One of the most accomplished athletes of all time, Serena Williams, has talked about using weight loss medicines. She says she did it to do rid of the “stigma” of using these kinds of treatments.
Will her frank words give individuals who use the medications a new feeling of confidence? And could her honesty make the naysayers stop?
The 43-year-old tennis champion, who set records and won 23 Grand Slam titles during her career, was the picture of shape and athletic ability. But now that she has kids, she, like so many of us, has said that it’s hard for her to lose those extra pounds.
Williams said on the US TV show Today that she had to think of her extra weight as “an opponent.” Even though she “trained five hours a day” and “ran, walked, biked, and climbed stairs,” she couldn’t beat this opponent like she did on the tennis court. In the end, she adds, she had to “try something different.”
A lot of her friends were taking GLP-1, a set of drugs that help people lose weight, so she thought she would give it a shot.
Williams is sure that taking medicine was not easy, and she won’t tell which brand she is using. It was not a quick way for her to lose 31 pounds (14 kg) in the last eight months.
People are unsure about the timing of the tennis star’s new openness. She has just become a spokesperson for Ro, a firm that offers GLP-1 goods like Wegovy and Zepbound (known as Mounjaro in the UK) through its weight-loss program. Her husband is also an investor.
Even if this and the possible adverse effects of the medicine are true, her honesty will strike a chord with many people. She claims she is speaking up to take away the shame that many women feel when they use medicines to lose weight.
Caleb Luna, an assistant professor of feminist studies at the University of California, said that having someone like Serena Williams speak out is “a breakthrough.”
They think it helps quiet the naysayers who suggest that “people are taking the easy way out” by utilizing weight reduction medicines to lose weight.
“It breaks the misconception that these medicines are only for lazy and incompetent individuals who are overweight.
“In that way, it might be a good thing.”
Caleb also notes that the news that she needs to take GLP-1 medicine is a little “terrifying” and makes them feel “a little bit sad.” They are concerned that it only makes hard work and devotion seem less important, instead of focusing on looks and the need to look a specific way.
“She has done things that very few people have done in our time and throughout history.”But now it merely illustrates how body size may ruin all those successes. “Scarily, weight loss seems to outshine all those record-breaking achievements.”
Serena Williams on Weight Loss and Anti-Obesity Drugs
People have always looked at Williams’ weight and how she looks. No matter how much success an athlete has in their career, the pressure to meet society’s standards never goes away.
And although she is the most famous athlete who openly takes weight loss drugs, there are many others in the public eye who have spoken out.
Oprah Winfrey says she uses GLP-1, along with working out and eating well, to keep her weight from “yo-yoing.”
Dozens of celebrities have talked about taking the medicine, including actress Whoopi Goldberg, who says she lost the weight of “two people,” and singer Kelly Clarkson, who says her “doctor chased her for two years” before she consented to take it.
Williams quit tennis in 2022, when she played her last match at the US Open. But she is still quite strong and has desired to get to what she calls her “healthy weight” since her second kid, Adira, was born.
In her interview with the Today Show, she said that even though she was working hard, she felt like her “body was missing something” and couldn’t get down to what she felt comfortable with.
Dr. Claire Madigan, a senior research associate in behavioral medicine at Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Sciences, argues that exceptional athletes may have trouble losing weight.
“They’re used to eating a lot of calories, and when they stop playing the sport, it can be hard for them to change their behavior.”
Dr. Madigan said it was excellent that Williams indicated her weight loss wasn’t only because of the medicine. “She did have to focus on her diet and exercise,” he added.
She said, “It’s great that she’s talking about how hard it is to lose weight after having a baby.”
But she is worried that Williams’s message would not get through and might perhaps make some women less motivated. “The medications are quite expensive, and the normal person would conclude, “This is an exceptional athlete; she has access to the gym, time, and a nutritionist. She must have used GLP-1s.”
Dr. Madigan also said he was worried that the possible side effects of the drugs, which can include stomach problems like vomiting and diarrhea, and, in rare cases, problems with the gallbladder and kidneys, may not have been widely discussed in the news about Williams’s announcement.
Williams told Women’s Health magazine that she didn’t have any adverse effects and that she is finally seeing the results of all her hard work at the gym.
“My joints are a lot better,” she adds. “I just had a check-up, and the doctor said everything looked great, even my blood sugar levels.”
And even if she’s not breaking new territory on the tennis courts anymore, she is still breaking her own records, thanks to weight loss medicines, she claims. She is getting ready for a half-marathon right now.
She declares with pride, “I’m running farther than I ever have.”
