Editorial Review
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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Customer Reviews
No longer a fan 
2008-07-16
I was a teen in the 70s when Bertinelli was on TV. We're the same age. I was a huge fan, but I'm sorry I chose to read her bio. Reading her disclosures of using some hard core drugs (for the day) while she was on her sitcom just burst the image that was shoved down our throats by the many interviews she gave to Seventeen magazine back in the day, portraying herself as a "good girl." Mackenzie Phillips got all the heat while on that show--but Bertinelli was just as guilty, though obviously more careful. It's hypocritical that she propagated the image of a good-girl while doing the sitcom when she was just as wild with drugs and sexually promiscuous as Phillips. You have to remember, the 1970s were still relatively tame for otherwise "normal" teens in the U.S., so I was taken aback at her hypocrisy without nary an apology for pulling the wool over fans' eyes.
The big turn off was her constant pontificating about her hatred for anyone who doesn't think like she does (and most of Hollywood), read: Republicans and moderates. It's either her liberal highway or nothing. Also, another hypocritical point is her constant harping about how great Jenny Craig is yet her own, bloated, overweight and really fat kid is allowed to play nothing but video games (that emulate his dad). And allowing him to go on tour at the age of 16 with his drug addled dad??? Bertinelli's parenting skills are non-existent when all she writes is that she cried buckets when she saw him off to travel the world with a has-been, drunken, drug-addicted, sexually debauched rock band.
Yeah, I'm glad I don't think like she does. Wirting a book that showcases just how out of touch and clueless she is is a fine way of showing the world her ignorance in thinking, period.
A great work of literature? No. Interesting and entertaining? Yes. 
2008-07-14
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.
Tell All Book 
2008-07-09
I passed this book up a couple times because I thought it was just a woman's book. I finally thought I would just give it a chance and am sure glad I did! Valerie really puts it all out there and holds nothing back. I was surprised at some of the things I found out and am sure you will be too. It's a good, fast read. Men and women will enjoy this book!
How can you not love Valerie? 2008-07-07
I have always been a fan of Valerie's. ODAAT was on when i was about 3 but I always caught it in reruns. Marrying Eddie certainly put her into a bigger spotlight and I began to relate to her. She is very frank about her weight, her marriage and her family. I have never thought she is fat and I was bummed at how hard on herself she was. But she is clearly in a better place now and seems like a wonderful mother. I gave the book to my mom after I read it and she also enjoyed it very much. I recommended the book to all my friends, you will finish it in a day like i did!
Just what I expected, and easy to read 
2008-07-05
I found Valerie's story to be refreshingly candid. As a long-time fan and someone who has also recently lost a significant amount of weight, I was very interested in her story. This is not a "how-to" weight loss book -- actually, she doesn't spend a lot of time on that issue. But it is an honest look back at her life and how she got to where she is now. Enjoyable read.
I had no idea! 2008-07-24
This book was a revealing look into the life of the "good girl" we grew up watching on TV. Valerie was very honest in telling us all about her life. I ended up liking her as a person and respecting her for what she has accomplished.
Will Date Faster than a Newspaper 
2008-07-23
Curiously, although the frequent swearing in this book didn't bother me, the dated, ugly slang did. This book will date faster than a newspaper.
The author doesn't visit a friend, she "hangs" with him. They don't go out to dinner, they "grab some food." She "freaks out" at "frickin'" things.
When she reproduces her conversations with others, people seldom say, "Okay." It's always, "Cool." She doesn't vow to stop blurting out stupid things; she vows to "get her act together."
Two hundred and seventy-seven pages later, the reader is left with the feeling of having spent an exhausting evening with the high school friend from the seventies who never moved out of her parents' house. I almost expected her to invite me into a linoleum-floored basement to smoke a joint and watch "SNL." (After all, she quotes Roseanne Roseannadanna.)
The other, more important flaw in the book is her tiresome insecurity. The predictability of her actions and reactions is set after the book's first chapter. She feels fat, she feels wrong, she feels undesirable, she feels - oy. Couldn't she lie about feeling good about something, just to break up the monotony of this book? When she claims that her legs are good-looking (but only from the knees down, of course), it's too little, too late.
Good grief, the woman even feels wrong about how she feels about her feelings! She seems to have written this book to inspire people, but the reader wonders, inspire them to do what? Second-guess their every word and thought, and expect a round of applause for it?
Worst, nothing really happens in this book. Her husband's addictions make his behavior predictable and redundant: using, treatment, sober, relapse. And I cannot conjure a single memory of the twenty-plus TV movies she describes making. Her description of location shoots are deadly: She rides stationary bikes in hotel rooms.
It's a snooze, filled with lengthy descriptions of nothing in particular and slang so dated I suspect Tony Orlando edited the book.
Not very inspiring 2008-07-21
Poor little Valerie. I bought this book because I thought it would help be an inspiration to my daughter for loosing weight. Most people who have a weight problem would consider themselves lucky if they weighed 134 pounds! But Valerie made it sound like it was the end of the world. Yes, I'm sure that this would be a problem for an actress, but I don't think Valerie has a clue about what "normal" people go through in their challenge to loose weight. I found the rest of the book boring - I usually give a book 150 pages, if I still don't like it by then I close it and put in the pile to give away. I found that I couldn't wait to get to page 150 on this one!
"Gaining My Life Back?" Back from what? 2008-07-20
I'm trying to decide whether I'm less for today's in-your-face paparazzi-pushing, lifestyles of the teen and tarty, or the ways of the '70s and '80s, when the only info fans were privy to was in the pages of "Teen Beat" and "16" magazines. Well, that and the picture painted by the PR machines promoting their stars the way they wanted them perceived, giving the public an untrue view of who they really were. (Remember, this was before cable programming, when TV shows were highly promoted by network talk shows and in the press, and before we got a lot of the behind-the-scenes paparazzi shots and TMZ videos of our faves partying at all hours.)
I was a huge fan of "One Day at a Time"--and Valerie Bertinelli was my favorite actor on the show. I could relate to her--Italian descent, cute but not beautiful, good-girl image, who married young and in love. At least that was my perception and the image the public was given of Valerie at the time. But this book by her is a bit disconcerting and gives us the true story of Valerie, her not-so-squeaky-clean ways and her rocky and rolly marriage to Eddie Van Halen. If you're looking for a light read, this book is perfect. Nothing too in-depth, not a lot of soul searching going on here. It is a wonderful piece of public relations for Jenny Craig, however. I would have liked to see a little more introspection. Bertinelli is not well educated although she is no dummy, but this book reads like not a whole lot more than a diary of this happened, then that happened, and then the other thing, oh, and I gained weight, without much deep thought. I don't agree with many of her decisions--the drinking and drugging and infidelity that came before her son was born is sad, but not all that difficult to understand given the Hollywood and rocker lifestyle, but some of her decisions post-Wolfie are perplexing, such as why she would leave her son with her drugging and drinking husband while she is in another state for months at a time. She found cocaine in Van Halen's wallet, transported on a flight he took with the boy to visit Bertinelli, but she doesn't confront him here. She is upset personally that he would do such a thing and put her son in danger, but she slips the packet back in the wallet--and Ed and Wolfie go on their merry way back to LA. Huh? She overly obsesses about gaining a couple pounds, but is able to look the other way when she knows her husband is putting her son's life at risk.
I suppose the moral of this story is that each of us has control of our own bodies and lives, and we are in the position to change what is wrong or go on living the way that makes us miserable. Not an uncommon premise for a celebrity book.
America's sweetheart 2008-07-19
LOSING IT: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time by Valerie Anne Bertinelli is a captivating memoir of her life as a child star, marriage to a rock & roll legend, and life in California. Many people know her as the spokesperson for a weight loss company, but she first became popular as Barbara Cooper, the younger daughter, on the great TV show One Day at a Time - The Complete First Season when she was fifteen. MacKenzie Phillips from American Graffiti (Collector's Edition) played the other daughter Julie, and the juxtaposition of the very different personalities made for a realistic, interesting show. Later, after a few Hollywood dalliances, Valerie married Eddie Van Halen when she was twenty, and began a fast-paced, hectic life on the road with the band.
Throughout her life, she has struggled with self-esteem issues and weight fluctuations. Reading her memoirs is like being with an old friend who you really want to see succeed. It's nice to see her get it together.
Charlie Z
July 18, 2008
