SISTAR's Soyou opened up honestly about how her body and lifestyle have changed after an intense diet, and her determination to maintain her current shape as a self-proclaimed maintenance dieter.
She uploaded a video full of tips on her YouTube channel, Soyougi. Soyou revealed that her drastic weight drop left her shocked when she checked her InBody analysis.
"I always told myself never to go below 50 kg, but when I measured a few days ago, I was 49 kg. My InBody score used to be in the 80s, but it fell to the low 70s. No matter how low it got, my skeletal muscle mass was always at least 22 kg, but one day it was in the low 20s. Words like 'weak' and 'underweight' showed up -- I never imagined I'd see that."
Since then, she has been focusing on heavier lower-body, ab, and back workouts to regain muscle while keeping her body fat down. Declaring herself a "maintenance dieter," Soyou also shared her exact diet and workout routine. Once she starts exercising, she typically goes for three hours, mixing cardio with leg, back, and ab workouts.
As for her eating habits, she usually eats one to two meals a day, mostly in the morning or afternoon, and keeps dinner very light -- "just a taste." Even foods she used to finish easily, like ramen or a bowl of rice, now get left unfinished. She claims to eat only 1/4 to 1/2 a bowl of rice on days that she has it.
However, she no longer designates cheat days.
"If I have a cheat day, I completely let go," she admitted. "So now I just eat whatever I want, but I stop the moment my hunger is satisfied."
She shared her top maintenance tip: drinking plenty of water before meals to feel full more quickly, along with her routine of drinking water frequently throughout the day.
Soyou also didn't hide the downsides of losing too much weight.
"After losing so much, I get dizzy easily, and my orthostatic hypotension got worse. When you're gaining weight, it comes on quickly -- but when your weight is already very low and you try to lose more, it drops scarily fast. If you're dieting, please take your supplements and focus on healthy foods. It's really important."
She wrapped up by sharing her goal for her one-month lifestyle project, to work out harder and get healthier with more muscles!