Serena Williams shares use of GLP-1 for weight loss and stigma

[FoxRedPuppy]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8de89lg21jo.amp

Honestly, mounjaro has changed my life and I would never judge anyone for taking them, but... one of the world's best athletes? Her body at its absolute peak strength? Telling us she was overweight and unhappy in herself?

Also she's not 'sharing her use' she's actively promoting which I don't like at all. I don't think medication should be promoted, but that's just me.

It really shows that obesity is not just laziness when someone like Serina needs GLP-1 to get to a healthy weight.

I feel sad that the myth of exercise making you healthy has been burst.

She's not talking about her body while she was playing professional tennis she is talking about her body in her mid forties after retirement from elite sport and two pregnancies.

The bbc writes about the stereotype of fat people being lazy and incompetent.
This is too ingrained in society to change in my lifetime.
It is everywhere.
If Serena Williams was that bothered she could have talked about medication before she was paid to do so.

Exercise does make you healthy. It doesn’t necessarily make you thin, but there are lot of other health benefits.

I suppose promoting is maybe off. But professional athletes have short paid careers.

i really identify with her, mid 40s. 3 stone overweight. Did everything I usually do and could not shift a single lb. I was exercising (training for a marathon) and dieting but nothing worked.

Also if my provider told me I could have free MJ forfeit I promoted it, I’d do it! Sadly I don’t have the fan base of Serena Williams 😂

They are investors in the company, she is not sharing her insights from the goodness of her heart! But the more people who normalise its safe use, the better in my opinion.

Does it? Or does it show that a 'healthy weight' can be far heavier than what is perceived to be an acceptable weight for women in the media (stick thin)? I think it is very sad that Serena Williams of all people, who trains 5 hours a day, feels pressure to look thin not big and muscly and mighty, which is her natural build and has been so advantageous to her.

No I think it shows how difficult it is to lose the fat even when you train hard. It isn't about her not wanting to look muscular, she still looks muscular, if you look at the photos of her from recent years she is carrying fat too. If that is impacting her health then why shouldn't she shift it.

I think we are losing touch with how women look naturally, even phenomenally fit ones, in their 40s and after having kids. It should be seen as a beautiful thing, but instead there is an insane pressure to look like a skinny 20 year-old. It's sad.

It’s so interesting. I have an overweight friend who plays a lot of sports very frequently, trains regularly, walks miles a day, and can’t shift the weight. Doesn’t even eat huge amounts. Her metabolism must be defective.

It seems so very unfair.

Yes, I think it's very important that she speaks out. It helps counter all those 'you just need to move more'.

To be fair, unless you're with her every second of the day, you don't know how much she eats.

Cynical as I am about her primary reasons for promoting it being financial ones, I’m inclined to think that her experience is a good response to the just eat less and move more folks. Serena isn’t someone who needs educating about nutrition and exercise.

I can't wait to see online warriors telling her that she should have just gotten off the sofa and moved a bit instead of taking the 'lazy' way 😁

Exercise does make you healthy. I am significantly overweight to obesity level but I have been told multiple times by multiple health professionals that my blood work shows up a level of healthiness that belies my age and weight. That is largely down to exercise. What exercise does not do is help in losing weight to any great extent.

I welcome her talking about it. I don't care that she's an investor. There is a clear and obvious pattern of women, after having children and getting to a point where declining oestrogen impacts on their body, struggle to lose excess weight. This isn't just about being skinny, this is also about the increased health risks with the changing distribution of fat. She is contributing to challenging the perception that this just about being lazy and greedy. I personally don't believe that someone who has experienced a lifetime of intense scrutiny about her body is talking about it only to get money off the back of it.

Former athletes often gain weight without trying. She’s often doing events and such, it’s no wonder that she wants an easy way to look good, and more power to her.

Sorry…. What. Exercise has numerous benefits, particularly for your heart and stroke risk, and helping women in particular stave off osteoporosis. People who exercise also have less risk of developing dementia and probably loads of other conditions. It’s been known for years that exercise is not a substitute for diet and that losing weight is not about how much you exercise.

The pictures of her training and the slow weight loss suggests it's been anything but easy. She's got a full on six pack ffs. GLP-1s don't do that for you.

Dr Emma Anders on youtube did a short about it which I thought was really positive and explained it well!

https://youtube.com/shorts/zGLm3rTRJ2I?feature=shared

I rephrase: make it easier where it would probably be nigh impossible without. Also GLP agonists are also said to help fix hormonal issues (apart from just weight loss).
Women with PCOS find these medications helpful

I like that fact that she's spoken about it so openly, but there is a part of me that's slightly cynical about the timing, now that she's a brand ambassador and her husband an investor. Doesn't feel as legit and sincere as it may have felt without that information. If it's genuinely worked for her then all power to her - it's not easy for any of us, particular when we compare ourselves to outdated beauty standards.