Honestly, if there is one person on this planet you wouldn’t call "lazy," it’s Serena Williams. We are talking about a woman who has 23 Grand Slam titles and spent decades treating her body like a high-performance machine. But recently, she’s been at the center of a pretty heated conversation. Why? Because she admitted to using a GLP-1 medication to lose 31 pounds.
People have opinions. A lot of them.
Some fans feel like it's a "betrayal" of the body-positive image she spent years building. Others think it’s just another celebrity taking a shortcut. But when you actually listen to what Serena says about her experience with Serena Williams GLP-1 use, the story is way more complicated than just "taking a shot to get skinny." It’s actually a really blunt look at how the body changes after pregnancy and why willpower isn't always the magic bullet we think it is.
The "Plateau" That Wouldn't Budge
After her second daughter, Adira, was born in late 2023, Serena hit a wall. She wasn't just sitting on the couch. She was hitting 20,000 to 30,000 steps a day. She was training for hours in the summer sun. She even tried going raw vegan and vegetarian. Basically, she was doing everything that usually works for an elite athlete.
And yet? The scale didn't move.
"I was doing everything right," she told CBS News. "But my body wasn't responding the way it used to." It’s a frustrating spot to be in. You’ve got the discipline of a world champion, but your biology is basically ghosting you.
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She eventually partnered with the telehealth company Ro (where her husband, Alexis Ohanian, is an investor) to start taking Zepbound, which is a GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist. Since then, she’s lost about 31 pounds over eight months.
What exactly is a GLP-1?
If you're wondering what the heck she's actually putting in her arm, here's the quick version. GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1. It’s a hormone your body naturally makes that tells your brain "Hey, we're full" and helps your pancreas handle insulin. Medications like Zepbound (tirzepatide) or Ozempic (semaglutide) basically mimic that hormone but stay in your system much longer.
For Serena, it wasn't about "food noise"—she’s gone on record saying she never really was a "foodie" or someone who obsessed over her next meal. Instead, she felt like her body was simply missing a chemical link that allowed her metabolism to function.
Why Serena Williams GLP-1 Journey Sparked Such a Backlash
You can't talk about Serena without talking about her legacy. For twenty years, she was the icon for "strong over skinny." She faced some pretty nasty, racist, and body-shaming comments throughout her career for being muscular. So, when she announced she was using a weight-loss drug, some critics felt she was finally "capitulating" to the very beauty standards she used to fight.
The Guardian even questioned why she would lend her legacy to "Ozempic culture."
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But Serena’s perspective is different. She views the medication as a tool for her health, specifically her joints. "I have a lot of issues with my knees," she mentioned on the Today show. Carrying extra weight as an athlete—even a retired one—is brutal on the cartilage. She says she feels "lighter" and more alert now, even joking on The Oprah Podcast that she’s got "knees like Megan Thee Stallion" and can finally dance without pain.
Not a shortcut, but a "calibration"
Dr. Ania Jastreboff, an obesity medicine expert who spoke alongside Serena on Oprah's podcast, explains it as recalibrating the "enough point." Basically, your body has a set point where it thinks it needs to be to survive. After pregnancies or hormonal shifts, that point can get stuck. The medication helps lower that setting so the diet and exercise you're already doing actually start to work.
Breaking Down the "Shortcut" Myth
The biggest hurdle for Serena was the mental one. She admitted she was nervous about the stigma. She thought it was a "skinny shot" or the "easy way out."
But let’s be real.
- She still works out at 5 AM.
- She still eats a high-protein, plant-forward diet.
- She tracks her blood sugar with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
The medication didn't do the work for her; it just stopped her body from fighting against the work she was putting in. It’s a nuance that often gets lost in the social media frenzy.
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What We Can Learn From the "Serena Effect"
Serena Williams using a GLP-1 is a massive deal because it shifts the conversation from "willpower" to "biology." If a woman with her level of grit and resources can’t "will" herself to a certain weight, maybe it’s time we stop shaming regular people for struggling too.
If you’re looking at your own health journey and wondering if this path is right for you, here are a few things to keep in mind based on the "Serena model":
- Consult an expert, not a trend: Serena didn't just buy a shot online. She worked with doctors at Ro and did months of research.
- Address the underlying "why": For her, it was about joint health and metabolic resistance after pregnancy, not just fitting into a dress.
- Keep the habits: The meds are a tool, not a replacement. You still need the protein, the steps, and the strength training to keep your muscle mass.
- Own your narrative: Whether people agree with her or not, Serena chose to be transparent. There’s power in saying, "Yeah, I’m using this, and it helped me."
There's no doubt the Serena Williams GLP-1 conversation will keep evolving, especially as WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) looks at these drugs for active athletes in 2026. For now, she seems happy, healthy, and—most importantly—able to keep up with her kids without her knees giving out.
If you're considering medical weight loss, your next step should be a thorough blood panel and a conversation with an endocrinologist to see if your "enough point" is actually working against you. Taking care of your metabolic health is a long game, and as Serena has shown, there's no shame in using every tool in the bag.