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

Valorie's books is more about how she "found it" than losing it. She tells her story in such a way that the reader "gets to know her" in some debth.

The pounds she lost restult in a gain for the reader.


Author of: Mr. NewHeart (New Heart): Heart Attack to Transplant and Beyond, the inspiring story of a 1991 heart transplant and how I "found it."

Find it @ lulu (dot) com/dshollar

Don't expect any weight-loss wisdom or even an extensive account of her own weight-loss journey (except for an obsessive tally of every time she gains or loses a few pounds). Do expect a LOT of cocaine snorting and 20 years of angst over her ill-considered marriage, not to mention a few really boneheaded parenting decisions. If that's your bag, go for it; if not, save your money,

I was curious about this book. I always thought of Valerie Bertinelli as the sweetheart married to Eddie Van Halen. I always liked her.

She's very candid in this book about things she's done, mistakes she's made, but interestingly, she doesn't blame anyone but herself. While many celebs are mentioned in this book, she's very kind to them all and I appreciated that. Lots of time is spent discussing her relationship with Eddie Van Halen. Honestly, never had an opinion on him, but amazingly, you walk away from the book respecting and liking the guy. (even with all of the issues that were discussed). I admire the fact that she was able to put all of her bitterness aside and accept things for what they were without blaming others.

I don't know that it was "inspirational", but it makes you think. Women have a tendency to have insecurities about themselves, whether they are warranted or not. No matter what size she was, she was always obsessing about it. Finding out what makes you happy as a person is what matters when being able to put those thoughts aside. She was able to do that.

Do I think it was a commercial for Jenny Craig? No way. That was only a small part of it. No diet in the world is going to help you unless you want to help yourself. She gets it.

The only downside is that I wish her political views were kept out of it, but that is part of who she is and the book is about her. Overall, it was a nice enjoyable listen, and I think the audiobook made it even more genuine hearing it with her voice telling the story. She's a great reader, though she does sometimes read a bit fast.

I grew up watching little "Barbara Cooper" on One Day at a Time like many did so I was looking forward to the read to get "the dish." Even when Valerie married Eddie (which seemed like such an odd couple to me back then) and got into the height of her weight insecurities, I still thought she was a perfect size. I wasn't a huge VH fan but my husband was and we both thought she gave good insight into what Eddie was thinking at different incarnations of the band. Even though the theme of weight/self esteem issues were found throughout, it wasn't overly done. For emotional eaters, we can relate. The only thing holding me back from giving it 5 stars is I wished she would've waited for a year after she got to her goal weight to write this. Sadly, we saw Kirstie reach her goal and then gained it back (or at least part of it). I would've liked to have seen how Valerie maintained it through the holidays and such since she stated in the book that is the hardest part for her is maintaining.

I grew up watching Valerie on TV and have always been a fan. When she married Eddie it was beyond cool to me because I was so into Van Halen. But, I found her book to be simplistic. It is an easy read, but it's not that interesting. She and Ed weren't doing anything that rest of us weren't doing during the '80's or doing now. I don't know, I just felt let down and am super glad that I got the book thru' the library.

Where people get off talking about how inspiring it was is beyond me. Why would wading through somebody's life that is so polluted with insecuritues be an inspiration to you?

The one burning question that I have pondered for years was answered in the book, however. I always wondered if Val and Ed had the same hairdresser considering throughout the '80's they always had the same hair style. Turns out I was right!

Other than that, I whizzed through the end of the book because I couldn't take her pity party about her weight, her lousy one-sided marriage or anything else any longer. I mean at one point she says she wished she could have won the lottery. PLEASE!!! Because the money those two had wasn't enough? Annoying!!