Khloé Kardashian says the gym was her ''only refuge'' during her split from Lamar Odom.

The 30-year-old star, who filed for divorce from the former Los Angeles Lakers player in December 2013 after four years of marriage amid rumours he cheated on her and was addicted to cocaine, admits she only started working out to get over him.

The 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star said: ''When me and Lamar were having issues, I decided to channel my energy into working out... if I went out with my girlfriends I would be hounded by paparazzi and made to feel more humiliated.

''The gym was my only refuge. I could put music on and dance around with my girlfriends and be silly.''

The star lost a lot of weight as a result of the drama and recently shed another 13 pounds by cutting out dairy from her diet, but insists she has always liked her figure.

She told the UK's Cosmopolitan magazine: ''I have never felt 'fat', I just didn't realise how unhealthy I was until I look back at pictures. In the moment I felt so beautiful and I remember walking down red carpets with my make-up done in a little sparkly dress and I thought I was so cute. I had all this confidence.

''Now on my Instagram page people comment saying 'I liked you better when you were bigger' and I think, 'Thank God I don't live my life for other people because I'd be in a constant tug of war.' ''

Khloé also insists she didn't go under the knife to achieve her trim figure.

She said: ''It would have been such an easy solution to get liposuction or whatever, but you have to be healthy to maintain that. I've always felt like 'Wouldn't it be great to accomplish that on your own?' ''