It's no secret that many female celebs follow strict diets to maintain their figures.

But Michelle Chen might just take discipline to another level.

In a recent episode of Taiwanese actress Nini Ouyang's web series, Xiao Ni Zi De Jia Jia Jiu, the 43-year-old You Are The Apple Of My Eye star revealed just how restrictive her diet has been over the years.

The topic came up when Nini mentioned a trending discussion about Michelle's eating habits: "The amount of rice Michelle Chen eats in a day is the same as one of my meals".

Nini added that Michelle had already been very strict about what she ate when they first met.

That prompted Michelle to recall consulting a nutritionist before filming 2014's The Romance of the Condor Heroes, in which she played the legendary Xiaolongnü, aka Little Dragon Girl.

At the time, the actress was heavily fat-shamed for being “too chubby” for the iconic role, with netizens even cruelly nicknaming her “Xiao Long Bao” — a pun that roughly translates to “Little Pork Bun".

And it appears the criticism coincided with some major changes to her diet.

"For about five years, I basically almost never ate anything with salt," she revealed. "Even if I go to a restaurant, I won't eat anything with salt."

Five years. Almost no salt.

As if that wasn't restrictive enough, Michelle later consulted another nutritionist, after which her diet became even more tightly controlled.

"That was probably the period when I followed the strictest dietary controls,” she said, revealing that she even used an app to track precise nutritional figures.

"Every day I would calculate precisely how much carbohydrates and protein I consume. And I found the method that suit me the most, which was to just eat one meal a day."

According to Michelle, eating once a day became the most effective way for her to maintain her figure, especially since she usually only meets her friends for dinner anyway.

And during the day? Sometimes coffee was enough.

"In the day, usually if I have work, I don't really like eating, because I'd be even more bloated or want to sleep," she asserted. "I think if I don't eat anything and just drink coffee, I'd be more awake."

Let's just say Michelle's definition of dietary discipline is considerably stricter than ours.

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Photos: Nini Ouyang/XHS, Michelle Chen/Instagram