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Valerie Bertinelli shared her struggles with maintaining sobriety while dealing with intense emotions.
The former Food Network star, aged 65, has been sober since January 2024, and recently took to Instagram to discuss her battle against the urge to drink during a challenging period in her life.
“I’ve been facing some really strong, uncomfortable, sad, emotionally excruciating feelings over the past few days, and I feel the desire to drink. I want to numb it. I don’t want to experience it,” Bertinelli confessed.
She continued, “But my rational mind tells me, ‘No, you shouldn’t do that. Numbing it is not the solution. What will truly help you is to embrace the feelings, endure them, and come out on the other side. Have a good cry.’ However, I find it hard to cry.”
The “One Day at a Time” alum also revealed her struggles with refraining from unhealthy eating habits while navigating her emotions. In recent years, Bertinelli has been open about her health journey and her decision to stop obsessing over her weight.
“I also feel the urge to eat my feelings away,” she stated. “I crave things that won’t necessarily provide the necessary nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein that my body needs. I simply want to numb these upsetting feelings.”
“So you know what I’m going to do?” Bertinelli shared with her followers in another clip. “I’m going to slice a watermelon because I absolutely love watermelon.”
“It’s watermelon season, and indulging in watermelon will lift my spirits, but it won’t numb my emotions,” she added tearfully.
The two-time Emmy Award winner then proceeded to demonstrate slicing a watermelon in a video.
“Join me in slicing this watermelon, okay?” Bertinelli encouraged her fans. “We’ll enjoy the watermelon, but without overindulging to suppress our feelings.”
“As I slice the watermelon, I’ll face my emotions,” she added humorously.
In a subsequent video, Bertinelli broke down in tears while cutting the watermelon.
“It’s going to taste amazing,” she said, displaying the halved watermelon. “This is my favorite time of the year. It’s watermelon season.”
Bertinelli stressed the significance of addressing painful emotions in another clip.
“I have these emotions,” she stated. “I won’t delve into why I have them or where they originated from, but I do want to discuss emotions and how suppressing or numbing them only amplifies their intensity.”
“Numbing them doesn’t make us feel better about ourselves,” she continued. “In fact, it leads to feeling regretful about the actions taken to numb the emotions. This adds to any existing shame we may have regarding those emotions. And we certainly don’t want that. We just want to acknowledge our emotions. If we’re sad, we simply want to feel sad.”
Bertinelli expressed how consuming healthy foods like watermelon brings her joy.
“Eating watermelon brings happiness because it’s delicious and packed with vitamins, water, fiber, and minerals,” Bertinelli explained.
“And I’m not numbing my emotions,” she stated through tears. “I know that I’m sad, and it’s just a passing feeling. Because I’m resilient and strong. I’m simply feeling sad at this moment, and I’ll overcome it, just like you can. We don’t need alcohol or food to numb emotions. We need to acknowledge and experience these emotions so they feel validated.”
“Emotions provide valuable insights,” Bertinelli continued in her final video of the series.
“So, whenever I feel the urge to wallow in sadness, which I want to avoid, I’ll have a bite of watermelon and ask my emotions what they want to convey,” she explained while holding a container of sliced watermelon.
“Hope you found this useful,” the actress concluded with a smile.
Bertinelli reiterated her message in the post’s caption, encouraging readers to embrace their emotions, avoid numbing them, and seek understanding from their feelings.
In a subsequent update, Bertinelli expressed gratitude to her followers for their support and shared a more positive outlook. She appreciated the sense of community and connection that emerged from fans sharing their own stories in the comments.
“I’m always amazed by the incredible people out there and how they support each other,” the TV personality said appreciatively. “Thank you for being a part of this journey together.”
“Feeling not alone in experiencing certain emotions is truly uplifting,” she continued.
“I ended up finishing the entire watermelon that day, and I don’t feel ashamed,” Bertinelli added with a chuckle. “Because I allowed myself to experience all my emotions. I navigated through them and came out in a better place. I’m filled with gratitude.”
“To those who were offended, you have the choice to ignore my videos and comments. It’s okay if I’m not part of your world. But to everyone else, thank you. I appreciate our collective journey,” she concluded.
