Valerie Bertinelli on Using Food as a ‘Numbing Agent’ for Depression
We all love Valerie Bertinelli, right?!
The Golden Globe winner recently opened up on the Today show to explain how she is working to improve her attitude toward wellness by sharing her history of emotional eating.
“People may see me all the time on television and I’m always smiling, but then as soon as the camera goes off and I go home, this sadness wells up again,” she said. “I use food as a way to not feel the sadness.”
The One Day at a Time and Hot in Cleveland star added that at one point in her life she turned to food to avoid dealing with the grief over losing her mom last year.
“I don’t want to get through the hard times by eating it away anymore. I want to get through the hard times by leaning on people,” she said. “I need to feel the feelings and get to the other side and not use food to suppress the feelings.”
She added, “By eating something away, all it does is make me feel worse about myself … There’s a reason that I’ve gained weight and it’s emotional. This is just a symptom of how unhappy I’ve let myself feel and become.”
Thanks for being so candid as always, Valerie. We love you for it!