Serena Williams has made it public about what helped her feel stronger, healthier and most importantly, herself again, since she had given birth.
The 43-year-old American tennis icon revealed she is using it GLP-1 drugan injectable weight loss pill, which helped her to drop out over 31 pounds.
“It feels good,” Williams told People Magazine. “I feel really healthy and healthy. I feel light physically and mentally.”
Her battle with weight began in 2017 after she welcomed her eldest son, Alexis Olympia. She later had her second child (Adira) in 2023.
“No matter how much I trained, no matter what I did or what I did, I couldn’t reach the weight I needed,” she explained.
“I’ve never been anywhere like life, so I worked so hard, I was so healthy, I couldn’t get down to where I needed to be, so it was crazy.”
For athletes whose careers were built on unrelenting discipline, the struggle felt particularly harsh. “I’ve never taken any shortcuts in my career and have always worked hard. I know what it takes to be the best,” said the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
“So doing all the same thing was very frustrating and I couldn’t change that number on scale or how I looked at the body.”
GLP-1 and its effects on the body
Williams decided to explore new options and turned his attention directly to the healthcare company, RO, from patients, to support GLP-1 treatment. Under the supervision of a doctor, she began receiving RO injections six months after the birth of her daughter Adira.
GLP-1, short for glucagon-like peptide-1, mimics a naturally occurring hormone that helps regulate blood glucose and appetite. By slowing digestion and signaling brain bloating, the drug reduces cravings and promotes weight loss.
Popular brand names include Novo Nordisk ozempic And Wegovy Eli Lily’s Zepbound and Munjaroespecially.
Still, treatment is not without risks. This is especially true when it is misused or taken without medical supervision. Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, and dehydration.
More serious complications may require swelling of the pancreas, gallbladder disease, particularly when combined with other drugs, surgical removal, loss of muscle tissue, kidney damage, and hypoglycemia.
For this reason, doctors emphasize that GLP-1 should only be taken under medical supervision and is not suitable for everyone.
Williams admits that she was the first to hesitate. In the ongoing debate over weight loss pills, she tackled the same suspicions that others had called out to.
However, this week she officially announced her partnership with RO, launching a campaign aimed at normalizing GLP-1 treatments and challenging the perception that using them is a “easy way.”
Her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, has also been invested in the effort, serving as both an investor and executive at RO.
European GLP-1 drugs
The GLP-1 weight loss trend began in the US, but quickly spread to Europe. Originally prescribed for diabetes, these drugs now fuel the billions of euros of weight loss industry driven by private demand, social media hype and regulatory gaps.
Many Europeans pay the full amount (often more than 1,000 euros per month) for GLP-1 injections from their pocket. For example, the Italian private market for GLP-1 drugs exploded in 2024, bringing global anti-obesity drug spending to 26 billion euros, up more than 10 times compared to 2020.
Over 1 billion people around the world live with obesity, and over 830 million people manage diabetes.
In Europe, more than half of the adult population is overweight, with 17% being clinically obese. The World Obesity Federation predicts that by 2050 60% of adults around the world will fall into this category.