Taiwanese artist Ariel Lin, who resides in Beijing, has sparked controversy recently by sharing her extreme dietary management habits on a program. Due to her tendency to easily retain water, she was mocked in the past for having a “puffy face,” leading her to rigorously manage her figure over the years with a highly disciplined one-meal-a-day diet.
In a recent episode of the online show “Ni Ni’s Home Wine,” Ariel Lin revealed that before filming “The Return of the Condor Heroes,” she consulted with a nutritionist and then went nearly 5 years without consuming any salted dishes. Even when dining out with friends or in restaurants, she intentionally avoided dishes with added salt, soy sauce, MSG, and other seasonings.
Interestingly, during the filming of the romantic comedy film “Go with Your Wife on a Trip,” Ariel Lin meticulously recorded the intake of starch, protein, meat weight, and vegetable fiber for every meal on a mobile app, demonstrating the strictest self-control.
Not long ago, Ariel Lin confessed on the Chinese variety show “Our Little Girl 2026” that she has been maintaining the habit of only eating one meal a day for a long time. She explained that due to work during the day, eating could cause bloating or drowsiness, so she usually relies on 2 cups of coffee to stay alert and deflate until she eats a proper meal when meeting friends at night, allowing her to maintain a clearer state for daytime appearances.
Ariel Lin and Charles Lin simultaneously announced their divorce on Weibo on February 18, 2025, officially ending their nearly 9-year marriage, and stated their commitment to co-parenting their child. After the divorce announcement, Ariel Lin garnered attention once again for her role in the hit Chinese drama “Sniper Butterfly.” Netizens commented that pre-divorce Ariel Lin seemed to manage her figure as if she were “taking an exam,” tense and stringent; while post-divorce, her figure management appears more like a shield of self-love and personal discipline, with the 43-year-old being described as “looks 20 years younger than her age.”
Despite Ariel Lin’s admirable level of discipline, nutritionists and doctors have issued warnings that this extreme weight control method is not suitable for the general public, as blindly imitating it poses serious health risks. Experts recommend that if ordinary people wish to lose weight, they should still reduce calories moderately on a balanced diet basis, maintaining normal, low-oil, low-salt, and balanced three meals a day, as this is the sustainable and healthy approach.