When Serena Williams revealed she has been taking GLP-1 treatment to help with weight reduction, social media was in a frenzy with a slew of blended opinions. Throughout a current look on “The Oprah Podcast,” Williams admitted to having as soon as shared among the similar concepts as her social media critics.
When Oprah Winfrey requested the retired tennis star why she was initially skeptical of GLP-1s, Williams defined that it’s “as a result of it’s like the thin shot…like a shortcut. And so for years, I didn’t, properly, not for years, however for a very long time, I didn’t do it, and I didn’t wish to do it.”
“I believed like, ‘I’m not going to take the shortcut… I’m going to work more durable.’ However then, ultimately, I used to be like, ‘I’ve tried the whole lot,’” she continued. “I’ve tried each weight-reduction plan. I’ve tried each exercise. I’ve tried strolling for hours. I might go to Europe and Paris, and I might simply stroll for hours, and the 20,000 steps a day, like each single factor, you recognize, and nothing was working.”
In August 2025, Williams revealed that she’s on the GLP-1 drug Zepbound, a drugs usually prescribed to deal with diabetes, and is now additionally used for weight reduction and administration. Partnering with telehealth platform Ro, Williams used her platform to deal with the stigma surrounding GLP-1s.
“I really feel like lots of people have this stigma on GLP-1s and say issues like, ‘Oh, lazy individuals do it,’ or ‘For those who’re working arduous sufficient, you don’t want that,’ I do know for a truth from my expertise that it’s merely not true,” she stated as beforehand reported by theGrio. “I used to be placing within the work. I really assume it’s an issue numerous different ladies can relate to, that you’re within the gymnasium and maintaining a healthy diet, however simply can’t get to the extent you need or must.”
Through the dialog with Winfrey, Dr. Ania Jastreboff mentioned an “sufficient level,” which, for many individuals struggling to reduce weight, displays the physique pondering it doesn’t have “sufficient” to outlive, so it’s at all times striving for extra, for extra gasoline, for extra fats, for extra power to retailer.
“The medicines recalibrate, they decrease the sufficient level in order that your physique is aware of it has sufficient, sufficient meals, doesn’t want anymore. You simply are, you’ve had sufficient,” Dr. Jastreboff added.
That’s a phenomenon Williams totally associated to: “I might lose the load, however my physique favored to be at a sure weight. That was so eye-opening for me. I used to be like, and it’s so bizarre, as a result of it’s like each time I reduce weight, it’s like unexpectedly, I’ll get even hungrier.”
Emphasizing that everybody’s physique is exclusive and responds to those drugs otherwise, Williams defined how the load loss treatment helped together with her confidence and power.
“I really feel happier. I really feel like I’ve extra power for my children. I simply really feel like I can do extra. Don’t chuckle, however I really like to bop. I can drop it. I obtained knees like Megan [thee Stallion] now,” she joked. “No, however significantly, it impacts my joints, and my joints are a lot lighter and so significantly better, and I’m like, ‘oh my goodness, I simply want I had achieved this whereas I used to be nonetheless enjoying.’ It could have made such a giant distinction for me in my profession.”
“I really feel extra alert. And it’s simply to have the ability to do issues that I may by no means do. Like, even once I was enjoying, I may by no means try this at my highest as a result of I noticed it was additional weight that my joints have been carrying,” she concluded.
