Losing It - and Gaining My Life Back, One Pound at a Time

I remember watching Valerie in ODAAT, the occasional TV movie as well as HIC, and thinking she seemed nice enough. Anticipated liking her even more after reading this book however the exact opposite occurred instead. The more I read the less I liked her. I found her so profoundly lacking in self-awareness that I struggled to continue reading. Her almost myopic and incessant preoccupation, if not obsession, with her "child-bearing hips and gigantic butt" (her very frequent description of herself) was both annoying and distracting. I wanted and expected more self-reflection and insight as she looked back over her life as that would've added a layer of depth to her story that was both missing and needed.After so much constant and endless negativity I came away feeling almost relieved to be leaving her world.

It takes a lot of courage to expose your struggles to the public. She clearly held back nothing. It was a great read and I enjoyed the insights into the VH days. As a singer myself, I always wondered what it must’ve been like to be in that circle. Nice job!

I am the same age as Valerie, so she is quite relatable to me right off the bat. Sometimes funny, often surprising but always honest, this book is one of my favorites in the self-help genre. No doubt she had help writing it, but it still sounds like she wrote it herself. As far as her weight loss journey, it's amazing to think that as a teenager, she was told she was fat and needed to lose weight, though she likely weighed no more than maybe 115 pounds at the time. Many of us during the mid 1970s can relate. It doesn't take much to start that insidious little voice in the head of a young girl to believe there is something wrong with you, or that you are somehow "not enough."The opening chapter is surprisingly real as she tells about piling boxes of frozen jalapeno poppers into her grocery cart to hustle home and devour. I love how she titles almost every chapter in some way after a Van Halen or Elton John song and the details of her life and the band's are just enough to add to the over all story. She leaves nothing out really, from her family growing up, her life during One Day at a Time, to meeting Eddie, their ups and down, Wolfie's birth, being a working mom; it's all in there, intermingled with her ever-fluctuating weight loss (and gain and then loss) journey.In amongst all of that, there are relatable ideas for breaking deeply-rooted bad eating habits that I believe most people can relate to. Happily, it is NOT one big Jenny Craig commercial, not at all.If you like Bertinelli to begin with and/or have any interest in Van Halen, you'll probably enjoy this read and end up liking her all the more by the end of the book. If you don't know her at all, you might just feel like you could be buddies if given the chance....or at least come away with some solid ideas for your own weight loss journey, with or without Jenny Craig. Enjoy!

I’ll start by saying that I absolutely love Valerie Bertinelli. I forgot how much until EVH sadly passed away recently, which made me pick up this book. What an interesting life she has had. I would have liked her book better without all of the constant name dropping and her movie, show and Jenny Craig plugging which is why I only gave it 4 stars. I was surprised by her drug use and dropping into bed so easily especially since these encounters were short lived. But overall, it’s a really great read. I would recommend it.

I loved Valerie's honesty and life story. Very sweet. She went through a lot of heartache, tried to make her marriage work and dealing with feeling lonely in her marriage coming second to drugs and alcohol. Very sad. She handled it very well and I hope it helps others become aware when dealing with tough decisions and keeping family together. She has always seemed so grounded, sweet, humble and her book confirmed it. Happy she is in a good place. Love her. Great read.

My childhood crush grew up to be a very likable woman who is not shy about revealing her past indiscretions and struggles with her weight. This is not an expose or tell all, but Valerie does open up enough to feel you know her better for having read her book. I found her tale of creeping weight gain and triumph over her weight to be inspiring and I did lose some weight after reading the book. This book is also not a diet book. This is a story of one woman's struggle with weight gain and how it affected her marriage and career, and what she did to take control of the situation. What was missing for me was Valerie eventually coming around to the realization that she is a world class beauty at any weight and likable enough to enjoy success at any weight. Throughout the book she counts herself lucky and/or blessed to have enjoyed continued success at the top of her weight gain. She never seems to understand this wasn't luck or divine intervention. She never credits her own talent or likability as a coworker, and at the end of the book still seems to view her weight as the measure of her worth. Still it's a great book by a lovely and talented actress. Well written and enjoyable to read.

I had read the reviews on this book before I purchased it but was still shocked reading her story. I grew up watching Valerie on One Day at a Time and listening to Van Halen as a teen. I knew he led a tough life but didn’t know she had her vices as well. I think she wrote from her heart and was very honest, which couldn’t have been easy. It was a good read.

I could not locate my interest in Valerie Bertinelli`s weight problems if I had the world`s most powerful microscope. As a massive fan of Van Halen though I had to buy this! Who else could write as openly and truthfully about the private life of the greatest musician of the 20th century? And frankly, to paraphrase Bart Simpson when he reads Lisa`s diary, Ed "really comes across as a jerk in this thing". A fun and quick read, although fairly humdrum until she meets Eddie Van Halen from my perspective; but it`s great to hear about Wolfie growing up, and Ed`s crazy lifestyle does make you wonder how he ever got any music completed at all. It does rather explains why it`s been 13 years since a full album has been released! Sorry Val - not interested in you. Might buy your sequel though, just in case there`s anything new about Ed, Wolfie, DLR and Al!

Bought this because I like Van Halen and was interested in another perspective on the group. It's worth reading but both Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen come across as rather self obsessed characters.

Being a celebrity the world sees them from what is wrote in the papers, on the Internet etc so it is so good to actually read what really goes on on band tours and just generally in their day to day lives. People think that celebrities live in a whole other world but they don't and at the end of the day they are just normal people battling the same issues as you and I...everyone can only picture what goes on when bands are on tour and some of it is exactly how people describe it but I love the way Valerie pulls you in as if your stood right there next to her watching everything pan out. Great read and can't wait to read her next book.

I found the book more about her married life and how she got famous through tv. The weight issue was mentioned here and there but only took off towards the endvof the last chapters. As far as Eddie goes....i wasnt shocked at the decline of his health issues with booze and drugs...but know with his passing he's in a better place.

Certainly nothing compared to biographies from the likes of Patty Boyd, but then again it's not trying to be. I got through it in a night, and it did provide me with *some* not *loads* of weight-loss inspiration. It didn't provide *any* weight-loss tips other than the usual 'you need to like your life first before you lose weight' type of messages - so no earth shattering revelations. Being a generation behind her, i really didn't know who she was until i starting seeing her jenny craig ads when i lived in the USA. Still, I found her style to be friendly, casual and occassionally witty (also occassionally cringe-worthy), kind of like you are sitting having a conversation with an old friend. I felt like screaming at her a few times though ('how could you be so blind/put up with so much crap for so long/how many STD tests did it take for you to leave that jerk!') but i was glad to hear she was happy and settled in her new life with a stable weight. her kid looks like he could go on a diet though (sorry, but he's quite obese for such a young kid).