Serena Williams is opening up about her experience with GLP-1 medications. The 43-year-old tennis star has lost 31 pounds on the drug Zepbound, a type of medication typically prescribed for diabetes and now also used for weight management.
Williams’ struggles with body image began with postpartum changes after she gave birth to her first daughter, Alexis Olympia, in 2017, and continued after her second daughter, Adira River, was born in August 2023. She lost “a lot” of weight in the two weeks after River’s birth, she told People, but afterwards, “never lost another pound.”
The tennis star's candor may help to dispel the pesky health inaccuracy that weight loss is a simple matter of exercise. While an active life and healthy eating can help with the process, new research suggests that outside factors like genetics may play a bigger role than previously thought. As arguably one of the world's greatest athletes, Williams' decision to share her journey with GLP-1s may help to reshape the image of the drugs.
"A misconception is that it's a shortcut," she said in the interview. "As an athlete and as someone that has done everything, I just couldn't get my weight to where I needed to be at a healthy place − and believe me, I don't take shortcuts."
