'Glee' Star Lea Michele Faces Figure Scrutiny

Wonderwall, Monday, August 9, 2010, 12:00pm (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

Nothing gets the no-win, Hollywood weight debate raging faster than when a petite actress hits the red carpet looking slightly more petite than usual. And so it was when Lea Michele arrived at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday night.

Seems the be-banged, brunette "Glee" looker, 23, raised a few eyebrows as she showed off her slimline figure in a sparkly, leaf-printed minidress and vertiginous, Little-Dutch-Boy-like wedges.

RELATED: Tons of photos from the Teen Choice Awards

It's the second time in recent weeks that Lea's waistline has been subjected to scrutiny. Her appearance at the Fox All Star Party also made some wonder whether she's channeling her driven, exercise-enthusiast alter ego Rachel Berry, with the London Daily Mail declaring that she looks "slimmer than ever" and PopEater pointing out that she seems to be "progressively getting tinier and tinier."

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But a quick perusal of pics over the last year shows the actress' itty-bitty figure is nothing new (click through the photos at left to compare her in yellow at last year's Teen Choice Awards), and given her five-foot-three frame, even a few pounds either way can make a big difference in photos.

Likely contributing to her svelte look is the vegan diet that she began a couple years ago.

"It makes me feel really good and bright," she recently told OK! magazine of her strict eating habits. "You need a lot of energy to play spunky Rachel Berry, so I've tried a lot of different things -- and so far, this is working."

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According to the London Daily Mirror, Lea has also increased her gym time and started a protein-only diet that includes "loads of tofu and lentils."

Yum?

"I am an unconventional beauty. I grew up in a high school where if you didn't have a nose job and money and if you weren't thin, you weren't cool, popular, beautiful," Michele told USA Today in May. "I was always told that I wasn't pretty enough to be on television. I was never pretty enough to be the pretty girl and I was never quirky enough to be the quirky girl. Boys didn't look at me in high school and think I was the pretty girl. So I get Rachel. Of course, she's gorgeous."

What do you think of Lea's Teen Choice look? Tell us in the comments?

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