Jeon Somi's Pool Photos Reveal the Diet Philosophy Behind Her Decade-Long Fitness Routine

Jeon Somi posted a set of poolside vacation photos on August 2 with nothing but a dolphin emoji as a caption, and fans filled in the rest: comments calling the images "summer itself," "a pictorial for everyday life," and "blue was made for her" accumulated quickly. The photos show the singer in a blue one-piece swimsuit at an outdoor pool, smiling at the edge of the water and, in a later frame, sitting in a robe on a sun lounger with a tropical drink.

The timing puts the images in an interesting light. Somi is currently riding one of the stronger moments of her career. The I.O.I reunion project, which brought together members of the 2016 survival-show group for a tenth-anniversary return, recently landed the title track Gapjagi at number one on domestic streaming charts. She also performed a new track, Ba Da Bing, alongside EDM producer Diplo at Waterbomb Seoul 2026 on July 24, and she has been cast in Hollywood feature film Perfect Girl.

Against that backdrop, the vacation photos prompted renewed discussion of how Somi has managed her fitness over the years, in part because she has been unusually candid about it. In a past appearance on the YouTube channel Sangsudong Studio, she described her regimen in specific terms: six years of personal training and Pilates, beginning around the time of her 2020 solo debut single DUMB DUMB. "Looking toned and healthy was always the priority," she said.

The more striking detail came when she described the diet she followed during that same period. For roughly a year, she ate almost exclusively lean beef tenderloin, pork shoulder without fat, and cherry tomatoes. Her stated goal was to change her physical baseline rather than simply lose weight. She also acknowledged the cost of getting there the hard way: before finding that balance, she tried simply not eating, which triggered weight swings of around 10 kilograms as her body cycled in and out of restriction.

That arc, from extreme restriction to structured, protein-focused eating paired with consistent training, tracks closely with what sports nutritionists generally recommend, and it also connects to a separate concept the coverage of her photos surfaced: the so-called "red diet." The term does not refer to eating red foods exclusively. It draws on behavioral research into how color functions as a psychological cue during meals.

A 2012 study from the University of Mannheim, published in the journal Appetite, found that participants drank less from cups marked in red than from cups marked in blue, and ate fewer snacks from red plates than from white or blue ones. The researchers described red as an unconscious "stop signal" that reduces incidental consumption of snacks and drinks. A 2015 joint study by Swiss, Belgian, and German researchers, published in Food Quality and Preference, refined that finding: red does not suppress appetite uniformly across all foods. The inhibitory effect is noticeably stronger for foods people already categorize as unhealthy. The researchers framed red as a visual cue that activates associations with danger and stopping, and noted those associations are amplified when the food in question is something a person already has some ambivalence about eating.

Somi's documented diet did not include red tableware, but the cherry tomatoes she kept as her sole vegetable source are a small, bright-red food with a high water content and minimal caloric density, qualities that make them a practical staple for anyone managing intake without eliminating volume entirely.

What the poolside photos actually reflect, based on her own account, is the result of consistent maintenance rather than a recent cut. Six years of structured training tends to show differently than a short-term preparation phase, and Somi has been consistent enough in describing that process that the result reads as sustainable. With a Hollywood film role now on her schedule alongside the I.O.I promotions, that consistency looks less like background detail and more like infrastructure.