Kathy Bates Sets the Record Straight on Her Ozempic Use After Losing 100 Lbs.: 'There’s Been a Lot of Talk' (Exclusive)
The 'Matlock' actress opens up about the changes she made to her diet and lifestyle after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
Kathy Bates is addressing the rumors she used Ozempic to achieve her 100-lb. weight loss.
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.”
Bates — who currently stars in the buzzy CBS Matlock reboot — was first inspired to get serious about her health when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around 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.
She isn’t opposed to the occasional treat, though.
“We’ve been having trucks come to the lot over at Paramount to thank the crew, and yesterday we had Pink’s Hot Dogs,” she says. “Oh, my God, I hadn’t had a hot dog in such a long time. Today I’m getting back on my track."
Brooke Palmer/CBS
Kathy Bates in 'Matlock'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. People always ask, 'Don't you want a trainer?' No, I really don't. I don't want anybody over my shoulder. 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.”
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Another benefit of her weight loss has been its affect on her lymphedema symptoms. 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."
By sharing her journey, Bates — who also works with the National Commission on Lymphatic Diseases at the NIH (National Institutes of Health) — is hoping she can inspire others.
“That’s what Misery did,” she says. “It gave me a [recognizable] face and a way to help in the real world.”
This period of her life “is just so exciting,” she continues, tears welling up in her eyes. “It’s emotional.”
For more on Kathy Bates, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.
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