Valerie Bertinelli Abused Cocaine to Lose Weight: What You Should Know

Why Abusing Drugs to Lose Weight is a Bad, Bad Idea, as Bertinelli Reveals

Jenny Craig spokeswoman Valerie Bertinelli admits in her new book, Losing It: And Gaining Back My Life Back One Pound at a Time, that she cheated on ex-husband Eddie Van Halen and abused cocaine. She talked about her pain with Oprah Winfrey on February 25. She admits that she had severe body issues stemming from childhood, turning to food for comfort.

Becoming a Jenny Craig spokeswoman turned her life around. Cocaine use was involved in her desire to maintain her weight, and many girls use dangerous drugs to maintain their own weight. She spiraled down into Hell the same way so many of us, you and me included, abused drugs to maintain an unattainable figure. This is how it all spiraled down.

Valerie Bertinelli not Innocent Girl Next Door

Bertinelli admits she first tried cocaine with Mackenzie Phillips, co-star in her hit TV show, One Day at a Time. Bertinelli was a teenager at the time but didn't get addicted until she met Eddie Van Halen. She married Van Halen when she was only 20 years old.

Bertinelli admits this in her book, provided by Today:

"The priest we tapped to perform the ceremony gave us questionnaires so he could get to know us better and offer more personal words. As we filled out the forms at home, we each held a little vial of coke."

Bertinelli says that she used cocaine to control her weight, along with fitting in with husband Eddie Van Halen. Even after Bertinelli gave up drugs, her husband couldn't fight it off. Eventually they both cheated on each other, although Van Halen claims she was first. Bertinelli admits to kissing another woman. They separated in 2001 and divorced last year.

Bertinelli is compared to Lindsay Lohan for her use of drugs, including cocaine. Unlike Lohan, Bertinelli hid her problems by doing it privately, like the rest of us. We don't have paparazzi constantly swarming our daily lives, but we deal with the same problems as Bertinelli: not accepting our bodies, doing drugs to slim down, and doing foolish things because of our insecurity. I've been there also, although not with illegal drugs, and I had a friend who abused drugs to lose weight. She died 5 years ago.