People do Dry January as a health reset, to jumpstart an alcohol-free life, to lose weight, save money, or all of the above. For Amy Robach and her lovaahh, T.J. Holmes, it was to give their livers a well-deserved month off. T.J. estimated that he drank approximately 18 drinks a day in 2023. Amy’s count was at least 30 drinks per week. They started drinking after their morning runs and kept an ongoing buzz until bedtime. They also day-drank after finishing their GMA shifts, which explained a lot about their behavior over the last couple of years.
Amy used Dry January as a means to get back to running and eating better. While checking in with her followers on Instagram, Amy shared that she not only felt great after a month off the sauce, but she’d also lost weight as well. However, now that it’s February, a glass of wine is back on the table, both figuratively and literally.
Amy Robach is loving the results she’s had after completing Dry January, revealing that she’s dropped a few pounds because of it.
On Thursday, the former GMA3: What You Need to Know co-anchor, 50, posted a series of photos on Instagram from her daily run, celebrating completing a month without drinking. In addition to giving up alcohol, she and boyfriend T.J. Holmes have also been running at least two miles every day, preparing to run another marathon together.
“Happy February 1st everyone!!!” she captioned the post. “We decided to take inspiration from @hellahgood9 and run EVERY day of January at least 2 miles, and it felt so damn good, we are going to continue it through February!”
“Dry January combined with daily runs and keeping my carb count low, meant I was able to shed some extra lbs I put on post NYC marathon,” she added. “We are still doing our training runs following the @higdonmarathon four days a week and our rest days we just knock out 2 milers. I may have a glass of wine tonight however 👍”
Good for Amy for having a positive Dry January experience. Given the amount that they were drinking each day, stopping cold turkey must have been difficult both mentally and physically. (Amy’s previously talked about how, emotionally, she was scared to tackle a month without drinking.) I bet the daily runs went a long way towards helping with the mental component. Seeing the physical changes her body went through probably helped a lot, too.
As we talked about back when Amy and T.J. first confessed just how much they’d been drinking, it’s pretty likely that they’re feeding off of each other’s addictions. There are so many people out there that believe they don’t have a problem just because they can make it through one month. So, they go right back to it, thinking they can stop again at any time. I hope Amy remembers how good it felt to not drink and makes some serious, positive changes.
So they are both functioning alcoholics? That’s a ton of booze, I’m surprised they both look so well, and not bloated messes.
They both give me an ick factor. They do sound like they have big issues with alcohol. They are also so toxic. I prefer not to hear from either one.
The toxicity of these two just comes off in waves!
I have the impression this site has a lot of sober readers. Anyone else find her extremely triggering? One reason I quit alcohol was that I could see the life destroying humiliations coming down the road. I got too drunk at weddings a few times in my 30s before kids and could see myself becoming a truly tragic, gross, sick, lonely, middle age person whose life was a disaster and who was failing my kids. THANK FUUUUUCK I have a good imagination and didn’t need to live this hell. Clean and Serene > hangovers, anxiety, shame, delusion and regret.
Similar to you, Snaggletooth. Fortunately I never had to hit a rock bottom, because I could just see how it was going to play out for me and it wasn’t good.
Drinking just wasn’t working for me. It runs in the family and I thought I could outsmart it because I was aware of the issue and “wouldn’t let it get that bad”. But the anxiety of constantly having to manage it and make sure it never got bad was ever-present. Nights out were ruined by counting my drinks and obsessively thinking about how much I was consuming. I spent every morning after meticulously going over each detail of the night before –every thing I said, everything I did, how many drinks I had– to make sure I didn’t do or say anything humiliating. And for the most part, I hadn’t damaged my reputation or made choices that would hurt me, so I kept thinking I was still ahead of it. I rationalized that I never felt the need to drink all the time, so really it must not be that bad. But it wasn’t that I couldn’t not drink, it’s that once I started I *couldn’t stop* drinking. I could feel how my body was changing and my tolerance was rising, and I knew things would only get worse.
It wasn’t until a morning when I was doing my usual Day After Freakout that I realized most people don’t have to think about drinking as much as I do. Most people don’t have to analyze every little thing for fear that they’ve crossed a line. Most people don’t have to count the number of drinks and rationalize why that number wasn’t *really* that bad, because of how much they ate, how they spaced it out, who else was drinking more, blah blah blah… Most people didn’t have to, because they didn’t have a problem. But I did.
I just hit the 2 year mark last December. I can see now that I never would have “won” when it came to alcohol. I never would have outpaced my genetics. Kudos to those who take breaks, kudos to those who’ve stopped altogether. It’s tough out there, but I’m proud of you for making the choice that you need to make for yourself!
Ya know, back when I was drinking I observed others drinking and my impression was not so much that I had more trouble controlling my drinking, just that I was more worried about it. That I was trying to control it, or at least hide it, more than others. Many told me that I “wasn’t that bad” when I quit. I’m so lucky to have quit before things got bad. You sound a lot like me. I would muscle and strain through nights out without humiliating myself only to drink at home afterwards or over drink a few nights later. Everyday was some kind of struggle with alcohol. Moderation is exhausting and frankly I don’t actually get the point of drinking just a teeny glass for the taste. The number of actually truly moderate drinkers I’ve met in my life I can count on one hand. Most people think of moderation as stopping somewhere just short of wasted
I’ve read your comment twice now, I just love it so much. I’m approaching a year AF and you encapsulated my feelings so perfectly. It was never a problem for me in the traditional, cliche sense. But that doesn’t mean that a life that included alcohol was helping me either. It all came with too much stress and worry and “rules” and overthinking. Life is stil life but I have such a sense of chill within myself now.
Amy I just saw your comment and wanted to reply even though it’s a day later. I really appreciate that. I also resonate with how much hearing others, particularly other WOMEN, my age, talk about sobriety. It’s amazing how much more personal power you have when you are not filled with anxiety over low-key lying to yourself and everyone around you, when you aren’t constantly doing something you know in your heart is ruining you, when you aren’t hiding. I remember going to yoga or on beautiful hikes hungover and just feeling disgusting. Like my body was constantly reminding me that the truth was that I’m a gross person.
Like you, who knows if I would have had a tragic end or really hit a low “rock bottom.” But I would definitely have lived my life at about a C+ level at best. And wanting more for yourself is ENOUGH to choose sobriety. Congratulations on almost a year!! That is HUGE. There are so many boozy milestones in a year (especially holidays) so that is such an accomplishment!
Amy I just saw your comment and wanted to reply even though it’s a day later. I really appreciate that. I also resonate with how much hearing others, particularly other WOMEN, my age, talk about sobriety. It’s amazing how much more personal power you have when you are not filled with anxiety over low-key lying to yourself and everyone around you, when you aren’t constantly doing something you know in your heart is ruining you, when you aren’t hiding. I remember going to yoga or on beautiful hikes hungover and just feeling disgusting. Like my body was constantly reminding me that the truth was that I’m a gross person.
Like you, who knows if I would have had a tragic end or really hit a low “rock bottom.” But I would definitely have lived my life at about a C+ level at best. And wanting more for yourself is ENOUGH to choose sobriety. Congratulations on almost a year!! That is HUGE. There are so many boozy milestones in a year (especially holidays) so that is such an accomplishment!
Same. I am not full-on sober but drink very rarely. Like, split a glass of wine with my husband once a month or so. My dad drank a LOT (maybe not as much as these two but 2-3 drinks/day was pretty typical for a weekday, and way more than that if socializing) and his behavior in front of guests or at social events was embarrassing (he of course thought he was the life of the party). He cut back for a while due to health concerns but my parents live in a neighborhood with a substantial drinking culture and the neighbors who are their current BFFS drink heavily also so I don’t think he’s really cut back that much. He will talk about all the stupid stuff he did while drunk when he was young and I’m just like um, the only reason you aren’t doing that level of stupid now is you drink at home/at neighbors vs driving places and you have people in your life who will stop you. No joke my brother and I have had to take keys away from him before. To be in your early 20s and taking keys away from your almost 60yr old parent because you have better judgement about risks and drinking…ugh.
I’m sorry you have to manage your father like this Cate. This is my husband and his family. There is a massive culture of binge drinking, and I’ve never seen a family normalise drinking like they do. It’s messed up. Every family event revolves around alcohol.
My stepdaughters started drinking when they were 15. They both spent their final years of high school more concerned with partying than studying and didn’t do well, despite having the ability to smash it out of the park.
My husband has always been more concerned with being the cool, fun parent than being a good parent and condoned them drinking early (I vehemently opposed it, but who listens to me?). Their mother is a functioning alcoholic. His 19 year old is always sending him photos of her wasted or hungover. They bond over alcohol. He thinks there is nothing wrong with it, and I’m just a straighty-180. It’s not going to end well one day.
My husband is also that person who gets so drunk at every social event, but thinks he’s the life of the party. He has urinated in cupboards and draws by accident at people’s houses. He has vomited on pillows. He doesn’t think he has a problem. I can only hope that I’m a grounding influence for our 10 year old son one day
It’s just weird to put make-up on before every run — because you know you’re gonna take lots of selfies. Nothing can be done without thinking of the BRAND.
“Now I can have that one glass of wine, ” or beer or whatever, says every person who leaves rehab thinking they can now be a social drinker.
18 drinks a day?! Holy makinoly.
I’m sorry, but eighteen drinks PER DAY?!? Did I read that correctly? I’m pretty sure that’s well over the cap for what a grown man should drink per WEEK. Their poor livers!
That amount puts both of them in the heavy drinker category. I’m honestly shocked that he didn’t do through withdrawal after drinking that much & stopping. (Maybe he did) I work in healthcare & see the horrible long term effects of alcohol. It’s an awful way to go.