Serena Williams Reveals 31-Pound Weight Loss With GLP-1 Medication

Tennis legend Serena Williams has shared details of her weight loss journey, revealing she shed 31 pounds with the help of a GLP-1 medication.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion, now 43, opened up in interviews with People magazine and NBC’s Today show, explaining that she struggled to return to a healthy weight after the birth of her second daughter.

“In particular, after having my second kid, I was never able to be at a healthy weight that I could be at, whether it was my joints or blood sugar levels. It was just always something I suffered with, and a lot of women actually go through this,” Williams said on Today.

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Despite being one of the greatest athletes in the world, Williams admitted that losing weight was far more challenging than expected.

“No matter what I did — running, walking. I would walk for hours because they say that’s good. I literally was playing a professional sport — and I could never go back to where I needed to be for my health,” she explained. “Then, after my second kid, it just even got harder. So then I was like, ‘OK, I have to try something different.’”

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Williams said her extra weight began to affect her joints and overall health, making her realize she needed a new approach.

Breaking Stigma Around GLP-1s

The tennis star also said she wanted to be transparent about using GLP-1 medication to help normalize it for others facing similar struggles.

“A misconception is that it’s a shortcut,” she told Today. “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.”

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GLP-1s, or GLP-1 agonists, mimic a natural hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, which helps regulate blood sugar levels. These medications have grown in popularity in recent years for weight management.

Confidence at Every Size

While the 31-pound weight loss has improved her health, Williams told People that her motivation wasn’t about looks or fitting into expectations.

“I’ve never felt that pressure to maintain a certain appearance,” she said. “I always felt comfortable at any size, whether I was a lot heavier or not. I do feel like my body didn’t like me at that weight. I had pain in my joints and pain in different areas just because of the extra weight that I’m not used to carrying since I had children.”

She added that while there was nothing “wrong” with her previous size, she wanted to feel healthier and more comfortable in her own body.

“But the size I was before, there was nothing wrong with it,” she said. “It’s just not what I wanted to have. I just knew that I wanted to be where I personally felt comfortable.”