Valerie Bertinelli’s weight loss journey: Why the star says she’s had ‘enough’ and is ditching the scale
'One Day at a Time' alum has written a new cookbook, 'Indulge: Delicious and Decadent Dishes to Enjoy and Share'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After going through a tough divorce in 2022, Valerie Bertinelli has spent the last year focusing on her health.
Last week, she shared two throwback photos of herself in a bikini from 2014, explaining that being considered overweight in the photos in which she weighed 150 pounds is one reason she no longer steps on a scale.
"I don’t weigh myself anymore because this is considered overweight by who’s standards I don’t know," wroe the Food Network star, who just published a new cookbook, "Indulge: Delicious and Decadent Dishes to Enjoy and Share."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s stupid and I believed them for far too long. I now, finally, know that I am a kind, considerate, funny, thoughtful woman. So please remember, who you are and what your character is, should never be overshadowed by what size you are or how much you weigh."
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Valerie Bertinelli has been focusing on her health, and her efforts have brought her emotional and physical benefits. (Getty Images/Valerie Bertinelli Instagram)
On Jan. 1 last year, the "One Day at a Time" alum revealed her New Year was "coming in so much happier than last year’s." She wrote that although the holiday has typically been one of her favorite days, for the last several years it became one of her "saddest."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bertinelli and ex-husband Tom Vitale married on Jan. 1, 2011, and their divorce was finalized in November 2022.
"There is so much to look forward to now, when before it just looked endlessly sad, scary, lonely and stressful," the 63-year-old wrote on her Instagram along with a video of her smiling and laughing near a beach. "I have no idea what’s ahead for me and I’m not worried. I’m free. This new years day, 2023, is the first day of the rest of my life! I wish all of you every bit of joy and happiness and kindness that you claim. It’s all yours. Grab it!"
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A few days later, the actress revealed she was taking part in Dry January, temporarily giving up alcohol.
"I want to try and cut down the cravings for my sugar, and I think alcohol exacerbates that," she said in an Instagram video Jan. 5, 2023.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She added that she wanted to "cut down on 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. I think cutting alcohol will help me do that."
Last week, she shared two throwback photos of herself in a bikini from 2014, explaining that being considered overweight in the photos, in which she weighed 150 pounds, is part of the reason she no longer steps on the scale. (Zach Pagano/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
In two separate posts last February, Bertinelli also reflected on her emotional journey since her divorce, saying she needed to understand why she spent so many years "tolerat[ing] the intolerable" with her ex, who she often refers to as "The Narcissist."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She added the "real work lies in embracing the audacity of courage and confidence to heal ourselves deep within. Sustainable healing begins with baby steps of self-love and self-care, and it’s about discovering the love and bravery to uplift and heal ourselves, even in the toughest moment."
In June, the Food Network star said she realized she would soon need to go down a jeans size.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This all started back in November – the month I got free – and started really concentrating on my emotional and mental health. And when I started doing that, I started caring about the nutrition I put in my body more." She said she had been focusing on getting enough fiber and protein.
"I’m OK with fat and carbs, of course," she joked.
In July, she shared that she was doing Dry July while filming herself heading to a Pilates class.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Valerie Bertinelli said when she started focusing on her emotional and mental health she started caring more about nutrition. (Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
In a "vulnerable" post in October, Bertinelli filmed herself in her closet, saying she had "found the clothes I was wearing in the very first ‘before’ picture for Jenny Craig."
"I have done so much emotional and mental work to overcome years of pretending everything was OK when it wasn’t," Bertinelli said. "Health is not a body size. Health is not the number you see on the scale. Your worth as a human being isn’t dictated by your body. It’s not defined by your body.
"I thought I was fat the last time I wore these clothes."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I’ve never felt more beautiful, more at peace, more mentally and emotionally stable than I do today, and I’m wearing my ‘fat’ clothes. That’s f---ed up," she scoffed.
Bertinelli became a Jenny Craig spokeswoman in 2007, crediting the program with 40 pounds of weight loss at the time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last month, she revealed that she did Dry January again before her Feb. 7 post in which she added, "You are enough. Just the way you are. F--- ‘em."
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"Indulge: Delicious and Decadent Dishes to Enjoy and Share" will be released April 2.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"With this cookbook, Valerie shares her secrets for indulging in the kitchen, so her fans can start living their best, most fulfilling lives too," her book's description says. "It’s a warmhearted permission slip to enjoy food, and more importantly, enjoy life."