Kelly Ripa is always striving toward a healthier lifestyle. So when she sort of fell into a sober one three years ago, she went with it. “I did a sober month. All my girlfriends did it,” she told People. “And I just never went back to it. It wasn’t even really a thought process.” She felt better, she felt like she looked better, and she was happy to say goodbye to hangovers. “Not that I was a heavy drinker—I wasn’t someone who got drunk,” she said. “But even like two glasses of wine at a girl’s night out dinner; I would feel it the next morning.”
Just like that, the 50-year-old no longer saw a place for casual drinking in her life. “I just didn’t really feel the need or desire to go back to it,” she added. “It wasn’t really a choice or a thought, it was just, ‘Yeah, I guess I don’t drink anymore.’”
She noted that the process was so much easier than when she stopped smoking 25 years ago. “Nobody ever asked me why. But I quit drinking and everyone’s like, ‘Why did you quit drinking?’” she laughed. “I’m not comparing cigarettes to alcohol, but for me it was just like, I don’t do that anymore. I felt better so I just stopped.” (Her good friend Andy Cohen recently cut back on booze too, and it shows!)
If it makes the Live! With Kelly and Ryan host feel better, she typically has no problem fully embracing it. Aside from abstaining from alcohol, here are the diet, fitness, and skincare rituals Ripa follows to look and feel her best.
She follows a simple diet rich in protein and veggies.
The mom of three went gung-ho for the alkaline diet in 2016, which only includes foods low in acid—mainly fruit and vegetables. She followed the somewhat controversial diet strictly at first, but has loosened the reins a bit over time. “I like to drink coffee. I occasionally will have fish. The alkaline diet is primarily a vegan diet, but I like cream in my coffee,” Ripa told People. Her personal nutritionist Daryl Gioffre also told People she splits the diet 80/20—80% of the food she eats is alkaline, 20 is not.
Some of her favorite snacks in general, per Shape, are Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and pistachios. Ripa prefers anything with simple, unprocessed ingredients, with the occasional guilty pleasure. “After work, I’ll have a protein bar and some flaxseed snacks,” she told Good Housekeeping. “I always have Pepperidge Farm Goldfish. I cannot give them up.”
The same mentality applies to her whole meals: “If I’m having a sliced chicken breast, I’d put it on a bed of simple sautéed spinach with a little bit of lemon and olive oil. I’m not too big on sauces,” Ripa told Shape. “I just want the taste of the food.”
She also told ABC News that she simple sticks to a “clean” diet. “I have lots of vegetables, I eat protein, but I really don’t put a ton of thought into it. If that’s the secret, then that’s the secret!”
She exercises up to five days a week, switching up the workouts.
With the help of personal trainer Anna Kaiser, founder of AKT (who also trains Shakira), Ripa is super consistent with her workouts. Even when she’s not really feeling it, she pushes through. “Sometimes it’s not so pleasant. And you don’t want to wake up to go on a jog in the morning,” she told Women’s Health “But I just force myself to do it.”
“AKT is a combination of endurance, strength, movement, flexibility, breathing, and lymphatic drainage,” Gioffre told People. “It incorporates everything.” So it allows Ripa and Kaiser to switch things up. “I love to dance, and she loves to dance,” the trainer told Women’s Health. You can catch Ripa on Instagram perfecting her ballet poses often.
“Every exercise we do works your full core—the butt, the abs, and the back—at the same time,” Kaiser added. “If you’re training functionally, you’re hitting those muscles from all planes of motion.” Ripa also takes SoulCycle classes on the regular—whatever conveniently fits into her schedule.
“I find time to work out because if my body is in good shape, my mind is in good shape,” Ripa explained to Women’s Health. “It clears out my brain, and it helps me think.”
Her daily skincare includes lots of moisturizer.
Unlike her diet and fitness, Ripa doesn’t discuss her skincare all that much. Back in 2011, according to People, her dermatologist helped her establish an undisclosed routine. “I didn’t have a routine … I washed my face with soap,” she said. “He really sort of gave me an inside-out frame of mind in terms of beauty and taking care of myself. Once I’ve done the damage, he erases it with his miracle concoctions, lotions, potions, lasers and needles.”
And she recently told The Cut that she moisturizes every morning before applying her foundation, letting the makeup staff for Live! With Kelly and Ryan do the rest. She also indulges in cosmetic procedures like Botox.
In October 2017, her husband Mark Consuelos posted a picture of her, and fans showered her with love in the comments. “Honey, thanks for the shout out,” she wrote. “And for everyone saying such nice things, I just got Botox on Friday, and you just can’t beat fresh Bo.”
Whatever Ripa does, she gives it her all, which is why her nutritionist believes she’s thriving. “Why is she so energetic and smiling? Because health equals energy,” he said. “She works as hard on her health as she does on the show…she probably [works] harder than anyone I know.”
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Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.
