Khloé Kardashian used to want to be skinny. Now she's all about muscle, protein and a bigger butt.

In her 20s, Khloé Kardashian didn't keep track of how much water she drank, she didn't own matching workout sets and, in accordance with body ideals of the early 2000s, she saw thinness as a pillar of fitness and beauty. 'We weren't carrying around a hydro jug of water every day or tracking our intake,' she tells Yahoo Life. 'It was more like, 'Let's take diet pills and not eat.''
Fast-forward two decades, and Kardashian is in a different place altogether. At 40, she's getting more water and protein, focusing on strength rather than a number on the scale and, best of all, enjoying the process. 'I definitely think I look better now, but also feel better now than I did when I was in my 20s,' she says.
Over the years, she's become the Kardashian sister most closely associated with the world of fitness. She's hosted Revenge Body on E!, written the book Strong Looks Better Naked and collaborated with the athleisure brand Fabletics. But her relationship with the gym and her body, she says, is ever-changing.
'Now I have different goals. It's not that I'm trying to hit a weight goal. I work out because of what it does for me mentally,' Kardashian says. 'It makes me happier, I have more clarity [and] I feel like I have more energy.'
Her current focus has a lot to do with her desire to be the best mom for her two children, daughter, True, 7, and son, Tatum, 2, whom she shares with her ex-boyfriend, NBA player Tristan Thompson.
'When I stay up on my health and up on my strength, I'm active with my kids,' the reality star says. 'I'm running around and swimming [with them].' She works out four to five days a week, she says. 'If I'm stressed or having a bad day, I do let it out in the gym, as opposed to snapping on my kids or something like that.'
In that sense, 'therapy really is in the gym for me,' she adds. 'Whether it's the music that I'm blasting or getting these endorphins up, whatever it is, it's just what I need.' But she still has her sights set on physical targets as well.
'I love muscle, and that's the stage I'm at. I want to build triceps or build bigger legs and have more muscle definition,' she says. 'Working out I have down pat, and I'm great at it. I think the hardest part for me is my protein intake.'
Yep — like a lot of Americans, Kardashian is preoccupied with protein, the macronutrient du jour that's gotten a big boost thanks to the rise of GLP-1 weight loss medications. In Kardashian's case, however, it's down to age and what protein can do to offset muscle loss. 'I see how beneficial it is for you to have muscle mass when you're older — yes, in my 40s, but even in your 60s and 70s to be able to, you know, walk without assistance,' she says.
The conversation is constantly popping up on her social media feeds. It also inspired her to come out with her own line of protein-packed popcorn to make her nutrition goals easier to hit. And it's not the only new project tied to 'health and fitness and longevity' she's got in the works. Her new By Khloé line of workout garments for Fabletics is designed to motivate her to keep upping her fitness game.
'I think when you feel good and confident in your workout clothes, then you are more comfortable to go to the gym and work out,' Kardashian says, recalling a time when she exercised in 'really baggy T-shirts and sweats' because she felt insecure in her body. 'It does sound really superficial, but when I started investing in workout clothes, I was like, 'OK, let me just try to play the part at least and pretend I know what I'm doing,' I noticed I would actually work out harder. I would be a little bit more dedicated in the gym.'
Kardashian would reward herself for hitting certain fitness goals by buying a new workout outfit. 'It's silly, but it's actually how I got through.' And as time goes on, she finds that it still helps — especially if the garments put the results of her hard work on display. Which brings us to … the butt.
'I feel like it's always about the butt. Big or small, we all just want it to be perky and look right and tight. Especially the older you get, you know, gravity [takes] a toll,' she says. Enter her new TLC workout leggings, which feature a heart-shaped seam that gives the bottom a peach-like appearance. '[It] tones and lifts and contours,' Kardashian says. 'You just feel good, even if you have to fake it until you make it a little bit.'
If the butt-enhancing leggings sound familiar, it might be due to sister Kim's own recent launch of the Ultimate Butt shapewear collection for Skims. 'What's funny is Kim and I didn't talk about our designs, but there's similarities to both of ours,' she says. '[We] have a similar aesthetic with things that we like anyhow, so it doesn't surprise me.'

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