The term revenge body, coined by the tabloid press, has been around since about 2010, but Google Trends shows it has only now reached peak popularity. What does it mean? A revenge body is something you strive to obtain after being wronged. It’s turning your body super sexy and knifing an ex-boyfriend or mean girl from high school in the back.
As Khloé says, “A great body is the best revenge.” Her own transformation happened when she was dealing with a tumultuous divorce from former professional basketball player Lamar Odom.
“I turned to working out, because I needed clarity in my brain and I didn’t know what else to do but go to the gym… And, as a byproduct, I started losing weight.”
Once the fitness mags took hold of the term, there was no stopping it. Fitness named Katie Holmes ‘Best Revenge Body’ in 2012 after her divorce from Tom Cruise. In 2014, Cosmopolitan launched a subscription based fitness channel called CosmoBody, and it offered a video called Revenge Body.
By 2015, the phrase was on Urban Dictionary, and now Khloé has expanded it to include anyone you’d like to show their place. Like revamping your wardrobe, the revenge body is a pretty transparent reaction to a painful life event, a way to do something and feel in control.
“For me, my revenge is for everybody who called me fat and ugly …every piece of (crap) that comes our way in my family, and how we handle them. It shows how strong I am mentally,” says Khloé.