A tip from her niece, a tiny signal from her body and a habit that took years to master. Most of us know the moment. The plate is almost empty, you are no longer hungry, but there are three bites left, so you finish them. It feels harmless. Over months and years, though, those extra bites add up. Kathy Bates found a surprisingly simple way to notice that moment.
In January 2019, the Oscar-winning actress told Us Weekly that a big part of her weight loss came from a tip her niece had shared: “Just knowing when to push my plate away.” Bates described “this involuntary sigh” that comes when you have had enough to eat. “The trick is to pay attention to that and push your plate away,” she said, adding, “It took a few years.” By then, she had lost about 60 pounds. She had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2017.
The Last Pounds, and the Medication
Bates, now 78, has been open about the rest of her journey. She has lost about 100 pounds in total, and in a later interview with Variety she explained that medication played a role at the end. “And then when Ozempic came along, I was able to lose the last 15 to 20 pounds and keep it off,” she said. The first 60, though, came from changing how she ate.
What Science Says About Eating Slowly
The “sigh” Bates describes is easier to notice when you eat slowly. And research suggests slower eating matters. In a 2018 study in BMJ Open, Yumi Hurst and Haruhisa Fukuda of Kyushu University in Japan analyzed health check-up data from 59,717 adults with type 2 diabetes over about six years.
Compared with people who said they ate quickly, those who ate at a normal speed had 29% lower odds of obesity, and slow eaters had 42% lower odds. Changes in eating speed were also linked to small reductions in waist size. The authors suggested that efforts to slow down eating could help prevent obesity. The study shows an association, relied on self-reported habits and involved a relatively health-conscious group, so it does not prove cause and effect.
How to Practice the Plate Push
Put your fork down between bites, and take at least 20 minutes for a meal. Serve yourself a slightly smaller portion than usual; you can always add more. Halfway through, pause and check in: are you still hungry, or just eating because the food is there? Watch for your own version of the sigh, a slower pace, a sense of comfort, a loss of interest in the next bite. When it comes, push the plate away, or move it to the side. If you have diabetes or take medication, talk to your doctor before changing your diet. Habits like this take time, much like the steady routines of other icons, such as Helen Mirren and the 12-minute routine she has done for decades, or Amal Clooney, who has started every day with the same breakfast for years. The lesson worth borrowing is that your body often tells you when it is done; the trick is to listen.
The Bottom Line
Kathy Bates, 78, credits her first 60 pounds of weight loss to one habit at the table: noticing the sigh that signals she is full and pushing her plate away. Science backs it up, with slower eaters showing lower odds of obesity in a study of nearly 60,000 adults with type 2 diabetes.
