The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards experienced a lot of major life changes recently—not only did she separate from husband Mauricio Umansky, but she completely overhauled her health and fitness regimen. Richards is now 117 lbs. and happy with her strong physique. "I think back to when I was in my 20s and 30s, and I look better than I did then, and that's after having four kids," she told Us Weekly. "It's definitely never too late. When I was younger, I used to work out to lose weight. Now it's for me — first and foremost, my mental health. The fact that it makes me look good is just a bonus… It's certainly not meant to be a revenge body. It's meant to be an I-feel-good body." Here are the changes Richards made to look and feel her best self at 55.

Richards had a breast reduction in 2022, and the eight-week downtime from surgery led to bad habits she was determined to fix. "At the time, I was on vacation in Europe, eating pasta and drinking wine and cocktails," she tells Us Weekly. "By the end of the trip, I didn't recognize myself. I had also just lost my best friend to suicide, and I wasn't taking care of myself. And [it was] making me feel more depressed. So after we left, I said, 'That's it. I'm not going to have bad carbs — no sugar, no pasta, no bread, no alcohol. And I'm going to work out every single day.' I started seeing results pretty fast. Even though I wasn't a big drinker, removing alcohol made such a difference in my skin and how I felt."

Richards is up at 5 a.m. to get a head start on the day. "My first routine depends, I'm lifting weights, and I'll do either leg day or arm day," she tells The U.S. Sun. "And then I do cardio. It's either running, I do a lot of running now I do the Peloton, and I do hot yoga and then I do my abs and then I meditate. I'm a morning person. I love to wake up when it's dark and watch the sunrise and be alone because as a mom of four, you don't really have a lot of alone moments. So that is my alone time, driving in the car alone and waking up in the morning before anyone wakes up. That's really important to me… I have coffee and then after I work out I have breakfast or a smoothie, it depends. Yesterday, I had scrambled eggs and a corn tortilla with salsa. And then I'll have like a protein smoothie another day, whatever, it depends on the mood."

Richards' workouts have changed, with more focus on strength training instead of just cardio. "I always worked out, but I was doing the same thing on repeat — I'd go on hikes and spin," she told Us Weekly. "I started including weights, hot yoga [and] running, especially when going through a hard time. It really clears my head. I wanted to get a tummy tuck when I had my breast reduction, and the doctor wouldn't do it; he said we'll talk about it [later]. I started doing a Peloton 10-minute abs thing, then 15 minutes every day."

Richards hasn't had a drink since July 15, 2022, and says she has no intention of ever starting again. "Alcohol affects every cell in your body at almost any amount you consume. There's no absolutely safe, healthy level of drinking," says Robert Bonakdar, MD, pain management specialist at Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine and Scripps Clinic family medicine physician. "A lot of people say they're into reducing sugar and eating healthy, but aren't making the connection that alcohol is basically liquid sugar. Folks who are dieting and exercising, but still having problems losing weight, will have a much easier time when they drop alcohol."

Richards feels no pressure to drink, even though her Real Housewives castmates have made comments about it. "I feel better. I wake up earlier. I have more energy and it's just a domino effect," she tells The U.S. Sun. "I feel super clear. I feel I don't wake up hungover and depressed, I used to get really bad anxiety, I was just like, 'You know what, I'm good.' I just really wanted to be extra healthy, I was going through a hard time in my life. I don't want one day of anxiety or feeling down. I just thought, I'm going to do whatever I can to make myself as strong as I can, both mentally and physically. Because when you have a lot of stuff going on, it's really important."