Hello readers, Today I wanted to discuss a heart-breaking topic in the Korean music industry: Idol diets. In this topic, we will be discussing some of the reasons idols go on diets, how harsh and extreme they can be, how they can impact an idol’s overall health, and some examples of diets that idols will follow to lose weight quickly for a comeback or performance. So, let’s get started.
K-pop idols are known to partake in a lot of what is called “diet culture” which is very popular in many East Asian countries and is seen as very normal. This is unfortunate and because of the stresses of that culture and the Korean beauty standards, many idols receive a lot of pressure to lose weight by their companies so that they fit better into the beauty standards of that industry.
Koreans love and appreciate a slim figure, a small face, big eyes, a v-shaped jawline, straight eyebrows, and clear skin. K-pop idols will often take extreme measures to meet these standards which often include starving oneself to lose weight and plastic surgeries.
Some reasons that idols will go on these diets are poor self-image, pressure from music labels to lose weight, and body shaming by Korean netizens. These diets often are similar to many disordered eating habits which are very unhealthy and can mess with someone’s physical and emotional health.
There have been some cases where the idol will even develop an eating disorder while doing the diet their company gives them which can also get in the way of their daily lives outside of the idol world. Let’s discuss a couple of idols that have dealt with this issue and also some extremely harsh diets that some idols have had to do.
IU- IU debuted as a k-pop idol at the age of 15 which impacted her in more ways than anyone could imagine. Although full of so much talent, the cruel comments by Korean netizens did not spear her any pity and called her names like “piggy” and “fatty”. IU adopted the MyProAna diet, which is heavily followed by people that suffer from the eating disorder Anorexia. On this diet, she had an apple for breakfast two sweet potatoes for lunch, and a protein shake for dinner. Her meals consisted of her often starving herself to the point where her body got used to her eating less. IU mentioned on the SBS show “Healing Camp” that during this diet, she also developed the eating disorder Bulimia when she was dealing with anxiety and often binged and purged her food to be able to be a part of a drama series to have that thin image.
Xiumin of EXO- Since Xiumin’s debut in the popular SM Entertainment group EXO, Xiumin was often and repetitively criticized by Korean netizens for his “chubby” face and body. He constantly struggled with his weight issues and had issues with both losing and gaining weight during a brief period of his career. During the promotions for EXO’s song “Growl” in 2013, Xiumin went on a very extreme coffee diet where he drank HUGE amounts of coffee and ate only one meal every other day. This diet made him reach his lowest weight ever which was 53 kgs.
JinE of Oh My Girl- After Oh My Girl made their official debut, JinE received a lot of comments by Korean netizens calling her chubby. While the girls dieted for promotions, JinE took things too far and her health began to decline. She was sent to the hospital where she was later diagnosed with anorexia, after her diagnosis with the condition, WM Entertainment released a statement announcing her hiatus to receive treatment. A year later, she decided to terminate her contract so she could continue to learn how to overcome her disorder.
Seo In Guk- Seo In Guk opened up on an episode of YTN’s News and Issues- “Issue and People” about his struggles with bulimia. At his first JYP Entertainment audition, he was told to lose a few pounds and began to struggle with his weight. At that point in his life, he said he began to obsess over his weight loss and would vomit every meal in the hopes to do so. When he felt he lost enough, he returned for a second audition but he was rejected again because he damaged his vocal cords due to all of the vomiting he did.
Soyou of Sistar- Soyou lost 8kgs while following the dangerous diet of one meal a day. Her meal consisted of four quail eggs without the yolk and a glass of milk. While on his diet, Soyou had to also do very aggressive exercises like weight training, cardio, yoga, and choreography rehearsals with her group which burned a lot more calories, compared to her daily caloric intake.
T.O.P of Big Bang- When T.O.P was a trainee at YG Entertainment, he weighed more than what was “acceptable” by idol standards and was told he would only debut after he reached the ideal weight. This led T.O.P to start a very dangerous diet that only consisted of unsweetened jelly, mineral water, and occasionally red beans as a snack. On top of this, he also did very aggressive exercises, while he did reach the weight and debuted in Big Bang, it definitely wasn’t a healthy way to do it.
Momo of Twice- Prior to her debut in Twice, JYP Entertainment told Momo to lose 15 pounds in just a week. There is really no healthy way to lose 15 pounds in that short period of time, and having that expectation of someone is absolutely crazy to me. For that entire week, Momo not only just ate ice cubes but was constantly at the gym as well. She even said that she was scared for her life at one point. She was so SEVERELY dehydrated and had trouble sleeping due to the fear that she might not wake up. Despite this extreme diet, Momo didn’t lose 15 pounds in a week, so she was given 3 more days to reach it. Even her fellow members were scared for her and said that she was so pale that they were afraid that she would faint.
There are definitely other diets that are not mentioned above that I would like to bring up that are still ones that some idols have used in the past.
A common and famous K-pop diet is known as the “Paper Cup Diet” which involves eating nine paper cups, the size of the ones you would find by water coolers, the worth of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables every day. This diet is often a discussion among many pro-anorexia forums online.
The Watermelon Diet, this diet was used by Park Bom who has a lot of different methods of losing weight. How this diet works is for a few days or a week or if you go to the extreme, three weeks, you only eat watermelon. Watermelon is low in calories and is 70% water, and has a lot of nutrients. You can only drink water and work out every day. You also aren’t allowed to snack on anything or eat anything in general after 7:30pm. With working out and this diet, people have lost at least 2-3kgs in about a week.
The Lettuce Diet, this diet was used by Park Bom and 2NE1 and they used this for a week or two to slim down before comebacks and lost 3kgs. Similarly to the Watermelon diet, I mentioned before, for this diet you can only have lettuce and drink water. Lettuce is good for you and tricks your stomach into thinking it is full. The diet usually requires you to do cardio workouts as well which will make people lose around 3kgs in a week or two.
The 1,000 Calorie Diet, this diet isn’t very extreme but it was used by girl groups like SNSD and was known for its fast results. In this diet, you can eat anything that is only 1,000 calories on the dot nothing more, maybe a little less but nothing more than that. This diet also requires very intense workouts that make you lose a few pounds in a few days.
The Water Diet, this diet is the most extreme one that I have heard and it’s basically starving yourself. You can only drink water for a week, no food. It was commonly used by boy groups and it makes you lose so much weight but it is unhealthy. It doesn’t require you to workout but if you do, you will lose a ton of weight very quickly. Even though drinking water does have benefits for your skin, I don’t recommend doing this diet at all.
These diets that K-pop idols have to follow are honestly so damaging to someone’s self-image, self-confidence, and self-esteem. I can’t personally imagine how these groups and artists deal with this all the time and have to do this just to pursue their dreams of performing on stage. To answer the question, are these diets too harsh? I would say yes, dieting to this degree can be so hurtful and really affect how the idol sees themselves especially if they ended up being in a group that disbanded or they, themselves leave the group to focus on self-care and treatment.
I would like to know what you guys think about the diet culture of idols, so comment below your thoughts and I would like to keep the discussion going.
I hope that this post gave you an idea of some idol diets and that you are able to see that even though the idol may look good with their snatched waistlines, 6-8 pacs abs or any other notable changes that they may not be things that the group or artist wants to do but are forced to.
See you in the next post!
Kpopisforeveryone 