Celebrity diets are a factor that has always attracted the common citizens. The secret behind their perfect bodies lies behind these food regimes and hence people, to look like their favorite celebrities, follow their diet. K-pop idols are no less. They have to look their absolute best, to the point of perfection, and to maintain this, they have to follow strict food regimes which keep them in shape and consistently attractive. But the k-pop world is infamous when it comes to prescribing diets for their idols. Here are some of the diet problems the idols face while following their gruesome diets:
1. Cutting off the necessary food components
While junk foods can be avoided to get the body weight to a healthy level, k-pop diet trainers often give idols a diet plan which is too extreme to follow. One of the basic rules of having a diet is to contain components necessary for the body. K-pop dietitians have often violated this when they literally cut off basic food items which are necessary for an idol to consume in order to maintain their health. Which is, honestly, too much. Cutting essential food items which keep them healthy would deprive their body of important energy that they would need for their tough schedules.
2. Hyperactivity
The idol life is a busy one. Filled with dance practices, lessons for their skill enhancement, such as vocal and rap, language lessons, music practices, attending award shows, etc. These activities not only kick up a notch but also are joined by promotional activities during the comeback season. Hence, to make it through these tough schedules, idols need to be energized. But then sometimes, idols are prescribed diets that are too less compared to the number of activities they have to do. Hence, the idols may feel weak or even collapse due to fatigue and weakness if the diet they have is not sufficient.
3. Extreme Diet regimes
Cutting off essential components is one thing, but making them follow a diet that only consists of one type of food or a very less amount of food would end up making the idols feel lethargic and unable to keep up with their busy idol lives. Idols sometimes also fall sick due to these diets, thus jeopardizing their health.
4. Starving the idols
Sometimes the diet prescribed to the idols is unsuccessful in achieving their required weight scale and hence, they have to resort to extreme measures, such as starving the idols. These celebrities often skip meals for sometimes days at a time so that their weight decreases. This is highly risky as the idols would fall sick due to the deficiency of food.
5. Fat/skinny-shaming
Fans also play a part in the idols’ diet, because all they are working for is the fans’ happiness. But sometimes, even as an off-handed comment, fans say that their bodies are too chubby/skinny than they expected. First, this hurts the idols emotionally as their hard work in keeping themselves fit to meet the fans’ expectations thus, makes them conscious of their weight and hence, either go on extreme diets or even starve themselves when they are fat-shamed or gorge on food so much that they fall sick. Both cases are like triggers for food disorders which could affect the idols in their lives.
6. Bloating
Eating food items like ramen or sometimes even water may sometimes make your face feel bloated, but that is perfectly normal. But alas, it is not the same case for idols. Bloating is a phenomenon that, if occurred to an idol, they end up being criticized heavily. Perfection in everything is a must for an idol and bloating goes against that, so they are trolled for that too, even though it is pretty normal.
7. Deprived of sweet/fried foods
Well, we all know sweet and fried foods are a guilty pleasure for us. They do feel heavenly on our taste buds, but shedding the weight gained by them is also difficult. But if consumed in moderation, it is no hassle! Sadly, idols with the same fear of weight gain are not allowed to have fried food and sweets for any reason. One such example is ongoing speculation that idols drop their birthday cakes purposefully so that they would not be able to eat them. This is absolutely horrendous because not only an idol is unable to enjoy his birthday. Eating his favorite food but also wastage of food.
Extreme cases of the k-pop diets
A) TWICE’S Momo
Prior to her debut, Momo was told to lose 7kgs (15 pounds) in a short time of a week, and to reach that goal, she used to eat only ice cubes to lose her targeted weight.
B) IU
To lose weight, IU went through a diet of only an apple for breakfast, two sweet potatoes for lunch, and a protein shake for dinner for five long days in the early 2010s
C) BTS’ Jimin
During his earlier days, Jimin was highly insecure about himself and once even resorted to starving himself because of two reasons: a) He got jealous of Jin and b) when a fan told him that he lost his “signature” abs.
D) EXO’S Xiumin
To lose his baby fat, Xiumin went for only a coffee diet during EXO’s “Growl” comeback. The difference was noticeable, but this diet made him lose weight in a very alarming way.
E) Mina
Gugudan’s Mina once went to extreme measures for losing weight when she stopped eating food altogether and only consumed two bottles of sparkling water in a day. Due to this, she reaches her thinnest in her career, weighing only 47kgs.
F) Bigbang’s T.O.P
T.O.P reportedly lost 20kgs in 40days during which he only consumed water and yanggaeng, a sweet jelly made of red beans, paired with huge amounts of exercise.
While losing weight healthily is always encouraged, resorting to starvation and extreme diets would end up hurting their idols, working against their well-being instead of working for it. So people, do NOT follow these diets and instead follow healthier diets to lose diets because losing weight should be done not for the world, but for yourself.