Khloe Kardashian Recalls ‘Gross’ Reaction to Weight Loss

While speaking with fitness creator Whitney Simmons on Wednesday’s episode of the Khloé in Wonderland podcast, The Kardashians star opened up about being criticized over her appearance during her years on reality television, recalling the “gross” reaction to her losing weight.

Simmons noted that while she’s “constantly critiqued” for her physique as a fitness influencer, she “can’t even imagine” what it’s like to be at the “level” of fame and receive scrutiny like Khloé.

When asked how she navigates the criticism, Khloé said, “It’s interesting. What I do say is, the bigger I was, I was way more confident. I think because, like, what are going to say about me? I know all the things you’re going to say. I would have my days that I would feel low and all of that.”

“When I started my fitness journey and, like, becoming in shape, I felt such a need that I had to keep this up, like even if it wasn’t for me,” she continued. “I felt like, ‘Well, I can’t get fat again, because everyone is expecting that to happen.'”

“It was also a different type of attention I was now receiving. And then once I got a little older, I was like, ‘Wait, this is gross,” she added. “I hated that that’s why I was getting more attention because I looked a certain way.”

The mom of two admitted that the attention was initially “exciting,” before she realized that it was “all so fake.”

“I think as long as you know that, and you’re like, ‘I know this is all smoke and mirrors. I know this is all so fake, and I’m not doing it for them, I need to make sure I’m doing this for me.'”

Khloé went on to share that she often has “self check-ins” with herself to reflect on the reason behind her actions.

“Not this is good, but sort of when I have bad things happen in my life, I get to be really introverted and have these major self check-ins,” she said, “and then realize, like, ‘Am I doing this for me? Am I doing this because I’m trying to impress somebody else or for society?’ … Whatever your answer is that you come to, I think when you realize, ‘Okay, I need to do what’s best for me,’ and you start doing that, the rest doesn’t really matter.”

The Kardashians star brought up the saying, “With age comes wisdom,” noting that she’s found it to be true as she’s gotten older.

“You’re just like, ‘You don’t bother me the way you once did,'” she told Simmons.

She then reflected on what she’s learned following years of commentary about her body.

“I definitely, at first, for so many people, it’s really hard to endure all that noise, but it is just noise,” she continued. “I’ve learned, no matter what, I’m never going to make people happy because I was once bigger, I was thinner, and I had the same amount of people, but from different ends.”

“When I lost weight, I was a traitor to the bigger community. I’m not myself. I’m not funny anymore. I’m not all the things that I still am at my core,” Khloé recalled. “I just aesthetically look a little different, or a lot different, whatever you want to say.”

“Once I really came to terms with that too. … I’m not going to make everyone happy, but am I happy? Okay, cool,” she added.

Simmons brought up Khloé’s earlier remark about how she “felt more confident” when she was bigger, saying she finds it “crazy.”

Khloé agreed that it’s “crazy,” before admitting that she “never thought I was fat until I got on TV and everyone told me how fat I was.”

“I didn’t know I was fat, and what’s interesting is, looking back, I’m like, ‘Wait, I actually wasn’t as fat as even I convinced myself that I was,'” she recalled, adding, “But it was a different time too, people were so thin during that time.”

Simmons — who has three million followers on TikTok and four million on Instagram — said she “never dealt with such bad self-confidence and esteem” until she started posting workouts online where critics would comment on parts of her body they “did not like.”

Khloé noted that the trolls aren’t “doing anything” but are “on the couch judging you.”

“It’s always those ones that are literally behind a computer, not doing a thing,” she added.

Khloé then addressed a comment she said she often receives regarding her weight loss.

“I always hear, ‘Oh, must be easy when you have a trainer’ or ‘must be easy when you have an at-home gym,'” she said. “Well, I didn’t for years. I got an at-home gym four years ago, but what about the years it took me to get here?”

“Everyone wants an excuse,” she continued. “It wasn’t easy 15 years ago, but I didn’t use those excuses then. I was at 24 Hour Fitness. I was doing what I needed to do to get there. People will always have something to say.”

Khloé added that she also brushes off comments about her “form” while working out. “I’m not a trainer, like, they want to say something and tear you a part just to say, ‘Gotcha!'” she said.

Elsewhere during the conversation, Khloé shared how she tries to promote a healthy body image for her 7-year-old daughter, True.

“We don’t talk about our bodies and stuff like that — like not about the appearance of it — but I love that she sees me work out and be healthy,” she said, “but not in an obsessive way.”

“I just want her to know I’m active,” she continued. “It doesn’t even have to be in the gym. We run around or we’re outside, I like that.”

Joking that she has a “food problem” because she loves the kid menu, Khloé said she likes True to “see the balance.”

“I like her to see, like, I’m active because I’m healthy and I want to be strong, so I can always play with you and do whatever,” she continued, “but I like her to see me eat a pizza.”

Khloé went on to note that she gets really “nervous” about people “picking” apart their body on social media.

“Those are the things I can’t control, so I try to, as much as I can, control what happens inside my house,” she shared.