Kathy Bates Changed Her Life With 100-Pound Weight Loss: Before-and-After Photos of the Actress

1991

The Matlock star admitted that she “used to eat terribly” and revealed that her diet included “burgers and Cokes and pizza.” To lose weight, she changed her eating habits and stopped eating after 8 p.m.

1993

Kathy’s weight would also affect her lifestyle. Now, she said, “I can stand up all day long and walk and move and breathe and do so many things that I couldn’t before.”

1999

One of Kathy’s tricks to losing weight is to be mindful. “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,” she told Us Weekly in 2019. “The trick is to pay attention to that and push your plate away.”

2005

When Kathy — pictured here at the HBO Emmys afterparty in 2005 — began to take her health seriously, it took time before she started to see results. “It took a few years,” the actress admitted. “I would say you have to be really patient … I don’t like the word willpower, but I like the word determination.”

2011

One year after this photo, taken in 2011, Kathy revealed in September 2012 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer two months earlier and had undergone a double mastectomy. Due to the double mastectomy, she has lymphedema — which causes swelling — in both arms. Her weight loss has been “a tremendous benefit for me,” she said. “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.”

2014

Kathy, pictured here at the American Horror Story: Freak Show premiere screening in 2014, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about three years later, around 2017. “[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through,” she said. “He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.”

2020

After she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, “I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem,” she said.

2024

In her 2024 interview with People, Kathy said that this period of her life has been “so exciting,” adding, “It’s emotional.”

2025

Kathy scored a nod for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for Matlock at the 2025 Golden Globes. She walked the red carpet in a black blazer with black pants as well as sneaker heels. She paired the look with a matching black bag and struck a pose on the red carpet, looking stunning.

She also appeared on stage later on in the night to present an award with Hamilton‘s Anthony Ramos, making the crowd laugh with her hilarious commentary.