Valerie Bertinelli explains why she gave up drinking: 'There was so much sadness in my life'

Valerie Bertinelli has a clear, new outlook on life.

In a new interview, the actress and TV personality opened up about her decision to give up drinking and how it has impacted her life for the better.   

"I don't need anything to amplify my happiness right now," Bertinelli told People. "I feel high just on life. I recently went out to dinner with a friend, and I had ginger ale in a wine glass. And it felt like I was celebrating." 

While Bertinelli, who recently released her new cookbook "Indulge," admitted that she hasn't fully committed to giving up alcohol for the rest of her life, it's working for her right now. 

VALERIE BERTINELLI MOVES ON WITH NEW BOYFRIEND AFTER DRAMATIC DIVORCE FROM EX-HUSBAND TOM VITALE

"I was still going through a lot of crap, and I knew that I wanted to be on the road of intentionally finding my core happiness," Bertinelli, who finalized her divorce from second husband Tom Vitale in November 2022, said of her initial decision to give up alcohol. Food and alcohol were in her "toolkit for soothing and ignoring s--- that I shouldn't be soothing and ignoring."

"I would go out and have a fun time, drink, and the next day, I'd be so sad," she added. "Because there was so much sadness in my life, and alcohol amplified it. I think it's important to really not numb emotional pain."

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"Emotions are information," she said. "When I decided to really question why I was having a certain emotion, I was able to — most of the time — walk through it and get to the other side. I'm actually shocked at how hard it's not [hard to give up]. Because for a long time, I leaned on it. Right now, I love how I feel more than how the alcohol makes me feel."

In January 2023, Bertinelli opened up about her decision to participate in Dry January — aka give up alcohol for 31 days. 

"I have decided to go Dry January. I like it so far," Bertinelli said. "I'm doing it for two reasons. One, I want to try and cut down the cravings for my sugar. And I think alcohol exacerbates that."

Secondly, she said, "I want to calm down the cortisol in my body that has been raging for the last five, six years. I've been in fight, flight, freeze, fawn mode. And I want to go into rest and digest," she shared. "I think cutting alcohol will help me do that."

One month later, the Food Network star revealed the positive effect that resulted: she lost weight. 

"So, here's a nice little side effect of Dry January," she said. "These jeans that I'm wearing were so tight a few months ago that I couldn't comfortably button them. Now, they're so loose it's time for me to go down a size."

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Giving up alcohol is not the only new thing in her personal life. She's also found a new love interest. 

"I want to be clear that this process has taken a long time," Bertinelli told the outlet. "I got more intentional about my healing. That meant a lot of walks with [my dog] Luna, a lot of therapy sessions, a lot of learning that I deserve to feel good."

"First came the work," she continued. "Why I thought I didn't deserve to be loved. Why I was using food to numb my feelings. All the drama and trauma I hadn’t dealt with — with Ed [Van Halen, Bertinelli's first husband and the father of her only child, Wolfgang Van Halen] and my last marriage."

The former "Hot in Cleveland" star has spoken out about the difficulties she had in her marriage to Vitale several times, even telling Hoda Kotb in a 2022 interview on the "Today" show that she was done with love.

"I am gonna be more than happy to be happily divorced and spend the rest of my life alone," she said. "I'll be happy that way. Well, with my six cats and my dog and my son, and, hopefully, one day, grandchildren."

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Her new boyfriend, who she didn't name, is a writer located on the East Coast. She met him on Instagram a few years ago, and they began talking. 

"It was strictly platonic," she said, "but there was something about him that I connected with that felt familiar."