Valerie Bertinelli Has Completely Given This Up

Valerie Bertinelli is owning a fresh outlook for her 60s by sharing her experiences in searching for happiness that goes beyond what she weighs, per Publishers Weekly. She offers personal insights from the last decade on the evolving relationships she has had with food, the loves in her life, and self-acceptance in her upcoming memoir, "Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today."

The Food Network host has been in the spotlight since starting her acting career at 14, known best for the sitcom "One Day at a Time." These teen years left Bertinelli comparing her body to her co-stars and creating a habit of "trying to be better," more specifically, "Thinner. Nicer. Prettier." These thoughts would stick with Bertinelli for most of her life, according to Today.

The memoir reveals what prompted the "Hot in Cleveland" star's decision to become a Jenny Craig spokesperson at the age of 47. Getting healthy was not the motivation. Instead, it was the split from husband Eddie Van Halen that ignited the move. "As a single working mom I needed to make money," she shared. Then, Van Halen's death in 2020 left Bertinelli with a heartbreaking amount of grief. She shares the highs and lows of their love story in "Enough Already" and acknowledges that this loss has evolved her view on what really matters, per Billboard. 

Once the Jenny Craig grind set in and Valerie Bertinelli shed 50 pounds in only two years, she was featured wearing a bikini on the 2009 cover of People. The honest follow-up to this big milestone now makes the accomplishment feel more like an illusion fueled by extreme weight-loss obsession. According to excerpts from her memoir (via People), "I started to gain weight as soon as the photo shoot ended."

Bertinelli gives away the secret to this celebrated moment by simply stating, "I was starving myself and doing twice a day workouts." Time has clearly offered a sense of clarity for Bertinelli, especially in terms of how her participation in the dieting narrative could affect others. "We're all part of this diet culture that isn't actually helping us, our mental or emotional health," she explained. In regards to unlearning a lifetime of health and fitness habits, fads, and critiques, Bertinelli now has a new perspective of the collective issue beyond her own struggles. "I've learned there are many people that feel the same exact way that I do. Some of us were taught the wrong things."

She stresses that, at this point in her journey, "it's not about the number" on the scale. In fact, she's completely over it, writing, "I gave up the damn scale. I haven't weighed myself since I finished writing the book and all I know is every time I put on my jeans, they fit." As for why she's shifted her mentality, she declared, "This is what I am. Right now. Today."