Mom of three and talk show hostess Kelly Ripa, 38, looks super fit and about half her age. She’s currently in Miami with her family shooting “Live! With Regis and Kelly.” That’s most people’s dream job – where you get to take off for a week to somewhere warm and sunny, drink fruity cocktails and swim in the pool, and go to work for an hour or two in the morning.

Kelly Ripa along with her husband, Mark Consuelos, and three children Michael, Lola and Joaquin make the most of a day off by the pool. Ripa appears to have it all, a fantastic figure, a happy family and a dream job. Kelly is currently in Miami to film her TV show with Regis Philbin. Kelly spent the day sunbathing and playing with her family in the pool and drinking cocktails. Kelly showed off her trim figure in a blue bikini and re-encated her dolphin encouter from the previous day with her two sons who pretended to be dolphins as she mimicked the commands she learned. Kelly and Mark also shared a few tender moments in between playing with the kids.

[From Mavrix Photo]

Kelly really does look amazing. She’s been on the cover of tons of fitness magazines – her abs are insane. And her belly button – an outie, which she’s constantly talking about – is also constantly changing on the cover of all those magazines. Not surprisingly, she has an intense workout routine. Two years ago she quit smoking, and used exercise to help deal with her cravings. After getting a few complements she was hooked.

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…

… 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.

[From ifitandhealthy.com]

That’s pretty hardcore. Kelly told Fitness magazine that she only started exercising at age 37. They talk like she did this total body transformation, and while she does look exceptional, I never remember her looking anything less than phenomenal. But it is inspirational to know you can start exercising at any age and turn it into a habit you can really love.

The only area where I’d argue Kelly is lacking is her diet. It seems incredibly restrictive to me.

“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.

[From ifitandhealthy.com]

It doesn’t sound like her meals are so small that they’re worrisome, but I think most of us would need more food than that in order to function and not be insanely cranky. She’s really only eating two meals and a snack, so you’d think at least one more meal would be a good idea, especially with all that exercise.

But you can’t argue that she isn’t looking phenomenal – these pictures prove it.

Here’s Kelly in Miami yesterday. Images thanks to Mavrix.