Valerie Bertinelli Reveals Why She ‘Gave Up The Damn Scale’ After Years Of Weight Struggles

Actress Valerie Bertinelli would like the world to know that she is tired of feeling “like the most famous dieter of America.”

Bertinelli Sounds Off

Bertinelli kicked off 2020 wanting to lose 10 pounds, “the same 10 lbs. I had been trying to lose for the past 40 years.”

However, when her ex-husband Eddie Van Halen died in October of that year, Bertinelli decided to focus on what really matters in life.

Bertinelli, 61, tells this story in her new memoir called “Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I am Today,” which People Magazine published excerpts from this week. 

“The goal is to live in the moment,” the former “One Day At A Time” star wrote. “And not according to the scale. There is no magic number that will make me feel good about myself. I’m done judging myself. I want to be kinder and more accepting of myself. I have a lot of decades of thinking I have to look a certain way for people to accept me and to like me.”

Related: Valerie Bertinelli’s Son Wolf Van Halen Wants Revenge Against Troll Who Called Her Fat

Bertinelli And Jenny Craig

Bertinelli struggled with body image all her life, and after deciding to become a spokesperson for Jenny Craig at the age of 47, she lost 50 pounds in two years. 

“I wasn’t trying to get healthy or deal with the reasons I had gained weight over the years,” Bertinelli wrote. “I had split from Ed and I refused to take money from him. As a single working mom, I needed to make money. Jenny Craig was a good job.”

Bertinelli showed off her brand new body on the cover of People Magazine in 2009, but she revealed in her book that she began gaining weight again as soon as the shoot was over.

“I was starving myself and doing twice a day workouts,” she confessed. “Some people can look like that without doing that but not me. And there is shame for being part of the problem to make other people think they can do it. I bought into it hook, line and sinker, but I didn’t take care of my head and my heart and I think it really starts with that.”

RELATED: Rock Legend Eddie Van Halen Passes Away At 65 After Private Battle

‘I Gave Up The Damn Scale’

It wasn’t until 2020 that Bertinelli decided she needed to change her mindset. 

“I gave up the damn scale,” she said. “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. I don’t have to lay back and put them on!”

These days, whenever she’s tempted to get back on the scale, Bertinelli asks herself why she wants to.

“… It’s not about the number,” she reflected. “… Whatever happens, happens. This is what I am. Right now. Today.”

Millions of Americans will certainly be able to relate to Bertinelli’s body image struggles. We’re happy to see that after all these years, she finally seems to have made peace with her body!