Kelly Ripa's trainer responds to the 47-year-old being body-shamed over a bikini photo

Kelly Ripa received backlash for flashing her abs in a vacation photo. (Photo: Instagram/instasuelos)
Kelly Ripa received backlash for flashing her abs in a vacation photo. (Photo: Instagram/instasuelos)

Kelly Ripa often makes headlines thanks to her incredible physique. But after photos of the 47-year-old in a bikini were posted by her husband, Mark Consuelos, the talk show host fell victim to body shamers who called her figure “boyish” and questioned the appropriateness of the posts. Consuelos quickly came to his wife’s defense, calling her commitment to healthy eating and exercise “admirable.” And now her longtime trainer, Anna Kaiser, is also stepping in to call the criticism “crazy.”

Through the AKT program developed by Kaiser, the celebrity trainer, who works with Hilary Duff, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Karlie Kloss, practices with the intent of creating a personalized program for each of her clients. In the case of Ripa, Kaiser says, her nutrition and exercise routines have helped her to reach own personal fitness goals — although they might not align with yours.

“She works so hard, both with fitness and nutrition,” Kaiser tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “She feels good in her skin and empowered as a woman. I would love for other women and men to feel that same way. To feel stronger in their own bodies and excited about their own program, instead of looking to use someone else as a goal. That’s what she loves, but someone else may have a completely different goal with fitness and health.”

Regardless of the goal, Kaiser truly believes in not setting expectations based on how someone else looks. That’s because people typically have unrealistic ideals of what they want their bodies to look like and how quickly they want to achieve that look. Even when she’s working with celebrity clients, Kaiser advises them that they won’t see drastic results from a new routine until nearly three months later.

“Everyone wants to see results within the next two or three days,” Kaiser says. “I was actually just in Barcelona with Shakira. She had an injury, so she had to postpone her tour for nine months, and it’s hard to come back from that. I went out there to get her going and, again, take it one step at a time, one day at a time. We set up a three-month goal so that in three months from that initial day, she’s going to feel really good about her stamina, her endurance, her ability to stand up in front of a crowd and own that moment and get through the entire two-hour show without crashing.”

And although not everyone needs to survive two hours of performing onstage, Kaiser preaches the same practices for all of her clients: find proper fitness and nutrition routines that you actually enjoy.

Celebrity trainer Anna Kaiser urges clients to do exercises that they love, like dancing. (Photo courtesy of Anna Kaiser)
Celebrity trainer Anna Kaiser urges clients to do exercises that they love, like dancing. (Photo courtesy of Anna Kaiser)

“It’s really important to have something on a fitness level that you love to do, because then you’ll show up and actually do it. So, I love dancing, interval training, and circuit training — so I really look forward to my workouts every day at AKT,” she explains. “Because 80 percent of working out is literally just showing up, and then we take it from there.”

She adds that it’s important to fuel yourself with the right type of food so you have good energy that lasts and fuels your day. I love starting my mornings off with a nice punch of protein. The Pure Protein blueberry oatmeal bars are my favorite.”

“Every day you have to take one step in the right direction. So maybe on the weekend you fall back a little bit, and the next week you’re going to make better decisions in nutrition and fitness,” she notes. “But if you put too much pressure on yourself to just cut everything out — no sugar, no fat, no dairy, working out every single day — it’s just too much, and it’s not sustainable.”

All in all, body shaming and criticism seem to have no place in Kaiser’s practice, as she demonstrates the importance of realistic and personalized goals that help you feel your best, regardless of what other people think.

“Everyone should focus on their goals,” she says. “Being strong and powerful in our own bodies is the goal.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have a new workout — and it’s pretty unusual
Kim Kardashian says she hit the gym after being body-shamed as new bikini photos surface
Mom who was shamed for posing in sexy photo shoot has epic clapback

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