Cheyenne star Clint Walker had to get away from his teenage eating habits
"You are what you eat" is a phrase most of us have heard before. Our parents encouraged us to eat vegetables and fruit because they wanted us to be healthy. Now that we're adults, it's our responsibility to keep up those good habits, even though many of us went through a stage as teenagers when we craved junk food.
Even celebrities like Clint Walker went through that, but what made a difference for him later was changing those unhealthy habits. Walker starred in the Western series Cheyenne. Standing six-foot-six and weighing 235 pounds, Clint was an imposing figure.
“Whether you straddle a saddle or ride herd on a swivel chair, your 'vittles' are important,” he told The Times Herald in 1957. "I honestly believe that if I had continued with my teenage eating habits and hadn't started following a balanced diet, I might've been dead by now."
The Times Herald called Walker “one of the biggest and healthiest examples of hombre on the hoof on the Hollywood range.” He took pride in his appearance but had to clear up one thing about his lifestyle. “Contrary to information published by a national magazine, I am not now nor ever have been a vegetarian. I've experimented with various foods and have gone without meat for many periods of time. I found no benefit in abstaining from eating meats. I like a steak now and then.”
Walker also shared that he preferred to eat natural foods, focusing on things like nuts, dates, figs, fresh fruits, and raisins. “The body is constantly rebuilding itself from the food that is eaten. But you can't expect to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The quality of the body and its health is equal to the nutritional quality of the food eaten.”