Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time

Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time
by Valerie Bertinelli

Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time
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Book Summary Information

Author: Valerie Bertinelli
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2008-02-25
ISBN: 1416568182
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Free Press
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Book Reviews of Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time

Book Review: A great work of literature? No. Interesting and entertaining? Yes.
Summary: 3 Stars

This is a book I picked up as a result of my interest in Valerie Bertinelli's very public weight loss efforts. I knew who Valerie was before her Jenny Craig days from watching One Day At A Time years ago, but I haven't followed her career since then and would not have otherwise purchased a book about her life. Nevertheless, once I started reading the book (which actually has very little in it about her Jenny Craig days although her struggles with weight loss and food "addiction" are peppered throughout), I found it to be a quick and interesting read about someone whom I grew to like more and more after hearing her tell her story in a very honest way.

The book follows Valerie's life from her early years to her current status as a Jenny Craig spokeswoman. Through the years, her weight fluctuated along with her mood and situation (or more accurately, her dependence on food as comfort fluctuated), a common theme throughout the book. It seems that the Jenny Craig opportunity came along at the right time, i.e., a time when her personal and emotional lives were falling into place, which allowed her to open herself up to success in weight loss as well. For those of us who also have emotional eating issues, this need for alignment of the planets is something we can understand.

The book is written in a very conversational, laid back style, which makes it an easy, quick read. I found the story rather interesting - from how she initially got interested in acting, her experience with her fellow castmates on One Day At A Time, to her rollercoaster relationship with Eddie Van Halen, and her love of being a mother. I was entertained, which is about all I could expect from this sort of book, especially since I came into it with no particular affinity for, or dislike of, Ms. Bertinelli.

Losing It is certainly not a great work of literature, but I am glad I read it and enjoyed learning a bit more about the person behind the image. As a result, I am rating it 3 stars for an enjoyable book that kept me reading.

Summary of Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time

A Note to Amazon Readers (and a Q&A) from Valerie Bertinelli

Dear Amazon Customer,

Glad to see you here and hopefully purchasing my book. I've heard if you buy multiple copies it's a better experience--a better one for me! But seriously, I'm usually on Amazon, too. I've been buying books through the site for ten years. I enjoy reading the reviews. I get a good sense of the book, and I like to hear what other people have to say. Like in a traditional bookstore, I can look at the cover, peek inside the book, and check out the bestseller lists.

Valerie

  1. Do you have a favorite character from a book? I love Scout and Atticus from To Kill A Mockingbird.
  2. If you can be any character from a book, who would you like to be? I would like to be Scarlett and I would let Rhett know how much I love him.
  3. How do you decide what next book you want to read? If it's for my book group, whoever hosts the next gathering picks the book, so it's picked for me seven out of eight times. But on my own, I read reviews and ask people whose taste I like what they're reading.
  4. Where's your favorite place to read? Either lying in bed or on the sofa next to the fireplace.
  5. What is your favorite genre? I don't really have one.




Valerie Bertinelli, then: bubbly sitcom star and America's Sweetheart turned tabloid headline and rock star wife. Now: actress, single working mother of teenage rock star, and weight-loss inspiration to millions.

We all knew and loved Valerie Bertinelli years ago when she played girl-next-door cutie Barbara Cooper in the hit TV show One Day at a Time, and then starred in numerous TV movies. From wholesome primetime in America's living rooms, Valerie moved to late nights with the hardest-partying band of the decadent eighties when she became, at twenty, wife to rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Losing It is Valerie's frank account of her life backstage and in the spotlight. Here are the ups and downs of teen stardom, of her complicated marriage to a brilliant, tormented musical genius, and of her very public struggle with her weight.

Surprising, uplifting, and empowering, Losing It takes you behind the scenes of Valerie's acting career and marriage, recalling the comforts, friendships, and problems of her television family, her close relationships with her parents and brothers, the stress and worries of being the wife of a rock star, and the joys of motherhood. Like many women, Valerie often remembers the state of her life by the food she ate and the numbers on her scale. So despite her celebrity, Valerie's voice is so down-to-earth, honest, and appealing that you'll feel as if you're talking with a girlfriend over coffee. Funny and candid, Valerie recounts her attempts to maintain a healthy self-image while dealing with social pressures to look and act a certain way, and to overcome career insecurities and relationship problems, all of which will be familiar to the hundreds of thousands of women who struggle every day with these same issues.

From marital turmoil to the joys of a new career, from being named among Penthouse's ten sexiest women in the world to overhearing whispers about her weight gain in the grocery store, this is Valerie's inspiring journey as she finds new love, raises a terrific kid, and motivates other women as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.

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