Kelly Ripa says quitting alcohol had a surprising effect on her weight

On Wednesday's episode, when Andy Cohen co-hosted alongside Ripa, he brought up that he is "in the middle of dry January."

"Usually, a little weight loss comes my way after," he commented. "That's not really happening yet."

Ripa responded that when she quit drinking in 2017, she expected there to be a "windfall of weight loss."

In 2020, Ripa revealed to People Magazine that she and her friends decided to try a sober month back in 2017, and that she "liked the way [she] felt."

"Not that I was a heavy drinker - I wasn't someone who got drunk - but even like two glasses of wine at a girl's night out dinner, I would feel it the next morning," she said.

"I just didn't really feel the need or desire to go back to it," Ripa went on. "It wasn't really a choice or a thought, it was just, 'Yeah, I guess I don't drink anymore.'"

"Less drinking eliminates the hundreds of calories in the drinks themselves (anywhere from 160 to 400 or more calories per drink) and less drinking is often accompanied by less late-night snacking," the California-based doctor told Fox News Digital.

But limiting alcohol might not pose these benefits for everyone, Jordan noted.

Dry January also occurs when the climate is cold and dark, with most Americans tending to spend more time indoors.