Serena Williams, one of the most successful athletes of all time, talked about using weight loss drugs – she says, to lift “stigma” to use such a medicine.
Will his outspoken comments create a new sense of faith in those using drugs? And can his honesty calm critics?
The 43 -year -old tennis star, who broke the record and won 23 Grand Slam titles through his career, was an avatar of fitness and athletic skills. But, after having a child, even he, like many of us, has accepted to struggle to move those extra pounds.
Finally, Williams told the Today show on TV in the US that he had to see his extra weight as “a rival”. “Five hours a day training” and “rushing, walking, riding a bike, climbing the ladder,” she could not do this opponent as she did for her opponents on the tennis court – so in the end, she says, she says, she had no other option but to “try to do something different”.
Many of his friends were using GLP -1 – a group of drugs that help in weight loss, so he decided to try it.
Williams are adamant on the drug passage – she would not say which brand she is taking – it was not easy, and certainly there was not a shortcut to lose 31LB (14 kg) in the last eight months.
Tennis Star has doubts about the recent transparency time-she has just become a spokesperson for RO, a company that sells GLP-1 brands such as Vegovi and Zapebound (known as silence in the UK) through its weight-loss program, and her husband is also an investor.
Despite this and the possible side effects of taking the medicine, her honesty will hit a nerve for many – she says that she is saying to overcome shame that so many women feel that when it comes to using drugs, they help to lose weight.
Kaleb Luna, an assistant professor of feminist studies at the University of California, says a person like Serena Williams has “a success”.
They say that it helps to silence critics that “how to achieve weight loss” that says “people are finding easy way” using weight loss drugs.
“It relieves stereotype that these drugs are for fat people who are lazy and disabled.
“It’s probably a good thing in that regard.”
But Kaleb also says that the revelation about the need to resort to her to use GLP-1 is a bit “terrible” and makes them feel a little sad “. They worry that all this does, it is hard work and dedication, instead, focusing on appearance and pressure to see in a certain way.
“He has achieved things that have achieved very few people in our time and in the whole history.
“But now it just shows how all those achievements can be reduced by body size.
“Scarley, weight loss seems to eliminate all those record-breaking achievements.”
The weight and look of Williams has been filtered throughout his life. The burden, the pressure to fit with the expectations of the society is not reduced, no matter how much the game of an athlete is in his career.
And when she can be the most high profile sports star, which openly uses weight loss medicine, there are many other people in the eyes of the public who have spoken.
Opra Winfrey says she uses GLP -1 as a tool with exercise and healthy food to prevent herself “yo -ying” with her weight.
Actress Whop Goldberg says she has lost the weight of “two people” After taking the drug, and singer Kelly Clarkson, who says that she was “followed by her doctor for two years”, before she agreed to take it, she is one of the dozens of stars who are open about taking medicines.
Williams surpassed the world of tennis in 2022, when he played the last match of his career at the US Open, but he is still a powerhouse of strength and is described as his “healthy weight” since his second child, Adina’s birth.
In her interview with The Today show, she says that she felt that her “body was missing something” and she could not go down for what she felt comfortable despite the comfortable training.
Dr. Claire Madigan, a senior research colleague in behavioral medicine at the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Claire Madigan, says that the elite athletes may find it difficult to lose weight.
“They are used to consume too much calories and they can find it difficult when they leave the game – it requires changes in behavior.”
Dr. Madigan said that it was good to see that Williams mentioned her weight loss that she was not just down to the drug – “she had to focus on diet and physical activity”.
She said: “It is great that she is talking about how difficult it is to lose weight after having a child.”
But she wonders if the message of Williams can lose and even remove some women. “Drugs are quite expensive and the average person might think there is an elite athlete, he has reached the gym, he has got time, he has a nutritionist … and he has to use GLP -1”.
Dr. Madigan also expressed concern that the possible side effects of taking drugs – which may include gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting and diarrhea, and in rare cases, gallbladder bags and kidney problems – will not be widely discussed in the promotion of Williams.
Williams says that she had no experience of any side effects, and told the women’s health magazine that she was finally looking at the benefits of all her hard work in the gym.
She says, “My joints are much better,” she says, “I had just had a check -up, and the doctor said everything – which included my blood sugar levels – looked great.”
And, even though, she is no longer breaking new land on the tennis court, she is still breaking her record, with help, she says about weight loss drugs. She is currently training for a half marathon.
“I am running far away than ever,” she proudly says.
Additional Reporting by Alex Clademen
