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After airing the pilot last month, the rebooted Matlock is actually starting, for realsies this time, next week on October 17. While I had mixed feelings about the first episode, I’m still enthusiastically on board because of my love and admiration for Kathy Bates. Even though Kathy scared us by telling the NY Times that she would retire after Matlock, she heard our cries of despair and walked back that statement. Well, now Kathy has given another deeply personal interview, this time with People Mag, in which she speaks candidly about the weight loss journey she’s been on for the past seven years. It started in 2017 when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a disease that’s prevalent in her family. Then after losing 80 pounds through lifestyle changes and what she calls “hard work,” and given her diabetes, Kathy consulted with her doctor and started using Ozempic to lose the final 20 pounds. Unsurprisingly, the weight loss has affected every aspect of her life.
80% hard work, 20% Ozempic to lose the last 20 pounds: In this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, the Oscar-winning actress, 76, clarifies that she lost 80 lbs. over the past seven years through changes to her lifestyle and diet. She then lost another 20 lbs. on Ozempic. “There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic,” Bates says. “But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”
She began making changes after her diabetes diagnosis in 2017: “I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem,” she says. “[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.” The first change Bates made to her lifestyle was taking a piece of advice her niece had given her about listening to her body. “When we’re full, we experience an involuntary sigh,” she explains. “I just pushed the plate away.” She also changed her diet — “I used to eat terribly: burgers and Cokes and pizza,” she admits — and stopped eating after 8 p.m.
Working out now that she’s out of work: Bates says her next challenge is figuring out a workout routine now that she’s wrapped the first season of Matlock. “That’s going to be my next thing that I’m worried about because I won’t be on set running back and forth,” she says. “I have a treadmill here at the house, and I might try Pilates. … It’s just very important to me to keep this going. I don’t want to slip.” Her weight loss, she says, “coincided beautifully” with the timing of Matlock. “Physically, I’m capable of doing this show,” she says. “I don’t have to sit down. I can stand up all day long and walk and move and breathe and do so many things that I couldn’t before.”
Her lymphedema has noticeably improved, too: She was diagnosed with the condition — which causes swelling due to a buildup of lymph fluid in the body — after undergoing a double mastectomy following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2012. (She previously had ovarian cancer in 2003.) “It’s been a tremendous benefit for me,” she says. “I’m lucky that I don’t have to wear my compression sleeves every day. It’s such a thrill to be able to put my arm into a jacket and it fits.” … This period of her life “is just so exciting,” she continues, tears welling up in her eyes. “It’s emotional.”
If you have 12 minutes to spare, I highly recommend watching the video People Mag released of this interview. You get to see Kathy’s giddiness when she talks about fitting into clothes differently, and she tells a sweet story about finding her (stunning!) Armani Emmys dress with a friend. I was relieved to see the joy in Kathy. Back in September when the NY Times article came out, the one where she said Matlock would be her last acting gig, I was a bit startled with how despondent she seemed. But watching the video shifted my sense of that. I no longer think she’s despondent, I think she’s done a lot of hard work and unloaded a lot, and that can naturally make you feel more open and vulnerable. As she says, she is clearly excited and emotional with where she is right now, having stayed the course in losing a substantial amount of weight, and working on what she feels is a dream role. That is exciting and emotional! And inspiring to someone like me on the other side of that health journey. But please do me a favor and wait seven years before asking me how it’s going…
Kathy Bates Sets the Record Straight on Her Ozempic Use After Losing 100 Lbs.: 'There’s Been a Lot of Talk' (Exclusive) https://t.co/2KRajsKBkc
— People (@people) October 9, 2024
photos credit: Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon, Ryan Hartford/INSTARimages.com, Getty and via Twitter/People
In a time where fat shaming is so frowned upon, why do we continue to applaud people who lose weight? Sure, love your natural body but if you shed a few (or many) pounds, even better.
On the whole I agree with you but given the diabetes diagnosis I see this instance a bit differently. As a fellow Type 2 diabetic I appreciate reading this. It’s so so so hard to be at a point where I literally cannot just grab a sandwich occasionally but Bates seems relatable and this gives me a little boost moving forward and caring for myself.
Maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle is of course important and if wellness-improving weight loss occurs as a result, that’s an added bonus. But the emphasis here is on weight loss – it’s in the headline – as the primary goal, and not the more serious issue of diabetes and how food and exercise impact it. I’ve always admired Kathy Bates and 100% support her accomplishments.
Respectfully, I read this as Kathy Bates losing weight because of health issues, not fat shaming. Diabetes, for instance also goes hand in hand with heart disease and neuropathy to mention a few. Lymphedema is nasty swelling. She’s mentioned that her health journey has increased her fitness, she feels like she gets more oxygen, her father’s amputation scared her, her lymphedema is more under control… I think all of this is great! Her body is still natural no matter her weight.
She admitted herself she didn’t have a healthy diet and her family has a history of diabetes. So she wasn’t living a healthy life. And for a good portion of her adult life, she was noticeably heavier. It’s not fat shaming, it’s simply the truth. I’m excited for her, she clearly thinks her weight loss is an achievement for health and it totally is.
She looks incredible! Good for her.
Gosh. She’s been through a lot!
Agreed! She looks healthy, happy, and beautiful.
Agreed about the diabetes diagnosis being a game-changer in this instance. I never thought of Bates as anything but a terrific actress, and truthfully didn’t really notice her weight loss when I watched the pilot of “Matlock.” I was more focused on how the writers so brilliantly worked with the reality of older women’s experience (suspending disbelief on the more aspirational aspects of the character’s life and attitude – don’t want to spoil things for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet).
As someone whose struggles with maintaining a consistent weight have been dismissed because I’m not obese and never have been (as a short and short-waited woman, the difference between “looks good” and “potato with legs” is about four pounds) , I relate heavily to the health aspects Bates talks about. It’s not about being fat or thin – it’s about feeling comfortable in your body and being able to do the things you want to do in it. My clothes tell me when I need to kick up the exercise and shed a few pounds. No one thinks about the economics of weight gain or loss. But I’m not all that crazy for clothes shopping, have accumulated a really nice wardrobe and don’t have the time or money to acquire a new one in a bigger (OR smaller) size.
I’m also a shorted woman, 5’2.
I’m 7 months into the year necessary to be officially in menopause. It’s so so hard.
I’ve gained 6 pounds & its an entire size & has impacted every part of my life.
I recently joined WW because I needed the routine of it, having lost the routine of periods. I relied on that cycle more than I knew.
Anyway. I fully support & understand why Kathy wanted to lose that last 20. How she did it is her business.
also 5’2 and not overweight by most peoples standards. but after 50 my cholesterol skyrocketed and my dr was concerned about all the weight on my middle and potential fatty liver. I managed to lose 13 lbs by adding an hour walk every day and not eating after dinner. I already dont have sugar in the house and stopped cooking with oil for most things. while fitting into nice clothes is nice, seeing that follow up lipid profile go down felt better than anything.
4’11” here and once menopause hit it changed everything – and everything hurt. To most people 6-10 pounds doesnt sound like alot but when your small its 2 sizes!
4’11” also and most people don’t get that 5 lbs can take me from one size being too big to the next one up being too small.
When I hit menopause everything hurt, especially my hips when I was in bed. I also had terrible hot flashes so I went to my doctor. He gave me transdermal estradiol patch. The pain completely disappeared. He added oral progesterone to protect against uterine cancer. The hormones helped many other symptoms and I feel they saved my life. Initially the pain would come back when the patch wore off, but after some dose adjustments I no longer get that pain.
Yes, applauding weight loss is a weird concept. I do think that it is just frankly so hard to do, it really takes a whole new mindset and that people try to acknowledge the work that goes into that, at least that is how I look at the complements. I have had a shift on my onionin regarding Ozempic and other new weight loss injections, I used to think it was “cheating” but now I see it as life saving in so many cases.
For me, it is about taking control over your health and seeing it. So not really fitting into old clothes, but that feeling that you did sth to help yourself in the long run.
Bates is an incredible talent, and I know it is corny, but she made Misery and to this day it is one of my fave movies.
I’m so happy for her that she’s healthier and feeling stronger. I want her to be around and feeling well enough to act for a long time. Yay for her and for the fans who admire her!
As you age, it’s harder to cart extra weight around. I can relate to what she says about being pleased and noticing how she’s moving, and standing with ease. I hadn’t realized she was a two-time cancer survivor as well. She’s found her way through multiple health challenges.
I don’t think “applauding “ weight loss when you’ve been told it will have a major impact on your pre-diabetic status or on your ongoing diabetes management is the same as toxic weight loss culture that says we have to look slim but curvy, AND young AND hyper feminine for the rest of our lives.
@Eowyn. I agree with the distinction between vanity weight loss and managing one’s health, but when Kathy Bates, a 76 year old actor with a very celebrated career, has to ‘explain’ not only why she lost weight but how, it reinforces the idea that no matter where you are in life, losing weight is always a goal. Remove all mention of the 100 lbs she lost and you have an inspirational story of a woman taking the steps to combat a serious medical condition.
Got so emotional watching this – I relate so keenly to needing to change your life in reaction to a major health scare, and her transparency and vulnerability in discussing this is just beautiful and inspiring. The “hard work” is truly hard, and I’m so inspired by her honesty and bluntness. I’m coming at it from the opposite side (fear, control means I don’t eat) but working through that fear & control to get healthy – flip side of the same coin, and I’m so grateful to Kathy for talking about this.
People seem to think weight loss is so easy after you start Ozempic or Monjaro and you do nothing more than take a shot every week. It’s really not that easy. I’ve been on Monjaro since Jan. and I’ve lost 25 lbs. I have a lot of weight to go and if I’m lucky, I’ll lose 1/2 lb a week. It’s extremely frustrating but I’m grateful I’ve lost this much. Losing weight is hard whether you’re taking a shot or not. Everyone has a different metabolism and it’s not a simple “exercise more, eat less” equation. I’m going thru menopause, too, and can say every pound lost is a hard-fought victory.
I’m sure she did work hard to lose weight before and after the shot. And that’s great for her because I’m sure she is in less pain now and feeling so much better. Good for her and I hope she ignores all of the meaningless chatter about all of this.
I take it for diabetes and it has been fabulous for that, but no weight loss. When I was first diagnosed I lost maybe 15-20 lbs, then had to have an emergency hysterectomy and got thrown into menopause, and it’s been a battle. I have PCOS too so it’s just a continuing battle!
If they’d put Kathy in a bikini on the cover boasting her weight loss, I’d say this felt more fat-shamey. But we’re in the era of medication shaming. Weight loss is HARD and so many people are quick to reduce the effort to “just using Ozempic” – I read this as Kathy being proud that she worked her butt off to lose weight, including with meds.
I’m happy for her in taking her diabetes diagnosis seriously and more importantly being honest about her weight loss. Her 80/20 comments seem spot on to me, even the most effective drug can do so much.
I’ve always liked KB.
She has been in many good, entertaining shows.
Whatever she needs to do for her health is none of my biz.
I watched the pilot and I hardly recognized her, not because of her weight loss, but her more sinister characters really stick in my mind. I think she looks great. I’d be quite happy if she were playing a widow actually in tough circumstances re-entering the work force as a single granny. I think older women in the work force is a story line that hasn’t been dealt with yet on TV.
Kathy Bates is such an amazing actress and a lovely person. I’ll never forget sitting next to her at a fundraiser many years ago. My grandmother was my +1 at the benefit and Kathy was so incredibly kind to her. Best wishes to her on her health journey!