Healthy Hollywood: Fab Food Friday – Tyler Perry’s Sexy Slimdown!

“Now, I feel like it’s okay to be thought of as sexy,” declares movie mogul Tyler Perry in the November issue of Men’s Health magazine.

Tyler, who runs a mega successful multimedia empire, recently shed 30 pounds off his 6’6” frame. The motivation: Perry had to get into shape for his first attempt at an action star playing the title detective in the thriller “Alex Cross.” “I thought, ‘Well, Morgan Freeman played this role, you might not want to do this,’ cause Morgan Freeman knocked it out of the park,” he confides to Men’s Health, adding, “But the more I read it, the more I realized that could do it.”

To get into ripped shape, Tyler worked with a trainer. He did hour long morning circuits of cardio, body weight moves and free-weight and cable work. Afternoons, he practiced the Israeli martial art practice, Krav Maga.

Tyler, a true Southern guy, also had to makeover his diet from gravy-laden biscuits and jambalaya to healthy foods, like egg whites, grilled turkey chili, grilled chicken breasts and green shakes.

Besides getting into shape for the movie, Tyler reveals the body makeover transformed his attitude. “I walk into a room with a lot more confidence. All my life I’ve tried to hide my height. I was taller than everybody else and stood out, so I would slouch and try to hide it. But with what I’ve been able to do with my body, I’m owning it. I’m able to stand up when I walk into a room.”

For more of Tyler Perry’s interview, pick up the November issue of Men’s Health magazine.

— Terri MacLeod