Kang Ha-neul's picture from the past, "30 kilos lost"

[imienazwisko.livejournal.com]

Actor Kang Ha-neul came in 7th on the list of 'stars who became hot through diet'.

Apparently, Kang Ha-neul doesn't eat after 6PM and takes care of his weight. That's because he was overweight as a child and is very sensitive about 1~2 kilos of weight gain. He even had social phobia because of his obesity. He claimed he almost 'rolled around'.

The reason he decided to lose so much weight is because he was bullied at school. He opened his lunchbox one day during lunch and he found a note saying, "I'll eat it for you because you'll gain weight". He was shocked and lost 30 kilos. He ate only tomatoes and cucumbers and even started Muay Thai.

1. [+4190, -54] Amazing that he lost 30 kg

2. [+2866, -79] Kang Ha Neul needs to be more popular ㅋㅋㅋ

3. [+2764, -62] Even losing 3kg is so hard for me~~

4. [+2329, -66] Diet is truly the best plastic surgery

5. [+1547, -45] I miss Jang Baek KiㅋㅋㅋMisaeng ㅠ ㅠ

6. [+120, -11] Kang Ha Neul is really popular among women.. He's a great actor and likeable

7. [+74, -5] My biggest weight loss was 40 kg. I did aerobics daily and run for 7km but if I was in the mood, I went for 9km. I only ate 1 meal. Life was hell at that time.

8. [+61, -3] He was also so handsome before his weight loss
source: hancinema, kkuljaem, nate, naver

Comments

[fabulousdoll.livejournal.com]

Aaaaawwww so cute!
Well he is so hot now, I hope he has a healthy relationship with food.
Sometimes I don't know what it would be more scary to have kids that are bullies or that they get bullied.

[cosmopudin.livejournal.com]

I love him! He was/is adorbs! He needs more recognition, he is an amazing actor and a gentleman :)

Also, I'm going to need the recipe because I want shed a few too

[921227.livejournal.com]

Sucks he was bullied for his weight, he was a cute kid

[theemii.livejournal.com]

'''stars who became hot through diet''

''He ate only tomatoes and cucumbers..''

Ehh it doesn't sound like he went on a diet at all and instead starved himself..

[crystalheng.livejournal.com]

He is very physically active now (and enjoys it) because he exercised a lot during that period of weight loss. It took him like a year or 2 to lose all that weight, iirc what he said in an interview. I doubt he strictly ate only tomatoes and cucumber.

[pentrue.livejournal.com]

7. [+74, -5] My biggest weight loss was 40 kg. I did aerobics daily and run for 7km but if I was in the mood, I went for 9km. I only ate 1 meal. Life was hell at that time.

This is every wrong thing to do for weight loss. Yo-yo is going to hit netizen 7 hard. It makes me so angry that Korea perpetuates this kind of weight loss method. You CAN lose weight and still eat a healthy, balanced diet.

[lulufairybubble.livejournal.com]

I dont think I like the name of this list. And eating only cucumbers and tomatoes isnt a diet that is starving yourself.

[kyokomurasaki.livejournal.com]

Didn't he develop an eating disorder or was that Seo Ingook? Either way, I hope he's taking care of himself and not just crash dieting/starving like most k-celebs seem to do.

[fabulousdoll.livejournal.com]

Seo In Guk had an eating disorder after being rejected by JYPE.

[dirrtypony.livejournal.com]

I eat only cucumbers and tomatoes for lunch. Some fruit for breakfast. But I eat a full meal for dinner. That's been working for me. I'd rather eat smaller meals in the day time so that I can eat a dinner without worrying too much.

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

kang ha neul's weight loss story makes me really sad, actually - the fact that it took bullying to make him lose weight is sad enough but i honestly think it's still affecting him, with him refusing to eat past six and not eating actual food while he's drinking.
i think he's actually said "i don't blame the bullies, they were right that i was fat" or something along that line - he's even mentioned that he gets super sensitive about gaining two or three pounds even to this day and said diet is hard but he'd rather starve than go back to his school days.
this and other interviews about him make me think he's traumatized about being bullied and is obsessed with not disappointing others or whatever - he's desperately trying to paint this perfect person image of himself and frankly it makes me ache for him.
and it disturbs me whenever his story comes out on shows like this congratulating his hard ~determination~ or whatever.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

Yeah I've been concerned since I first heard he doesn't eat after 6. Seems too early, I always heard it was better to eat small meals every 3-4 hours

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

i mean i think he tries his best to have a healthy diet since he does have a personal trainer now and he regularly does exercises, but it's just his mindset, it comes off as "if i get fat, people won't like me" kind of thoughts, you know?

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

In the entertainment industry it is kind of unavoidable, average sized famous people get told they need to lose weight

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

no, i agree. he just didn't need to have told that that young :/

[gyudon.livejournal.com]

i took the no meals after 6 thing as admirable at first, b/c i've been told to have three hours between a heavy meal and going to sleep, so if you sleep at 9, not eating heavily after 6 is ideal. i used to go by this back when my life schedule wasn't completely centered around schoolwork, and i want to try doing it again after i graduate

but when put this way, now i feel kinda sad for him + this makes me want to rethink my own motivations

[dorawa.livejournal.com]

It stinks because I know exactly how he feels. I've lost 32 kilos, and even when I gain a couple back, it's still a struggle not to get upset or angry because I don't want to big again and I remember how bad I felt when I was bullied/criticized. I've been losing weight for almost 2 years now so I'm close to being done, but my mind still hasn't caught up and I doubt it will for a while. It's a real mental process.

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

also that picture is his elementary school graduation photo, at like age 11-12.
and this is his middle school graduation photo

so it adds to discomfort that he was a baby when he went through all that :/

[lastbestwest.livejournal.com]

That's so sad he felt pressure to lose weight that young. Maybe his weight fluctuated because he definitely doesn't look 11/12 in the first pic in the article at 220 pounds/100 kg. It's only one picture though.

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

he said he gained weight in middle school, so the guess is he got up to 100kg in the firs two years of middle school and lost it all in the 3rd year

[lastbestwest.livejournal.com]

That makes sense then

[lastbestwest.livejournal.com]

Guys that were once overweight and now are fit make me love them even more, because I too have struggled with weight my whole life and it makes me think maybe these guys would look past my stretch marks are not super firm skin. Kang Haneul, Seo Inguk, Top, etc give me hope.

[leighbee333.livejournal.com]

2. [+2866, -79] Kang Ha Neul needs to be more popular ㅋㅋㅋ

...Is he not that popular? I was under the impression with Heirs, Misaeng, and now Twenty he had established himself as one of Korea's hottest young actors.

He's definitely one of the most gorgeous Korean men (to me at least). I could spam with his pics but I'll restrain myself.

The kind of bullying he experienced leaves scars & complexes - I'm willing to bet there are some not so healthy aspects to his relationship to beauty/body image and that's really sad.

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

he's still relatively unknown, hasn't even done a second lead role in a drama yet. i think he wants to take the *acting* actor route, if you know what i mean, not so much overseas promotions etc. so i think he's satisfied with himself but i think he's more known as those characters in his filmography than as kang ha neul himself (again, something i think he prefers).

[sisterjune.livejournal.com]

was he not a second lead in monstar? or does that not count since it was tvn and not super famous or anything? (also he has that big sageuk movie coming up Empire of Lust where he seems to have a prominent character.) hopefully he continues to get more opportunities. (he seems to be very interested in theatre roles)

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

well cable second leads are pretty much equivalent to a side character in primetime. monstar didn't do all that well either.
the empire of lust flopped like majorly flopped, and he was in it for all of fifteen? twenty minutes XP most of which were butt flashing... lololololololol

but he's just finished a small film as a lead with lee joon ik (who's well known for royal jester/king's man) so hopefully that does well.

[sisterjune.livejournal.com]

oh i know lee jun ki! also wasnt his iljimae and arang & the magistrate dramas p popular too? idk i just always think of him as the jun ki who is alawys in a sageuk of some kind hahaha.(he's gonna be in ANOTHER one soon too lolol. scholar who walks da night~)
but anyway, DAMN it flopped? (i didnt even know it was out yet, keeping up with kdramas is easy but for kfilm there isnt as many obvious resources for it) but ouch! it sounded interesting on paper. and LOL 15 mins. welp goes to show what i know. i guess if it was a flop him having a negligible amnt of screentime is for the best. XD

but Yeah he has a long way to go then. i think he has the chops (and ofc the looks) to get up there with the big names soon tho.

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

lee jun ki was the rookie in the director lee joon ik's film, yup haha kang ha neul was in lee joon ik's movie like in 2008 or 2009 and there were a lot of articles about kang ha neul being the next lee jun ki, as lee joon ik's muse or something like that.
yeah empire of lust brought in like 500,000 people i think, which is was like a fourth of what they needed to break even.
i think he's satisfied with the direction of his career, a lot of acting and a lot of theater. he's not looking to be a star and i don't think he has the star quality either. we'll see how it goes, right now i just need him to do another drama ugh

[sisterjune.livejournal.com]

HAHA OMG I SUCK I TOTALLY MISREAD THE NAME. pls 4give. i cannot read 2day clearly. you meant the director then good good, now i see what what you were trying to say.
yeah i know what u mean about Star, he's not gonna be a Won Bin or Cha Seung Won or etc. he's more low key style, perf for the artsy actor thing which is what he wants from what i saw in his past interviews. that said i would love to see him in another drama! more misaengs and less heirs pls. (i still cant believe the first time i ever saw him was in that mediocre SM snooze fest To the Beautiful You. and that he was a supporting to MINHO...like...im..)

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

oh yeah i scoff whenever i read his interviews about wanting to pick projects that will mean a lot to his filmography etc etc cuz i see that in his theaterworks but for his dramas? pfffft please. although i'm hoping now that he's getting to a higher status as an actor he has more choices in picking less ridiculous projects :P

[nana-the-dwarf.livejournal.com]

7. [+74, -5] My biggest weight loss was 40 kg. I did aerobics daily and run for 7km but if I was in the mood, I went for 9km. I only ate 1 meal. Life was hell at that time.


I wish people educated themselves before going on a weight loss crusade that will only do them more harm at the end. :/

[princetabi.livejournal.com]

That is so sad :'( poor baby

sorry if this is long, but....

[sisterjune.livejournal.com]

this is just...so awful and messed up. i hear he has a fitness regime now which is good and fine but that sounds like a hella extreme diet/exercise regime to pick up at such a young age. i struggle with my weight now but i was thin during school. i gained most of it post HS graduation via crippling depression and my PCOS getting worse (it affects the regulation of hormones in the ovaries so i not only gained weight but my hair got darker and more obvious. as a girl this feels as awful as any amount of weight gain or worse tbh)
so yeah i looked and feltl like a bridge troll half the time. but its so important to not hate or blame yourself. i tried to lose alot of weight in the past and i succeeded! i did in a healthy way but my depression caught up with me again....altho im only overweight and not morbidly obese i'd be lying if i said i didnt FEEL that way half the time. esp as someone that loves fashion but cant wear alot of the stuff i like cuz i'm a size 16. in recent months i've picked up yoga, biking, and dance. tbh i feel so much happier than before? i prob wont lose alot of weight for a long time but feeling healthier turned out to be more freeing than any significant amount of weight lost.

Losing weight does not = happiness. its such a huge lie that society (not just SK) tells u. i realized that when i lost weight. i looked great i KNEW i did but it didnt save me. my sister lost alot of weight when she was a tween and has kept it off since but she STILL has insecurity about her looks, p much 10 years later. and she's become such a confident person since then and yet this type of hurt is so difficult to erase. i know there's no way he's still not feeling the ghost of that insecurity and shame even to this day.
He's an actor so its a given he'd have to focus unholy amounts of time on his looks but that this happened when he was still A CHILD and knowing how much studying takes up young koreans time...im just...idk. i hope he's ok now but this is heartbreaking to me. not courageous or inspirational or even remotely worth applauding. but i dont blame him,. i blame his classmates and society. tbqh korea's beauty culture is perhaps the most brutal and terrifying i've ever seen/heard of.