Kathy Bates went into detail about her stunning 100-pound weight loss, which she said has helped her with work as an actor.
The 76-year-old spoke about shedding the weight over the past several years while speaking to Variety about starring in the new CBS series, "Matlock." The show, she explained, took a lot of stamina to star in, and the consistent weight loss helped her.
"It's helped me tremendously that, over the last six or seven years, I've lost 100 pounds," she told the outlet. "I don't think I've been this slim since I was in college."
Bates revealed that she was at her heaviest while starring in the 2011 NBC drama, "Harry's Law."
"I had to sit down every moment that I could," she recalled. "It was hard for me to walk. I'm ashamed I let myself get so out of shape, but now I have a tremendous amount of energy."
In the year that ensued, she began to lose weight, recalling in a 2019 interview the pivotal point came as she faced various health issues.
"I was facing diabetes — it runs in my family — and I really didn't want to live with that," she told Extra at the time, adding that she is now "in the best health I've been in in years and I'm so grateful — it's a miracle."
During the interview, Bates also shared valuable lessons her niece shared that helped her not to overeat.
"After you eat for 20-30 minutes, you experience an involuntary sigh. It's communication between stomach and brain telling you you had enough … and what I discovered is if you listen to that sigh and push that plate away for just five minutes, you realize you're satisfied and you don't have to eat more," she said.
The weight loss also helped ease symptoms Bates was experiencing from her lymphedema. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2003, then with breast cancer.
"I had a double mastectomy seven years ago … and I developed a disease called lymphedema after that," she said.
"We have a lymphatic system in our body and that's how cancer cells travel … and that's why surgeons remove lymph nodes … because they are afraid of the cancer spreading to other parts of your body."
She added that, as a result, her body began to "swell horribly."
Drawing from her personal journey, Bates took on the role of national spokesperson for the Lymphatic Education & Research Network to help raise awareness and funds for the cause.
"The first thing is education; the next thing is dollars for research. I want people to come out of the shadows and receive the kind of care that they need," she said.
"I want people to know what it is so they can get treatment before it progresses to its most difficult stages."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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