Kathy Bates Reveals She Lost 100 Lbs Over the Last Several Years

Kathy Bates is feeling more confident than ever after losing 100 pounds.

“It’s helped me tremendously that, over the last six or seven years, I’ve lost 100 pounds,” the actress, 76, said to Variety in an interview published on Wednesday, September 11. “I don’t think I’ve been this slim since I was in college.”

Bates explained that her weight loss has helped her tackle her latest project, CBS’ Matlock reboot, with ease. Before joining Matlock, Bates last starred in American Horror Story: Apocalypse which aired in 2018.

While Bates has been focusing on her health in recent years, she admitted she struggled the most while filming the show Harry’s Law from 2011 to 2012, where she was at her heaviest weight.

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“I had to sit down every moment that I could. It was hard for me to walk,” she reflected. “I’m ashamed I let myself get so out of shape, but now I have a tremendous amount of energy.”

Bates has been considering retiring following Matlock, but she’s not ready to give up on acting yet.

“I can’t believe I’m saying that about doing episodic TV, but this has been so much of a challenge and a delight,” she said to the outlet. “Matty is certainly my magic carpet right now, and I want her to go sailing on for quite a long time.”

Earlier this week, Bates flirted with the idea of saying goodbye to acting after Matlock, calling the project her “last dance.” Before being offered the role, she contemplated retirement but the legal drama’s script changed her perspective.

“Everything I’ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it,” she said in an interview with the New York Times on Sunday, September 8. “And it’s exhausting.”

Before Bates’ current weight loss milestone, she had another victory when she dropped 60 pounds in January 2019. The Oscar winner exclusively opened up to Us Weekly about her fitness journey.

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“Mindfulness, just knowing when to push my plate away,” she told Us at the time. “My niece told me this little secret, I guess it’s no secret, it’s a biological thing, that at some point when you’re eating, you have this involuntary sigh and that’s really your brain and your stomach communicating that you’ve had enough. The trick is to pay attention to that and push your plate away.”

In addition to being mindful about making healthier decisions, Bates also admitted she was avoiding junk food and soda overall. Bates acknowledged she knew she wouldn’t see results right away, but she remained determined to put her well being first.

“It took a few years,” Bates said. “I would say you have to be really patient … I don’t like the word willpower, but I like the word determination.”