Kate Walsh on Staying Healthy After Her Brain Tumor — 'I've Honestly Never Felt Better'

Kate Walsh is living her best life.

The actress recently opened up to PEOPLE about her approach towards health following her brain tumor diagnosis back in 2015. Walsh says the diagnosis caused her to “change her attitude” about her diet, and after making some changes, the 13 Reasons Why star says she feels healthier now than ever before.

“I feel honestly better than I’ve ever felt, I love my life, I feel so healthy and strong and probably in better shape than I ever was,” Walsh says. “I feel very lucky and blessed that I’m healthy.”

In early 2015, Walsh began to experience extreme exhaustion that she originally attributed to long work weeks, but her fatigue persisted and she also began to notice issues with her cognition. These symptoms caused her to see a neurologist and get an MRI, which revealed she had a brain tumor. Three days after the MRI, Walsh had her benign tumor removed and took a nine-month break from working to fully recover. Today, the former Private Practice actress, 50, credits a healthy diet and a new fitness routine for her continued health success.

“I’ve recently changed up my workout routines where I’m doing more intensive workouts but less often, so I give my body time to recover and rest,” Walsh says.

The Girls Trip star says women tend to put others’ needs before their own, which is why she finds it important to be an advocate and change the narrative surrounding women’s health.

“I think women particularly, I know I do, but just culturally and historically we put everybody else first,” Walsh tells PEOPLE. “Whether it’s kids, the job, husband, boyfriend, cats, dogs, usually we’re at the bottom of the list and so that’s why I think it’s so important to tell the story of self-care and health and making sure that you’re okay and then you can be of service to everyone else whether it’s your job, your family, whomever, it’s just going to go so much better. Really I think it’s still kind of changing that story for women particularly of making sure that self-care comes first.”

Walsh has partnered up with Abbott for their new Ensure Max Protein drink and says that getting the appropriate amount of protein in her diet has helped her age gracefully.

“I just feel like aging has been an amazing process and I know maybe it sounds a little cheesy or trite but I’ve honestly never felt better,” Walsh says.

Even though Walsh is at the top of her health game, she’s not immune to sometimes feeling insecure about her body.

“I think I’d be like a robot if I didn’t have insecurities and I think the big thing is that other than trying to run away from them and resist them, resistance is futile so embrace it,” the actress adds.