Kathy Bates was "facing diabetes" before her dramatic weight loss transformation.

Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates

The 70-year-old actress revealed recently that she'd managed to shed an impressive 60 lbs., and has now said her decision to get into shape came as she was facing the disease, in which the pancreas has to work harder to produce insulin, and can eventually wear out.

She said: "I was facing diabetes - it runs in my family - and I really didn't want to live with that. I'm now in the best health I've been in in years and I'm so grateful - it's a miracle."

The 'American Horror Story' actress even has some useful tips for those who want to follow her plan to lose weight.

She added to 'Extra': "After you eat for 20-30 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 five minutes, you realise you're satisfied and you don't have to eat more."

Earlier this year, Kathy revealed her weight loss had also helped her battle against lymphedema - a condition in which arms or legs swell up because of a blockage in the lymphatic system - which she began to suffer with after undergoing lymph node surgery when she battled both ovarian and breast cancer in 2003 and 2012 respectively.

She said: "I was terrified of getting it. It affects more people than ALS, MS, AIDS and Parkinson's combined. Ten million Americans. But people just don't know about it.

"Some doctors think it's cosmetic and not life-threatening. 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.

"I'm feeling great [now]. I've lost a lot of weight and it's really helped with my symptoms. I just still have to wear compression sleeves or guard against nicks and bug bites because that can lead to sepsis."


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