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SISTAR Soyou talks about her struggles with body weight: 'Had to count spoonfuls of rice we ate'

Soyou of SISTAR opened up about her struggles with body weight during MBN’s talk show ‘Not Staycation, but Starcation’ with actress Ye Ji-won

Aside from being role models for fans, K-pop idols have many other responsibilities aside from keeping their careers afloat by making music. Male, as well as female idols, have talked about struggling with their bodies and how they were supposed to be a certain face shape or body size for them to be considered “perfect” in the industry. With the K-pop genre getting global recognition and body positivity being at its peak, many older idols have spoken up about how their labels used to force them to restrict their food intake in order to maintain a certain weight.

There have been instances of stars fainting on stage because they were too drained out from performing on stage and practicing for hours on end. On May 23, during the broadcast of MBN’s talk show ‘Not Staycation, but Starcation’, Soyou, a member of the second-gen girl group SISTAR, talked with actress Ye Ji-won about how being a K-pop idol was hard for her for many reasons. Soyou talked about all kinds of rumors that she was embroiled in and how other older idols were not particularly nice to her and also shed some light on her constant struggle with maintaining the ideal body weight.

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Soyou talks about being forced to record her food intake

In the episode, Soyou recalled that she had been working as a member of the Starship Entertainment girl group SISTAR since she was less than 20 years old when the group made its debut in 2008. Among the other struggles, she talked about from the time she was active as an idol. She said that the one struggle that was still looming over her at the age of 30 was her battle with weight. When Ji-won asked Soyou if she only worked out and practiced to eventually weigh herself in at the end of the day, the SISTAR member stated not only that but also clarified that she was not overweight during her debut years.

Soyou stated that all members of SISTAR were skinny at the time of their debut and she weighed around 49 kgs. But, K-pop fans are also aware that 25-27-year-old female idols in the present time have talked about weighing between 45 to 49 kgs and are still triggered by their weights. Soyou then stated that she was caught by her managers many times when she snuck into the bathroom to eat in secret. The SISTAR member also pointed out that their company gave her a food journal in which she had to record each spoonful of rice that she ate during a meal.

The singer is in a happier place at the moment and does not carry any anger towards her label as she believes that SISTAR members being fitter was the reason for their success. There was also a time when Soyou had shared her diet plan which included one sweet potato for breakfast, three eggs and one toast of bread for lunch, and three slices of gimbap for dinner. The diet was extremely calorie deficient and could be classified as one breakfast for a normal human being.

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