Valerie Bertinelli: How I maintain my 40-pound weight loss at age 50 (photos)

Valerie Bertinelli, who lost an amazing 40 pounds in 2009, is keeping the weight off
by working out regularly and exercising portion control. (Photo/Prevention)

Actress Valerie Bertinelli, who lost a stunning 40 pounds in 2009 and wore a bikini on the cover of People magazine at age 49, says maintaining the weight loss is a matter of staying active and not overeating.

PORTION CONTROL

“It’s really about portion control," Valerie says in the September 2010 issue of Prevention. "You can have anything you want if you don’t eat the whole thing."

Bertinelli, 50, now looks slimmer than she has in years, and is in the best physical condition of her life.

In April 2010 (just 4 days before she turned 50), Valerie ran the grueling 26.2-mile Boston Marathon -- a feat for anyone, let alone someone who battled weight issues and eating disorders her entire adult life.

Now, as Bertinelli prepares to marry longtime boyfriend Tom Vitale, she admits staying thin is still a struggle, but one she happily embraces now as she's getting older.

'AGE IS JUST A NUMBER'

“For me [50] is just another age, just another number," she says. "I’m still kicking, my heart’s still beating, my lungs are still breathing, so that’s good.” What scared her the most was being photographed in a bikini on the cover of a magazine. [see slideshow below]

When Bertinelli posed for the People bikini cover shot in April 2009, she was terrified because she hadn't worn a bikini in 30 years. She recalls: "I thought, Am I really going to do this? Can I pull this off? What am I so afraid of? Come on, it's just a bathing suit!"

Valerie, who slimmed down from 172 pounds to 132 pounds in nine months by following the Jenny Craig diet and walking daily, lost the last few stubborn pounds by running five days a week and cutting her caloric intake from 1,700 to 1,200.

'MY SEX LIFE WAS GOOD EVEN WHEN I WAS BIG'

Now that Bertinelli is in maintenance mode, she can be a little more liberal with her diet, but admits she'll always "have to stay vigilant" to keep the weight from creeping back on. She stays fit by eating low-fat fare such as grilled chicken, veggies and turkey meatballs and working out regularly.

Her fiance, financial planner Tom Vitale, 48, also lost 31 pounds. But Valerie says he always loved her the same -- fat or thin.

"[Our sex life] was pretty good even when I was big," says the Hot in Cleveland star. "Tom likes me at any size. I'm lucky that way."

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