Valerie Bertinelli continues to wow her fans with her 40-pound weight loss, gaining support and admiration for her transparency and authenticity regarding her transformation and health journey. Earlier this month, the One Day at a Time star, 64, shared a video on Instagram after discovering the get-up she wore in her very first “before photo” as a Jenny Craig spokesperson.
Posing in front of a full-length mirror, she said, while dressed in a pink button-up blouse and form–fitting jeans: “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.”
Valerie Bertinelli Celebrates 40-Lb Weight Loss by Rewearing Her 'Fat Clothes' From a Jenny Craig 'Before Photo'
The Food Network alum added: "I thought I was fat the last time I wore these clothes. 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."
The Hot In Cleveland actress explained in the caption for her 1.6 million followers that she discovered the old clothes tucked away in the rear of her closet. Despite not knowing the reason for holding onto them, she is pleased that she did. "I continue to work on not suppressing or numbing my feelings with food or alcohol and here I am. I am enough," Bertinelli noted.
She wrote: "Our bodies do not define who we are as human being’s. A number on the scale does not define how much love your heart can hold. Please love yourself, every single part of you. YOU ARE ENOUGH."
Valerie Bertinelli's 40-Lb Weight Loss Journey And Insights On Achieving A Healthier Lifestyle
Over the past few months, Bertinelli has captivated viewers with her radiant glow on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she has recently taken on the role of a lifestyle expert. She also notably discussed her dietary habits during an interview with The Washington Post earlier last spring. Bertinelli shared what strategies were effective for her and which ones fell short in her weight loss journey. Additionally, she spoke about how her perspective shifted after she reached the age of 60
"What wasn't working for me was living my life by a number. Because no matter what that number was, it wasn't going to be good enough," Bertinelli confessed, before telling readers how tackling unconscious and emotional eating was the real game changer.
"And I try to push it away, shove it away, eat it away, the feeling's not going to go anywhere. It's going to pop up again. It's not the food that's bad for us. It's how, or why, we're eating it," she explained. "If we're eating it unconsciously, if we're eating it to soothe an emotion." Back in April 2024, she shared with People that reducing her alcohol intake has been surprisingly simple.
However, she mentioned that if she ever feels like having a drink, she won't refrain from doing so. "I'm actually shocked at how hard it's not," she said. "Because for a long time, I leaned on it. Right now, I love how I feel more than how the alcohol makes me feel. I found that I do naturally hum at happy."
Bertinelli continued: "I don't need anything to amplify my happiness right now. 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." But if she does ever want a glass of wine or a cocktail? "If I really, really want to have a drink, I will," she noted. While promoting her cookbook Indulge, the mom of one shared with the outlet: "I don't deny myself anything anymore."
The Golden Globe winner added: "I think what do I want, as opposed to what am I going to eat because I need to be careful about calories. If I want pasta alle vongole, I'm going to make that. And I'm not going to feel one ounce of guilt about it." She stressed: "But I also don't crave things anymore that won't necessarily feed my body all the nutrition that it needs." The more you know!
