Valerie Bertinelli says posing nude for the cover of Getting Naked, her new book, "feels better" than her famous 2009 green bikini cover of PEOPLE.
NEED TO KNOW
She calls her new book cover "my stupid bright idea" but also says she had fun doing it.
"I've got this weird quirk that if I'm afraid of something I'm going to walk right through it. And I did," Bertinelli says.
Valerie Bertinellicalls posing nude for the cover of her new bookGetting Naked"my stupid bright idea," but she admits, it was also kinda fun.
"Because getting naked emotionally was the most important part of the book, I thought 'Well, I might as well expose myself there too,'" the star tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story.
"Part of me also feels like at this age, if I can look good, do it," she laughs. "And I don't know what I'm going to look like when I'm 80 but at 65 it looks pretty f---ing good. I think you're allowed to feel good about yourself. I have felt bad about myself for too many decades. I'm going to feel good about myself now."
It's a new freedom for Bertinelli, a world away from her famous 2009 bikini photo after she lost some 40 pounds via Nutri-System (she was then a spokesperson) and a much talked about PEOPLE cover.
"I was a good 20 pounds thinner and my body was definitely tighter but I think it felt better doing this," she says of her new book cover. "I'm never going to do it again but it was fun to try it once. I've got this weird quirk that if I'm afraid of something I'm going to walk right through it. And I did."
Advertisement
Her approach to exercise has also changed in recent years. "I'm trying to do some upper body exercise because my luggage is so heavy when put it it in the overhead compartment. (Especially with her frequent trips to New York as part of the "Drew Crew" onThe Drew Barrymore Show.) I don't want anybody to help me. So now I stretch or work out because I want to move differently, Not because I want to look differently."
Her honesty in recent years via social media about her struggle for self acceptance has forged a new connection with many of her fans. "I know it's too much for some people and that's okay," she says. "If I can help someone, isn't that what we're here to be? A community of people that helps each other and get through the hard stuff?"
That conversation also led to her launching a community of her own with her new digital platformValerie's Place. "It's an app you download," she explains. "You're going to get three cooking shows, a podcast, a book group. l'll do some live cooking shows. A lot of people can come onto my kitchen and cook with me because I've missed that a lot."
Take PEOPLE with you!Subscribe to PEOPLE magazineto get the latest details on celebrity news, exclusive royal updates, how-it-happened true crime stories and more — right to your mailbox.
Getting Nakedby Valerie Bertinelli comes out March 10 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
Read the original article onPeople