the actress 76 said she's ashamed of how she previously let herself get so out of shape Kathy Bates says her weight loss has helped tremendously with her work as an actress the 76-year-old recently spoke to Variety in an interview published September 11th and shared her excitement about starring in the new CBS series Matlock after years of being cast in supporting roles she says that although it takes a lot of stamina to star in a broadcast drama she's up for the challenge thanks to her consistent weight loss it's helped me tremendously that over the last 6 or 7 years I've lost £00 she told the outlet I don't think I've been this slim since I was in college Bates shared that she was actually her heaviest when starring in the NBC drama Harry's Law in 2011 I had to sit down every moment that I could she said it was hard for me to walk I'm ashamed I let my self gets so out of shape but now I have a tremendous amount of energy back in 2019 the actress spoke with extra about losing 60 and the moment she knew it was time to make a lifestyle change I was facing diabetes it runs in my family and I really didn't want to live with that she said adding that now she's in the best health I've been in in years and I'm so grateful it's a miracle Bates also shared that she learned a valuable lesson from her niece that helps her to to not overeat after you eat for 20 to 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 5 minutes you realize you're satisfied and you don't have to eat more she said at the time the academy award-winning actress has previously spoken about the positive effect of weight loss on her post cancer lymphedema the swelling of arms or legs because of a blockage in the lymphatic system which is a common souvenir after lymph node surgery I was terrified of getting it baates who has beat cancer twice told people in January 2019 speaking about why she thinks lymphedema doesn't get much attention Bates explained that some doctors see the swollen Limbs and assume that people are just overweight rather than dealing with a painful medical condition some doctors think it's cosmetic and not life-threatening she said doctors spend 15 to 30 minutes on the entire lymphatic system in medical school so if someone goes to their general practitioner with swollen limbs pain and heaviness the doctor will have no idea what it is so it goes undiagnosed and the disease progresses for years and gets worse and worse