Terry Crews says intermittent fasting is his fitness secret — but he's actually doing it for spiritual reasons

Raechal Shewfelt
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment

Actor Terry Crews is fit, from any angle and in every photo.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine star made a joke to that effect Thursday when he shared a meme about how his profile pics would vary on different social media sites. Whether on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or Tinder, Crews had incredible muscles.

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Crews has attributed his fitness, in part, to intermittent fasting. He’s followed the diet for the past eight years before it became trendy in the mainstream.

“I eat from 2 to 10… and it changes. If I’m in a different time zone, I wait until it’s two o’clock wherever I am,” Crews revealed this week at BUILD Series in New York City. “But, I have to say this, the intermittent fasting thing — although it has beautiful effects for my body, my health, my energy; it’s wonderful — it’s more spiritual.”

Crews explained that intermittent fasting requires him to practice discipline.

“When you look at what fasting is, it’s literally, everything that is within your grasp is never meant to be in your hand, you know what I mean?” he said. “You have to teach yourself to say ‘no.’ We have to teach ourselves to say ‘no’ on the internet. ‘OK, that’s enough for today. That’s enough TV. That’s enough food. That’s enough [of] this.’ Because right now, in this time, you know, we have more than ever, and we’re more miserable than ever. Because you have to learn to restrict yourself, and this takes discipline. And the discipline that helps me with intermittent fasting helps me with all the other areas of my life.”

Another area where fasting has helped is his marriage of more than 30 years, to Rebecca King. While they were in therapy, the two agreed to forgo sex for 90 days.

“What was wild was that there was a time where I thought I couldn’t do it,” said Crews, who’s been open about having overcome an addiction to pornography.

“But let me tell you [the sex fast] was the most beneficial thing I ever did in my life, because what happened was my wife and I became kids again. Because when you’re a kid, when I was 12, I didn’t know anything about sex. I just liked the girl. When we went out, it was because I really wanted to know what she was talking about,” Crews said. “Before, it was like, OK, when we getting to the sex? But then, when you know it’s not coming, now it’s like, ‘Tell me what your deepest fears are.’”

Of course, The Expendables actor spends plenty of time in the gym, too. He advised others to think of it like a spa, therapy time for the body.

“When I do my two hours, in the morning, I value that more than anything,” Crews said. “It’s my meditation. It’s my peace. I learn. I listen to audio books. I listen to my music. I actually save songs for my workout, so I can really enjoy them… Treat it like it's a joy.”

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