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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →In a PEOPLE interview published April 2, 2024, Valerie Bertinelli described changing how she thinks about food and her body: she says she no longer denies herself foods she wants or feels guilty about making them. Therapy, journaling, and meditation helped her work through body shame, while returning to cooking helped her find joy. Her account is personal, not a weight-loss formula or medical recommendation.
What Bertinelli means by learning to indulge
“I don’t deny myself anything anymore,” Bertinelli told PEOPLE’s Liz McNeil in an interview republished by Yahoo on April 2, 2024. She described a shift in the question she asks herself: “I think what do I want, as opposed to what am I going to eat because I need to be careful about calories. If I want pasta alle vongole, I’m going to make that. And I’m not going to feel one ounce of guilt about it.”
She also said she no longer craves some things that would not provide her body with the nutrition it needs. These are her reflections on her own relationship with food, not nutritional guidance for other people. The interview does not present a prescribed diet or claim that a particular food choice works for everyone.
How she came to see her body differently
Bertinelli said that more consistent therapy, journaling, and meditation helped her let go of body shame. The interview describes a moment when she tried on clothes she had worn for Jenny Craig “before” photographs in 2008. They fit, and she said she did not feel fat.
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“They fit me perfectly, and I didn’t feel fat and I’m not fat,” she recalled. She connected the experience to a change in how she viewed her earlier body and diet culture: “So what the hell is wrong with diet culture? I looked fine. I looked beautiful. And that was my before picture? It was a huge a-ha moment. They fit and I’m at the best place in my life.” The moment was meaningful to her; it is not a general measure of health or an outcome readers should expect to reproduce.
Why cooking became part of her recovery
Bertinelli placed this period after difficult personal events: her first husband, Eddie Van Halen, died in 2020, and her divorce from Tom Vitale followed in 2022. She said she had hit “rock bottom emotionally.” Returning to cooking, she said, helped her find joy.
“I wanted to write essays about forgiveness and finding the sweetness in life,” she said of the project that became Indulge. “I was in the middle of growth and health and recovery and I found a way to be intentional with joy and I want to share that,” she said. “For me, it’s through cooking.”
What’s in Indulge
The cookbook combines recipes with personal vignettes. The PEOPLE interview names Classic Eggs Benedict, Brown Butter Banana Walnut Muffins, and Crispy Chicken Thighs with Radishes and Fennel as examples. The book’s food and personal writing reflect Bertinelli’s account of finding pleasure in cooking alongside her reflections on forgiveness and recovery.
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Her openness also helped her build an online community, according to the interview. She said she wanted people going through difficult periods to know that things could improve: “I wanted them to know, ‘Hey, I’ve gotten through this part. I swear it’s going to get better.’”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What her story does—and doesn’t—show
Bertinelli’s interview offers her account of a personal change in body image and food choices, shaped by emotional recovery and cooking. It does not establish that therapy, journaling, meditation, or any specific eating approach will work the same way for someone else. Nor does it report a study or population-level statistic about body shame or diet culture. Her experience is best understood as a personal story rather than a universal method.
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Read Liz McNeil’s PEOPLE interview with Valerie Bertinelli, republished by Yahoo on April 2, 2024.
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