Lee Dae-ho: 'I didn't lose 20 kg on Wegovy alone'

Retired baseball star Lee Dae-ho has addressed misconceptions surrounding his recent weight loss.

Lee appeared as a guest Thursday on the YouTube channel "Sikppang Unni Kim Yeon-koung," hosted by former volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung, where the two discussed dieting.

Upon seeing Lee, Kim remarked that he looked much thinner than during his playing days. Lee pushed back on the implication that he had neglected his weight as a player. "Everyone says that — they ask why I didn't diet when I was playing," he said. "But I was dieting back then too."

He went on to describe his routine during his career. "I was the type to gain weight during the season and then diet after it ended," he said. "Since retiring, I've been trying to manage my weight consistently — cutting back on food and keeping up with exercise."

When Kim asked whether there was a reason he tended to gain weight in season, Lee pointed to the demands of a baseball schedule. "Baseball has night games, right? You play six games a week, and after a night game you eat dinner — and you always end up gaining weight," he said. "If you eat at 11 p.m. or midnight and go to sleep at 2 a.m., it all turns to fat."

Lee had previously made headlines when he revealed on a television program that he had lost 20 kilograms. At the time, he said he had combined dieting with exercise but also mentioned Wegovy, an obesity treatment drug.

Lee revisited the subject Thursday, saying the story had been distorted. "It got twisted into me losing all the weight on Wegovy, but I did it by eating one meal a day for three months and not touching a drop of alcohol," he said.