In the past year, Kelly Ripa stuck to a serious exercise program. She’s also learning to cook, but the thing she’s most proud of — besides getting in her best shape ever — is snuffing out her hidden unhealthy habit: smoking.

What was her trick? She started exercising five times a week. “It wasn’t easy. In fact, I almost gave up in the beginning.

But after a couple of weeks someone told me how great my arms looked! I’m so vain, that’s all it took. I was hooked,” she explains.

As for getting her diet together, most credit goes to the family chef. The chef not only got the entire family eating healthy, home-cooked meals, but she also taught Kelly about nutrition and portion control.

“Now my family tries to eat smaller amounts more often. I’m big on grazing,” says Kelly. She is not big, however, on breakfast. Instead, she always begins her day with coffee at home and then a cup of Starbucks regular coffee with half and half during the show.

Her first meal of the day is at 10 a.m.— usually a salad and a small turkey sandwich or a BLT (with turkey bacon) on whole-wheat bread. Her afternoon snack is a handful of almonds and a pear. For dinner she eats salads and fresh veggies with smaller servings of fish or steak.

Personal trainer Keith Byard was charged with getting Kelly fit and toned. “Because she’s so busy, she needed a plan that would quickly work all of her muscles from head to toe,” he explains. His program takes about 45 minutes and includes both cardio and strength training.

Kelly Ripa’s Workout She uses a resistance tube with handles, a medicine ball, a pair of 3- to 5-pound dumbbells, a stability ball, and a jump rope. The first exercise of her workout is described below; you can see the rest here.

Squat and rotation row – works butt, legs, back, and biceps. Anchor a handled resistance tube to a sturdy object close to the ground and grasp one handle with left hand, arm straight, and rotate arm clockwise until palm faces out.

Lower into a deep squat, feet shoulder-width apart, knees aligned over toes, right hand resting on hip. Rise up and rotate arm inward until palm faces up, as you pull handle toward ribs. Return to starting position and repeat Do 2 sets of 12 to 15 reps on each side.

Kelly Ripa’s 20-minute cardio Rx Alternate jumping rope with 30 seconds of jumping jacks. Start with 20 jump rope revolutions and increase by 20 after each round of jacks until you reach 100. Then reduce by 20 until you’re back down to 20. Repeat twice. [source]

I’ve received a few tip offs that a few of the tiny celebs (for legal reasons I cannot name them…all I can say is they are sisters who have recently lost a lot of weight) have been using a new diet pill called alli. Apparently it works by blocking 25% of the fat you eat. This pill is going to be the next hoodia. The worst thing is it is so easily accessible. This is the first time an FDA approved weight loss drug can be bought over the counter. I just hope that girls suffering from eating disorders don’t get hold if it. Hopefully there are some rules in place for who can buy it.

I think its similar to xenical (orlisat) which you need a prescription for. It seems to be working on the two that are rumored to be taking it.

The following information on the pill is taken from the website http://www.gotalli.com

alli blocks about 25% of the fat you eat

dose alli have side affects?

The main side effect occurs when you eat a meal with too much fat while taking alli. If so much fat is blocked that your stool can’t absorb it, you might have side effects. Because they are not harmful, we call them "treatment effects." These include loose or more frequent stools, an urgent need to go to the bathroom, or gas with an oily discharge. The excess fat that passes out of your body is in no way harmful. In fact, you may recognize it as something that looks like the oil on top of a pizza. Treatment effects can be lessened if you stick to reduced-calorie, low-fat meals that average 15 grams of fat per meal.