Valerie Bertinelli Is Doing Dry January to 'Reset' After Being in 'Fight, Flight' Mode During Her Divorce
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Valerie Bertinelli is on the dry January bandwagon.
On Thursday, the Food Network star, 62, posted a video on her Instagram Story, explaining the two reasons why she chose to abstain from alcohol this month.
"I have decided to go dry January. I like it so far," she said. "I'm doing it for two reasons. One, I want to try and cut down the cravings for my sugar. And I think alcohol exacerbates that."
The second reason relates to the newly-divorced star's stress levels. "I want to calm down the cortisol in my body that has been raging for the last five, six years. I've been in fight, flight, freeze, fawn mode. And I want to go into rest and digest," she said. "I think cutting alcohol will help me do that."
In the video, the Hot in Cleveland star said she's been drinking less the past several months, so this is mainly about "resetting that fight, flight, freeze, fawn mode that I'm helping with mediation and with journaling, and I think with all that I may reset my whole body."
Valerie Bertinelli/Instagram
Adding a disclaimer that this is just her "theory" and that she's not a doctor, Bertinelli closed out the Story by saying she just wants to "reset and regulate" her nervous system.
"If you're doing a dry January, let's have fun. Let's do it together," she said. "If not, it's okay. It don't matter. You take care of yourself, I'll take care of me."
Bertinelli has been candid about the tough year she's had after splitting from her ex husband, Tom Vitale.
Most recently, she shared an Instagram post about why she's looking forward to the new year and saying goodbye to 2022.
"This new year's day is coming in so much happier than last year's," the mother of one wrote in an Instagram post, which featured a clip of her smiling and twirling to Taylor Swift's "Clean."
"From a young age, New Year's Day has been one of my absolute favorite days, for the last 5-6 years it's been one of the saddest. No more," she continued. "There is so much to look forward to now, when before it just looked endlessly sad, scary, lonely and stressful. I have no idea what's ahead for me and I'm not worried. I'm free. This new years day, 2023, is the first day of the rest of my life!"
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She concluded the post with a special message to her fans and followers: "I wish all of you every bit of joy and happiness and kindness that you claim. It's all yours. Grab it! ✨Happy New Year✨Love you 🤍."
In November, she shared on Twitter that she was celebrating what she called the "second best day of my life," when she became officially divorced from Vitale. The actress filed for divorce in May, six months after filing for legal separation in November 2021.
In a candid clip Bertinelli captured at an airport on the way to see her son — 31-year-old musician Wolfgang Van Halen — she revealed, "My lawyer just called. The papers are all signed. They're about to be filed."
Added Bertinelli: "On 11/22/22, I am officially f------ divorced. Happily divorced. Finally. It's finally over."
