‘Leave It to Beaver’: How Jerry Mathers Completely Changed His Life After a Health Scare
Leave It to Beaver alum Jerry Mathers is among those celebrities who have experienced a health scare. The actor, who played the iconic sitcom’s title character Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver, was told by his doctor his days were numbered. So the now-73-year-old changed his life.
Jerry Mathers was ‘around food all the time’ eating anywhere from 5-6 ‘full meals a day’ when he received a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis
When Mathers went in for a yearly checkup with his doctor in 1997 the results shocked him. They diagnosed him with Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and poor cholesterol. Not only that but if he continued without changing anything he’d only have three to five years to live.
As Mathers told Fox News in July 2017 at that time in his life he owned a catering company and indulged frequently.
“I was living the good life,” he said. “I had side businesses and one of them was a catering business. And I was doing a lot of motion picture and television catering for crews, which is for about 100 to 200 people. It’s like setting up a whole restaurant.”
“I was around food all the time and I was a very good cook,” he added. “Of course, that entailed sitting down with people so I was sometimes eating five to six full meals a day. I was making a lot of money, everything was going great, and everyone around me was at least as fat as I was.”
The ‘Leave It to Beaver’ star sold his catering company, changed his eating habits, and started exercising regularly
Heeding the advice from his physician Mathers decided to make some major changes. Not only did he change what he ate but he also said goodbye to his catering business.
“I sold the catering company and went on a very strict diet,” he told the outlet, saying he eventually shed 55 pounds. “I’ve been controlling my weight with diet and exercise ever since. I walk every day about six to eight miles.”
Because of the changes, Mathers is no longer a Type 2 diabetic but rather “pre-diabetic.”
Today the Beaver Cleaver actor shares his story with fans
Even though it’s been more than 20 years since Mathers traded his catering business for a “strict diet” and exercise even he admits it can be difficult at times.
“It’s really tough, especially when I go out to eat,” he said. “But I think, ‘I can have this, but do I want to run further to get the weight off? Could I even get it off?’ It’s a daily struggle. I’m not cured. This is something I have to deal with all the time.”
Now Mathers speaks about his own experience with diabetes. He travels around the U.S. discussing diabetes prevention. His goal? To help the people who used to watch him on TV who might be going through the same thing as him. “I’m hoping that by going out to educate people on diabetes, I can save my fans,” he said.
Today Mathers is one of the remaining Leave It to Beaver cast members along with Tony Dow and others.
