McLaren, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/michael-schumacher">Michael Schumacher</a>'s <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/ferrari">Ferrari</a>.The last time a non-Mercedes driver's name was etched onto the trophy was in 2013 and in 2021, the Silver Arrows are on the hunt for an eighth consecutive victory in both drivers and constructors championships.But life has not always been easy for the most successful man in Formula One.<h2>As a child Wolff watched his father battle a 10-year illness</h2><div type="image" title="Toto Wolff" height="2893" width="3857" msid="87205562" hostid="261"></div>Wolff's childhood was sculpted by the illness and death of his father.Diagnosed with brain cancer when Wolff was young, the future team principal would be witness to his father's 10-year struggle with the disease that ultimately resulted in his death when Toto was a teenager."My childhood was very much harmed by my father being very ill all of what I can remember whilst being a child. He was ill for 10 years before he died," Wolff told Insider."We can obviously only talk about ourselves and there is always a risk that our own perceptions and perspectives, we see them as the absolute truths but there is no such thing as absolute truths and I can only see things from my childhood."A young boy that's seeing his father in a degrading condition is something that is always going to affect you and will stay with me forever."As his father's illness grew worse, Wolff had to navigate the fact his world was divided into "people that had and people that didn't have.""I didn't have," he said.That, Wolff told Insider, sculpted the man he became later in life, teaching him self-sufficiency."I remember being a child and saying 'I just want to be responsible for myself.'"I think that is a large part of who I am today."<h2>The 'humiliation and trauma' of childhood drove him into adulthood</h2><div type="image" title="Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff" height="2624" width="3498" msid="87205564" hostid="261"></div>Fueled by an adolescent realization that he had "to do more" to succeed, Wolff became interested in the twin worlds of finance and motorsport.An accomplished driver in his youth, Wolff won the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring in 1994, and competed in high level GT racing.He set up his own investment firm at the age of 26 and it was not long before he combined his love of finance with his love of racing and made his first ventures into the world of Formula One, buying a stake in Williams F1 in 2009."I think everybody that is successful above average - whatever success means - there is some kind of driver behind it. "That driver can be you are trying to overcompensate for something which could be an inferiority complex. "All of these things can have a very low grade or a very high grade on part of your personality."It's about a humiliation or trauma that you have been confronted with in your life. I think these are very strong drivers for me.<h2>Managing clashing personalities and styles</h2><div type="image" title="Lewis Hamilton smiles at Toto Wolff" height="2445" width="3261" msid="87205565" hostid="261"></div>From his difficult beginnings, Wolff has risen to become one of the most famous and recognizable faces in the sport."I run people that run cars," Wolff replies when asked how he sees his role in the team."It's an understanding of the organization and having a real interest in the people and understanding racing and understanding finance. "It's a bit of all of that but the most important is the interest in the people."In <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-formula-one-star-lewis-hamilton-earns-spends-his-millions-2021-9">Lewis Hamilton</a> and Valtteri Bottas, Wolff and Mercedes have two drivers with very different personalities. Hamilton is outspoken, bombastic, and a flashy dresser, while Bottas is - publicly at least - calm and reserved.Wolff says he tailors his approach to ensure he is always putting his drivers in the best frame of mind."Like with any person out there, I take an interest and what I say will always be driven by beliefs. "That is loyalty, integrity, stick to the truths, don't deal in lies and these are the fundamental pillars of dealing with anybody. "[The drivers] have different personalities, one will need a different way of interaction to be in the best possible place mentally and in the car then the other one."<h2>'I won't let anybody harm the tribe'</h2><div type="image" title="The Mercedes team celebrates winning the 2019 constructors championship" height="2661" width="3548" msid="87205567" hostid="261"></div>As team boss, the Austrian is often looked towards in times of stress for leadership and he said he does have difficulty keeping his emotions in check in those stressful moments."I am an emotional person. I protect my tribe. This is how I see my family, my group of friends, my company and the team. I won't let anybody harm the tribe."This is why I can get quite emotional but I know about it so that means over the years, I can look at it and say don't take it too personally because there is always someone else who has a different agenda and you need to respect that."Wolff's job stretches far beyond the pit wall though and on the morning Insider spoke to him, he had already sat in on two sponsorship meetings and a discussion about the Mercedes' Formula E team all before 10:00 a.m.While Mercedes' success is his job, Wolff also has a personal interest in its triumphs - he owns a third of the team."There are days which are purely performance related where I'm a sounding board or a participant in meetings about the engineering side of things which is something of great interest to me. "On the other side is the commercial aspect of our business. We are a $500+ million revenue business and sponsorships are a large chunk of it."<h2>'The Roman Empire fell because they had no countries to conquer anymore'</h2><div type="image" title="Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W12 makes a pitstop during the F1 Grand Prix of Turkey" height="3342" width="4457" msid="87205569" hostid="261"></div>As Mercedes' dominance of the sport grew stronger, Wolff and his team were faced with a different threat: complacency."There is a reason why not many teams win world championships. "There are very few that win consecutive championships and there is none out there - in any sport - that has won seven consecutive titles."We have already pushed the needle quite far and complacency is one of the reasons why teams start losing. That means you have to tackle it straight on. "You need to know a lack of objectives, a lack of energy, a lack of motivation, complacency, a sense of entitlement are all factors that contribute to a downfall of any team. "The Roman Empire fell because they had no countries to conquer anymore. <h2>Guarding against burnout during F1's busiest season ever</h2><div type="image" title="Toto Wolff" height="2680" width="3573" msid="87205571" hostid="261"></div>As well as complacency, burnout poses its own problems in today's hectic F1 calendar.Insider spoke to Wolff two days out from the start of the United States Grand Prix weekend, the 17th race in this year's calendar.By the end of the final race in Abu Dhabi, the teams will have competed in the longest season in the sport's history with a total of 22 Grands Prix. That figure is set to increase next year, with teams expected to cover 75,000 miles around the world."This is something you need to learn [about yourself] and see the early warning signals that may be different for everybody. "I know my triggers, I know the warning signals and I know how to counter-steer. That is sometimes very brutal because I need to sit out for a few days and try to reflect. One way Wolff manages stress, he says, is by having complete control over when his phone is on. If it's off, he can't be contacted."That's why over the years with the high pressure, I am much better at being able to have a stable daily routine and coping with the stress.Sleep is also important, with the Austrian saying he needs a minimum of seven hours every night."I need a lot of sleep, I'm a night owl. One of the factors you need to realize in order to decompress and be the best you is: are you an evening person or a morning person? "I'm an evening person, I've always been an evening person so in an ideal world, I stop working at one o'clock at night and I wake up at eight.""I am ruthless from that standpoint."<h2>Not feeling the pressure and being at a career crossroads. </h2><div type="image" title="A team member walks past the Mercedes logo." height="2223" width="2964" msid="87205574" hostid="261"></div>Despite being locked in the tightest title race in recent years, <a href="https://www.insider.com/mercedes-f1-toto-wolff-red-bull-title-race-no-pressure-2021-10">Wolff said he does not "feel the pressure at all" this year,</a> and that his most mentally challenging season came last year during the COVID-19 pandemic."I, personally, was at a crossroads of a decision."Wolff was out of contract at Mercedes as team principal, and was also considering his future investments in the sport, having owned 30% of the team since first getting involved in 2013.Making these decisions, while fighting for an F1 title, and dealing with the trauma of the pandemic, Wolff says, made for one of the toughest years of his life."It made it much more difficult because then you have this additional dimension of the music has stopped suddenly," he said referring to the pandemic and the months-long delay it caused to the F1 season.<div type="image" title="Toto Wolff and his arch rival Christian Horner" height="1249" width="2500" msid="87205575" hostid="261"></div>"For the last eight years, we've known we're going from race A to race B then suddenly that new dimension created another problem for me. "If you're running all the time, it's quite difficult to jump out and say 'I'm standing still now.' "It took me until November to realize that the pause button that was put upon us because of the pandemic was actually positive. Then it accelerated my decision making."Ultimately, he signed a new three-year deal as team principal, and increased his ownership stake in Mercedes F1. He now owns 33.3% of the business. Another third is owned by key sponsor INEOS, and the final third by Daimler, Mercedes' parent company.At the time, Wolff joked that his fresh commitment to Mercedes was lifelong, <a href="https://www.motorsport-total.com/formel-1/news/toto-wolff-mercedes-dreijahresvertrag-ist-ein-missverstaendnis-20122001">telling a German-language motorsport website:</a> "I have not committed myself for three more years, but for life!"

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