Even one of the greatest athletes of all time needed some help with shedding the pounds after having two children!
In an interview with People on Thursday, Serena Williams revealed she slimmed down after struggling to bounce back following the births of her daughters Alexis Olympia and Adira River Ohanian by using… a GLP-1 medication! Wow! The tennis icon shared that she lost 31 pounds on the weight loss drug, and she feels “great” now. She told the outlet:
“I feel really good and healthy. I feel light physically and light mentally.”
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Serena looked amazing before and after! But we’re glad she’s feeling better in her body! Ch-ch-check it out (below):
Incredible! Good for her!
The 43-year-old athlete explained she began to struggle with her weight in 2017, after having Alexis. Serena did everything she could to shed the pounds post-pregnancy, but nothing worked:
“I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained. It was crazy because I’d never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy and could never get down to where I needed to be at.”
It was “very frustrating” for Serena at the time, who could easily achieve her fitness goals before pregnancy:
“I had never taken shortcuts in my career and always worked really hard. I know what it takes to be the best. So it was very frustrating to do all the same things and never be able to change that number on the scale or the way my body looked.”
And the Olympian continued to battle her weight when she had her second daughter in August 2023. According to Serena, she lost a lot in two weeks but “never lost another pound” afterward. At a standstill with her fitness journey, she decided to try something different. She started research, and she discovered Ro, a direct-to-patient healthcare company, to aid in GLP-1 treatment. Serena began weekly injections about six months after Adira was born — so around when she stopped breastfeeding in early 2024.
But knowing there is a lot of controversy when it comes to weight loss medications, Serena expressed she was nervous to start taking one herself:
“I did a lot of research on it. I was like, ‘Is this a shortcut? What are the benefits? What are not the benefits?’ I really wanted to dive into it before I just did it.”
After using the drug, she has no regrets. The gold medalist said she feels better than ever:
“I just can do more. I’m more active. My joints don’t hurt as much. I just feel like something as simple as just getting down is a lot easier for me. And I do it a lot faster. I feel like I have a lot of energy and it’s great. I just feel pretty good about it.”
As long as Serena and her doctor feel good about it, that is all we care about! No judgement here! But Serena has an important reminder for anyone thinking about going on a weight loss journey or trying a GLP-1:
“Weight loss should never really change your self image. Women often experience judgment about their bodies at any size, and I’m no stranger to that. So I feel like you should love yourself at any size and any look.”
Yes! Say it louder! For her, she “never felt that pressure to maintain a certain appearance,” and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the size she was at before. She did it to feel better again:
“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. But the size I was before, there was nothing wrong with it. It’s just not what I wanted to have. I just knew that I wanted to be where I personally felt comfortable.”
We love this honesty from Serena! It’s so refreshing!
What are your reactions to her transformation, Perezcious readers?? Drop ’em in the comments below!
[Image via Serena Williams/Instagram, MEGA/WENN]
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