The newly-engaged Kim Kardashian has been open about her pregnancy struggles while she carried North West, who was born five weeks early in June. But in a new interview, the 33-year-old reality star said it was much worse than what people may think.

She said she feels like herself again and since losing 43 of the 50 pounds she gained, she’s been able to get back into the swing of things.

"Pregnancy for me was a lot tougher than people saw on my show or from magazines," she told People. "So to get back to feeling like myself just makes me feel good again."

She admitted that the negativity surrounding her weight gain in the press was difficult and made her want to "tune out the media." She also said she didn’t expect the difficult pregnancy and “always envisioned that I would have this easy time just being pregnant, only my belly would get big.”

Now that the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star isn’t carrying the extra weight, she had enough confidence to post a racy selfie on Instagram, which her fiance, Kanye West, really enjoyed.

image: NBC