Losing It, and Getting My Life Back One Pound at a Time by Valerie Bertinelli
Valerie Bertinelli shares her story up to losing weight as a Jenny Craig spokesperson. She talks about her time on One Day at a Time, through marrying Eddie Van Halen, divorcing him, having her son and the acting roles she played up to and between. Her struggles with self-image and societal/Hollywood expectations are central to her continuing story, which she shares herself in a way that helps to motivate and inspire her reader, even if it's not necessarily her intention.
I've known who Valerie Bertinelli was since I watched One Day at a Time as a kid. Even then I actually catalogued who the cast was, and remembered things about them. I knew she'd married Eddie Van Halen and had a kid. So I also remembered her in Touched by an Angel (though I didn't even really watch that show,) and then Hot in Cleveland.
Obviously, since this book was published in 2008, I know most of the timeline of events - that she'd gone through a divorce and weight issues and eventually ended up a spokesperson for Jenny Craig. But hearing about these events through her perspective, and knowing the struggles as she saw them adds to the motivation that she provides. She still struggles, there was no instant fix. It helps to know that she's just another of us that live a real life with problems. True, her problems come with significantly more money than the average person, but the money clearly doesn't make them go away.
I felt a weird kinship with Valerie through this book - she happens to be the age that I am through the worst troubles, and it made me feel less alone. It's strange, I know but it's also inspirational and motivational. If she can do it, so can I. The book is conversational, which helps to make it feel as if she's just sharing to help other people. Not to capitalize on her story.
I bought her latest book, Enough Already before I realized there were two books that she'd written previously. One down. One more to go before I get to Enough Already.
Losing It, and Getting My Life Back One Pound at a Time by Valerie Bertinelli
Valerie Bertinelli shares her story up to losing weight as a Jenny Craig spokesperson. She talks about her time on One Day at a Time, through marrying Eddie Van Halen, divorcing him, having her son and the acting roles she played up to and between. Her struggles with self-image and societal/Hollywood expectations are central to her continuing story, which she shares herself in a way that helps to motivate and inspire her reader, even if it's not necessarily her intention.
I've known who Valerie Bertinelli was since I watched One Day at a Time as a kid. Even then I actually catalogued who the cast was, and remembered things about them. I knew she'd married Eddie Van Halen and had a kid. So I also remembered her in Touched by an Angel (though I didn't even really watch that show,) and then Hot in Cleveland.
Obviously, since this book was published in 2008, I know most of the timeline of events - that she'd gone through a divorce and weight issues and eventually ended up a spokesperson for Jenny Craig. But hearing about these events through her perspective, and knowing the struggles as she saw them adds to the motivation that she provides. She still struggles, there was no instant fix. It helps to know that she's just another of us that live a real life with problems. True, her problems come with significantly more money than the average person, but the money clearly doesn't make them go away.I felt a weird kinship with Valerie through this book - she happens to be the age that I am through the worst troubles, and it made me feel less alone. It's strange, I know but it's also inspirational and motivational. If she can do it, so can I. The book is conversational, which helps to make it feel as if she's just sharing to help other people. Not to capitalize on her story.
(#08-2022)
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