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Valerie Bertinelli has bittersweet memories from her time wearing a bikini for the first time in almost 30 years.
It was 2009 and the actress was about to turn 49 when she decided to flaunt her 40-pound weight loss on the cover of People magazine, which she credited to being on the Jenny Craig diet for nine months and “countless stomach crunches.”
“There’s a lot of pride and a lot of shame associated with that cover,” the now-60-year-old told People magazine on Wednesday. “I worked really, really, really hard. Physically, definitely. I wish to God I had worked just as hard on my mental shape. But when I don’t work on what’s eating me, I’m going to start eating.”
According to Bertinelli, she was determined to do “the mental and emotional work” associated with her complicated relationship with food 11 years later.
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Valerie Bertinelli on the 2009 cover of People magazine.
(People magazine)
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“… I wanted to lose 10 [more] pounds for my 60th birthday — and then it became much more than that,” she explained. “It became, ‘I’d like to lose the weight, but I may never lose the weight. How do I love me for who I am right now? Today. At this body. At this age.’”
“That means you have to do the internal work,” Bertinelli continued. “I’ve been really good at covering it up and eating through it. It’s just… I’d like to be good at something else now.”
Today, the former “One Day at a Time” star is a special correspondent on the “Today” show, where she discusses her personal journey of addressing the emotional issues that have impacted her weight. She is also the proud host of Food Network’s “Cooking with Valerie.”
Currently, the star is isolating in Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic with her husband of nine years Tom Vitale. She is keeping busy by doing live cooking classes from her home kitchen for the Food Network Kitchen app.
Bertinelli hopes her story will encourage others to not struggle with the scale, but rather learn to embrace their body at any size.
“So many kind people have reached out to me, and said, ‘I feel that way too,’” said Bertinelli. “It’s overwhelming. It would be a gift to connect with people and hopefully have them feel good about themselves. Treating each other with kindness starts with ourselves.
As for that famous green string bikini, Bertinelli told the outlet she still has it. The swimsuit is tucked away in a closet drawer.
“The funny thing is, the green bikini was a size large,” she said. “Even at the lowest weight I’ve been in decades, I was still wearing a large. Everybody’s shape is what we should be celebrating.”
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