Valerie Bertinelli, 63, reveals how she lost weight while still eating pasta adding she let go of body shaming with ‘therapy and meditation’ and is now thrilled she even fits into her 2009 ‘before’ clothes

Valerie Bertinelli has lost weight since her divorce from Tom Vitale.

And she told it People that it was due to “more consistent therapy, more journal writing and meditation.”

The Hot In Cleveland also shared with the site that she eats whatever she wants and if she craves pasta, she will eat it. But Jenny Craig’s former poster girl will make sure she gets the nourishment she needs.

In the past, she said on social media that she has been doing more power walks and doing Pilates to shed the pounds, adding that she also lost weight when she stopped drinking alcohol, so she is working hard to stay healthy to stay.

She also said that after losing weight, she tried on her “pre-clothes” from her 2009 Jenny Craig shoot and they fit.

Instead of being disappointed that they fit her just right, she said she felt comfortable. And when she looks back on how she felt ashamed about wearing those clothes, she now feels that shame was wrong and that our “diet culture” is not healthy.

During her shoot for the magazine, she looked not only slim, but also vibrant, like she was living her best life.

The star is promoting her new cookbook titled Indulge, adding that it was like therapy after leaving Vitale: “I wanted to write essays about forgiveness and finding the sweetness in life. And indulge in the pleasures of my life.’

Her diet is open because she doesn’t want to limit herself.

“I don’t deny myself anything anymore,” she told People as she posed in a button-down shirt and jeans.

‘I think: what do I want, instead of what am I going to eat, because I have to be careful with calories.

‘If I want pasta alle vongole, I’m going to make it. And I’m not going to feel an ounce of guilt about it.”

She added, “But I also no longer crave things that don’t necessarily give my body all the nutrition it needs.”

Also in her People cover story, she said she has a crush on an East Coast writer she met online.

They first came into contact years ago and became friends.

They only became romantic earlier this year, but she still doesn’t want to share his identity.

‘I fell in love when I least expected it!’ the brunette beauty revealed to the magazine.

“I’m in love,” Bertinelli added. ‘It’s a seesaw of emotions because I was convinced I would never fall in love again.

“I was meant to die with my six cats and my dog ​​and live the rest of my years very happily alone – I’m fine being alone,” she said.

‘My stomach is turning up and down. This was not the intention.’

She then shared, “It’s crazy the comfort level. It feels incredibly good.’

Valerie added that she has been working on herself with therapy and long walks with her dog.

And her new book Indulge forced her to be more open. “The cookbook was an outgrowth of the emotional and mental healing I’ve been doing,” she said,

‘First came the work. Why I thought I didn’t deserve to be loved. Why I used food to numb my feelings. All the drama and trauma I hadn’t had to deal with, with Ed and my last marriage.”

Ed is Eddie Van Halen, her first husband who died. And her last marriage was to Tom Vitale.

She first announced the news that she was in love in mid-March.

The star gave a glowing interview USA today about her new romance, although she didn’t provide any personal details about him, such as his name.

‘I met someone. And I am incredibly grateful to him. It’s unlike any relationship I’ve ever experienced with a man,” she gushed.

“I don’t want to say too much, but I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have met him because I didn’t expect it!” she added.

“He wasn’t on my radar. “I would die with my six cats and my dog ​​and be incredibly happy about that,” the One Day At A Time star admitted. “So this came out of left field, and I’m grateful that it happened. He’s very special.’

Regarding her decision to announce the relationship on Instagram this week, she marveled, “What was I doing?…I just can’t help it. When I’m happy, it’s all about me, and he’s one of the main reasons.

“I really want women and men to understand that it’s the work you do (on yourself) that can lead to you meeting someone like the one I’ve been lucky enough to meet now. This wouldn’t have happened three years ago, four years ago, last year – that wouldn’t have happened. And I feel incredibly lucky to have met him and built a bond with him.”

Bertinelli filed for divorce from her second husband, financial planner Tom Vitale, in November 2021.

Their divorce was finalized a year later, with a settlement that saw Valerie forced to fork over a staggering $2.2 million to Tom.

Last June, she joked on TikTok that when asked about whether she would “start dating again soon,” she responded with, “Yes, f*** no.”

Now, though, she’s changed her mind, reposting the old TikTok on her Insta Stories and saying, “This didn’t turn out well.”

Valerie’s first husband was legendary rock star Eddie Van Halen, with whom she shares a now 32-year-old named Wolfgang.

She has been open about her turbulent marriage to Eddie, which eventually went up in flames in 2001 when his addictions took their toll on the relationship.

Valerie told Rob Lowe on his podcast that while she was with Eddie, she herself was addicted to drugs for a few years until I just couldn’t take it anymore.

Eddie got sober in 2008, the year after his divorce from Valerie was finalized, but he died in late 2020 at the age of 65 after a battle with throat cancer.

She started dating Tom Vitale in 2004 and married him in 2011, becoming stepmother to his two sons and two daughters.

Ten years later, Valerie filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences, and the divorce was finalized on November 22, 2022 – which she gleefully called the “second best day of my life” on social media.

Early the following year, Valerie spoke cryptically about “healing” from a relationship with a “narcissist” who called her “fat and lazy” in texts she “liked.”