Why Food Network’s Valerie Bertinelli Quit Drinking: ‘So Much Sadness in My Life’
By Movieguide® Contributor
After Food Network star Valerie Bertinelli got a divorce, she numbed her feelings with alcohol, but then she figured out that it was only prolonging her pain.
“I was still going through a lot of crap, and I knew that I wanted to be on the road of intentionally finding my core happiness,” Bertinelli, 63, said in 2022.
Fox News reported, “Food and alcohol were in her ‘toolkit for soothing and ignoring…that I shouldn’t be soothing and ignoring.’’
She realized that alcohol’s effects weren’t permanent and only made her feel sadder.
“I would go out and have a fun time, drink, and the next day, I’d be so sad,” she told PEOPLE. “Because there was so much sadness in my life, and alcohol amplified it. I think it’s important to really not numb emotional pain.”
“Emotions are information,” she said. “When I decided to really question why I was having a certain emotion, I was able to — most of the time — walk through it and get to the other side. I’m actually shocked at how hard it’s not [hard to give up]. Because for a long time, I leaned on it. Right now, I love how I feel more than how the alcohol makes me feel.”
And right now, she feels great.
“I don’t need anything to amplify my happiness right now,” Bertinelli told PEOPLE. “I feel high just on life. I recently went out to dinner with a friend, and I had ginger ale in a wine glass. And it felt like I was celebrating.”
“While Bertinelli, who recently released her new cookbook ‘Indulge,’ admitted that she hasn’t fully committed to giving up alcohol for the rest of her life, it’s working for her right now,” Fox News reported.
In January 2023, Bertinelli participated in Dry January and gave up alcohol for the whole month.
“I have decided to go Dry January. I like it so far,” Bertinelli said. “I’m doing it for two reasons. One, I want to try and cut down the cravings for my sugar. And I think alcohol exacerbates that.”
Secondly, she said, “I want to calm down the cortisol in my body that has been raging for the last five, six years. I’ve been in fight, flight, freeze, fawn mode. And I want to go into rest and digest,” she shared. “I think cutting alcohol will help me do that.”
After she tried it, she revealed she got a “nice little side effect.” She lost weight and went down a whole pant size.
“I want to be clear that this process has taken a long time,” Bertinelli said. “I got more intentional about my healing. That meant a lot of walks with [my dog] Luna, a lot of therapy sessions, a lot of learning that I deserve to feel good.”
“First came the work,” she said. “Why I thought I didn’t deserve to be loved. Why I was using food to numb my feelings.”
In January, Bertinelli got the news she wouldn’t continue as a judge on KIDS BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP. Movieguide® reported:
“I’ve been avoiding facing what I got confirmation for last night, and I didn’t want to talk about it last night. I wanted to sleep on it because it hurt my feelings,” Bertinelli said. “And I know that it’s not supposed to logically, I know that it’s business. Budget cuts, right? But it really hurt my feelings to know that I’m not going to be asked back…it really sucks.”
She explained that what is currently broadcasting was filmed two years ago.
“The episodes that are airing now, I shot back in the summer of 2022, which was my apex year of hell,” Bertinelli continued. “Without sounding like a drama queen, the show saved my life. It’s just [that] working with all of those really wonderful people and feeling productive, and knowing I could spread some kindness…it helped me. It was like a flotation device. So, it really hurts that I won’t be able to go back and see everybody and say, ‘Hey, I made it through.’”
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