This Mom didn't let herself go...check out Kate!

She flaunted her body after (eight!) babies on the last season of Dancing with the Stars. But it turns out Kate Gosselin was just getting warmed up.

At 35, the reality TV mom says she is now "the most fit I've ever been." How? She credits near-daily runs outside her Wernersville, Penn., home – and she's not afraid to show off the results.

"I've worked really hard!" she tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story. "Haven't I earned the right, at this point, to look good?"