Kathy Bates: Diabetes 'Scared Me Straight' to Lose 100 Pounds

Actor says she lost 80 pounds through diet, the last 20 by using Ozempic
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 10, 2024 9:45 AM CDT

Nearly six years ago, Kathy Bates emerged 60 pounds lighter than she'd previously been, noting that she felt like "a completely different person" since shedding those pounds. Now, the Academy Award-winning actor, who's currently starring in a CBS reboot of Matlock, is announcing a 100-pound weight loss in total, and explaining how Ozempic played into the later part of that journey.

  • Start of weight loss: Bates tells People in an exclusive interview that she found out in 2017 she had Type 2 diabetes, which "scared me straight"—especially since her sister already struggles with the disease, and her father had a leg amputated because of it.

  • Efforts: Bates—who says she used to chow down on burgers, pizza, and soda well into the night "because I was afraid, and ... because it was sort of an FU to my self-esteem"—reveals she lost her first 80 pounds by changing her diet and not eating after 8pm every night, among other lifestyle shifts.
  • Ozempic: The weight loss drug helped Bates drop the remaining 20 pounds. "There's been a lot of talk, 'Oh, well, she's done this on Ozempic,'" she says. "But I have to impress upon people out there that ... this was hard work for me." She notes that she was "determined ... that I wasn't going to gain the weight back and that I was going to continue to lose ... It's very hard to say you've had enough."
  • Effects: Bates says losing the weight has given her more energy and stamina while at work, and also reduced symptoms from her lymphedema, which causes swelling from a buildup of fluid in the body: "It's been a tremendous benefit for me. ... It's such a thrill to be able to put my arm into a jacket and it fits."
  • Keeping it up: The 76-year-old actor admits she's nervous about how much she'll be moving around now that the first season of Matlock has been filmed, though she says a personal trainer isn't the way for her. "I don't want anybody over my shoulder," she notes, adding, "It's just very important to me to keep this going. I don't want to slip." Watch the interview here.
(Check out another recent interview with Bates, in which she dishes on her "exhausting" acting career.)

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