Health & Beauty April 13, 2007
Valerie Bertinelli: America's New Diet Queen
“I want it off! 13 pounds in a month? I can do better than that,” the bubbly star told our Dayna Devon.
Only “Extra” was invited to Valerie's kitchen, inside her Los Angeles home, where the star opened up about her new secret weapon: Jenny Craig.
“Looking in the mirror and realizing I didn't want to look the way I l wanted to look anymore" was her motivation, she confessed. “[Jenny Craig] called, just out of the blue. And I'm like, 'Oh my God, they know I'm fat too.'”
Now, Valerie is having the last laugh, especially after growing up on TV and feeling the pressure to stay thin: “I look back on pictures of myself and think, 'How could anybody tell that sweet little girl to lose weight?'”
As Valerie's weight loss success story unfolds, she is teaming up with Jenny Craig success star Kirstie Alley in a new ad, which led to a fast friendship.
“She invited me over to her home, and we had a ball,” Bertinelli gushed. “Then we sat in her gorgeous kitchen that we all saw on 'Oprah.'”
As Valerie embarks on her mission to reclaim a healthier physique, she also revealed she's not doing it alone, even after her publicized split from rocker Eddie Van Halen.
Valerie is now dating former financial analyst Tom Vitale, who is on the Jenny Craig program too!
“He's pretty terrific,” she said. ”And my ex; I mean, everyone has been really terrific with this.”
Valerie, who explained her weight gain was thanks to her love for cooking, also opened up to “Extra” about her ultimate goal.
“What I'd like to lose is another 30. I want to get down to my drivers license weight,” she confessed.
While she won't reveal what that number is, just don't think this Hollywood actress can't hit her mark: “My job is to lose weight so I can be healthy and happy and a better me.”
