Will Serena Williams’ weight help help throw a stigma of obesity medicines?

Serena Williams, one of the most successful athletes of all time, talks about the use of weight loss medicines – she says, to lift the “stigma” around using such medicines.

Will her outspoken comments inspire a new sense of confidence in those who use drugs? And can her honesty reassure critics?

The 43-year-old tennis star, who broke records and won 23 Grand Slam titles through his career, was the embodiment of fitness and athletic wisdom. But since she has children, even she, like so many of us, admitted that she was struggling to displace these extra pounds.

In the end, Williams told The Today Show on TV in the United States that he should look at his extra weight as an “opponent”. Although “training five hours a day” and “running, walking, cycling, climbing stairs, she could not throb this opponent, as she did to her opponents on the tennis court – so she ultimately says she had no choice but to” try something different “.

Many of her friends used GLP -1, a group of medicines that help with weight loss, so she decided to try it.

Williams is adamant that the drug route – it will not tell which brand it is taking – it was not easy and it is certainly not shortcuts to the loss of 31 pounds (14 kg) in the last eight months.

There is skepticism about the time of the recent transparency of the tennis star-she has just become a speaker of RO, a company that sells brands GLP-1 like Wegovy and Zepbound (known as Mounjaro in the UK) through her weight loss program, and her husband is also an investor.

However, the potential side effects of taking medication, her honesty will strike a nerve for many – she says she talks to take away shame that so many women feel when it comes to using drugs to help them lose weight.

Kaleb Luna, an assistant in feminist research at the University of California, says that having someone like Serena Williams is talking is a “breakthrough”.

It is said that this helps to remain silent on how to achieve “weight loss” that say that “people make the easy outcome” using weight loss medicines.

“It gets rid of the stereotype that these drugs are for fat people who are lazy and incompetent.

“This is a good thing in this regard.”

But Caleb also says that the discovery of her need to resort to the use of GLP-1 drugs is a slightly “horrifying” and makes them feel “a little sad”. They worry that all it does is downplay hard work and dedication, instead, focusing on appearance and pressure to look a certain way.

“She has accomplished things that have achieved so few people, in our time and throughout history.

“But now it just shows how all these achievements can be undermined by the size of the body.

“Great, weight loss seems to be surpassing all those record achievements.”

Williams’ weight and her appearance have been considered throughout her life. The burden, the pressure to fit into the expectations of the public does not diminish, no matter how much sports success there is an athlete in his career.

And although it is the highest profile sports star who openly uses weight loss medicines, there are many others in the eyes of the public who have spoken.

Oprah Winfrey says he uses GLP-1 as a tool, along with exercise and healthy eating, to stop himself with Yo-Yoing with his weight.

Actress Wupi Goldberg says she has lost weight on ‘two people’ After taking the medicine, singer Kelly Clarkson, who says she was “pursued” by her “doctor for two years” before agreeing to take it, are among the dozens of stars that are open to medication.

Williams left the tennis world behind her back in 2022 when she played the last match of her US Open career, but she is still a power of power and wants to reach what she describes as her “healthy weight” after the birth of her second child, Adina.

In her interview with The Today Show, she says she has the feeling that her body is missing something and is not able to descend to what she felt comfortable – despite intensive training.

Dr. Claire Madigan, a senior research associate of behavioral medicine at the School of Sports, Exercise and Health Sciences at the University of Lafborough, says that elite athletes can be difficult to lose weight.

“They are accustomed to consuming many calories and when they leave the sport, it can be difficult for him – it needs a change in behavior.”

Madigan said it was good to see that Williams mentioned that weight loss was not just about the medicine – “She had to focus on diet and physical activity.”

She added: “It’s great that she talks about how difficult it is to lose weight after you have a baby.”

But she wonders if Williams’s message can be lost and even demotivate some women. “Medicines are quite expensive and the average person may think that it is an elite athlete here, it has access to the gym, there is time, there is a nutritionist … and he had to use GLP-1.”

Madigan also expressed concern that the potential side effects of medication – which may include gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting and diarrhea, and in rare cases gallbladder and kidney problems may not have been widely discussed in the publicity of Williams’ message.

Williams says she has not experienced any side effects and told the Women for Health magazine that she finally sees the benefits of all her hard work in the gym.

“My joints are much better,” she says, “I just did my check, and the doctor said everything – including my blood sugar levels – looked great.”

And although she no longer breaks a new foundation on tennis courts, she still breaks her own records, with the help, she says about weight loss drugs. He is currently training for a semi -marathon.

“I’m running further than I ever had,” she says proudly.

Additional reporting by Alex Klyderman