Khloé Kardashian Says She 'Always Had a Really Unhealthy Relationship with Food'

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DENNIS LEUPOLD Khloe Kardashian

Khloé Kardashian knows that being healthy means incorporating the right habits into your daily lifestyle, not relying on short-term fad diets. But it's a lesson that took the reality star years to learn.

Kardashian, 37, used to struggle with her eating habits and often felt she was "punishing" herself when she ate anything she deemed unhealthy.

"I've actually always had a really unhealthy relationship with food," she told Health for their November cover. "When I was younger and was sad, I would eat — I was an emotional eater. And then I hated the way I felt after that. I was almost punishing myself for binging or having a bag of chips — it just became so much thought."

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During that time, Kardashian would try out various diets without success.

"I had tried every diet under the sun," she said. "Remember when Beyoncé did that lemon juice and cayenne pepper thing? I was like, sign me up! That's why I yo-yoed my entire life — I was always chasing some fad."

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It all finally clicked into place in 2015, when she committed to a workout routine and dropped around 40 lbs.

"When I started working out, I decided to make some lifestyle changes. So I'd say, for example, this week I am just going to do one thing — I'm just going to cut out sugar. Then, maybe I'd try to do it for a month. After that, I'd try to incorporate another healthy change," the Keeping Up with the Kardashians alum explained.

These days, it's all just part of Kardashian's lifestyle.

"It's about practicing healthy habits on a daily basis," she said. "I have to think of it as a lifestyle rather than thinking I want to try this diet or some other thing someone was talking about. I'm so over that stage in my life."

And Kardashian said her healthy outlook is far more than just physical.

"It's cliché, but it's all about mind, body, and soul," she said. "If I am not mentally strong then I physically feel like I can't do what I want to do. So, it is really not about the physical appearance. That's a by-product. You can tell when someone is genuinely happy from the inside out."

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DENNIS LEUPOLD Khloe Kardashian

Now Kardashian lives a more balanced life — and knows when to celebrate.

"I worked so hard in the gym for this," she wrote of her Health cover in an Instagram post, "and I celebrated with pizza (my weakness) right afterwards 😋."