Valerie Bertinelli Talks Weight Loss

LOS ANGELES (April 17, 2007) ? Three decades after she first asked the hard-hitting questions on ?One Day At A Time,? Valerie Bertinelli has been busy asking herself ?How did I gain so much weight?? When you know the answer, you can find a solution. Valerie has both.?My first reaction [was] like, ?Oh my God everyone knows I’m fat,?? Valerie admits of her first call from Jenny Craig.?Fat? may be the wrong word but Valerie?s transformation has certainly gone public. Valerie joins Kristie Alley on the Jenny Craig bandwagon and has committed to losing at least 30 pounds. She?s already dropped 13.Now at 46 years old, Valerie reveals to Access Hollywood she has struggled with her weight for decades.?Before I knew it, I had to buy a larger size pair of jeans and then I had to buy another larger size and I thought, once I got to size 14 I thought I’m not doing it again, that’s it,? she recalls. ?Once the 14’s got tight I [thought] gotta do something about it.?Valerie revealed a shopping trip late last year hurt her the most, when a passerby commented within earshot about her weight.?I was in a market just six months ago buying some chairs,? she begins, ?and obviously the guy thought I left and he said you?ll never guess who was just here, to the next customer . . . Valerie Bertinelli.?The customer asked the man what she looked like and his reply hit Valerie hard.?He goes ?hmmm . . . she?s a lot bigger than she should be,? she recalls.Valerie has the full support of ex-husband Eddie Van Halen with whom she has one son, Wolfie. Eddie just got out of rehab. ?He just said congratulations, you know good for you,” he said, “I got sober, you’re getting thin, this is great,? she laughs.Valerie says she won?t go on Oprah in a bikini like Kristie did.?That girl has cajones,? Valerie smiles. ?She?s my idol. She really is.?Speaking of cajones, Valerie had no qualms about getting personal on behalf of her boyfriend on ?The View.??I’m not pregnant,? she told the panel. ?He had a vasectomy.?