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Valerie Bertinelli tells the story of her 20-year marriage to rocker Eddie Van Halen, her weight loss problems and body image issues in her new book Losing It…and Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time.

Bertinelli was on Oprah on Monday to promote the book and told about how she lost her shame as well as 40 pounds and that it’s hard to say “which came first, the weight or what was weighing me down?”

She says she had body image problems even when she was young and skinny. “I want to shake that little girl and say, shut up, you’re a beautiful young woman,” she said of feeling fat compared to her “One Day at a Time” costar Mackenzie Phillips.

At one point when she was young and the diet she was on wasn’t working quickly enough, Bertinelli’s brother suggested she try Black Beauties, amphetamines now known to cause heart problems.

She says she only used them about six months and they were easy to quit because she hated the way they made her feel and she loved food too much.

Bertinelli got married at age 20 and says, “I don’t know that you should really be allowed to be as stupid as we were in our 20s.” She and Van Halen separated in 2001 and were officially divorced last year.

She says she hit rock bottom when she watched herself in a movie called “Claire” that she did for the Hallmark Channel and saw how fat she looked. She says jalapeño poppers were her drug of choice: “they were my Prozac … that was my comfort … it made me feel better for the moment.”

She began visualizing a healthier, lighter body both physically and mentally when Jenny Craig came calling.

“They know I’m fat too, huh?”

Jenny Craig contacted Bertinelli’s agents and asked if she would be interested in losing weight and becoming a spokesperson for the program.

“This might be just what I need to kick my butt and be accountable,” she said she thought at the time.

She’s now lost 40 pounds and let viewers take a peek into her kitchen, filled with frozen Jenny food, light desserts and her favorite snack foods: hard boiled eggs, sugar free Jell-O and fat free whipped topping (I assume she doesn’t eat them all at the same time).

She also goes on regular walks of at least a mile and wears a Walkvest, which has pockets so you can add weight and burn more calories as you walk.

Bertinelli said she wanted to share her story because “I really don’t think my story is that unusual” because most women have weight issues or marriage issues or struggles with raising their children.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 and is filed under Celebrities and politicians, Celebrity Diets, Celebrity Weight Loss Secrets. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.