After Valerie Bertinelli shared a photo of herself on Instagram in just her underwear with a body-positive caption, she doesn’t give a damn about what people think.
In a later Instagram post, the 64-year-old celebrity chef and actor addressed some of the criticism of her underwear selfie, writing, “To all of you that would sit in judgment of my body, the photo, and my reason for posting it, I hope you find a place in your heart to not judge yourself as harshly as you judge others.”
“I have struggled with judgment all of my life, beginning as a young child. It has taken me a while to realize that the only judgment that matters is the one I make with patience and discernment.
“What you think of my body doesn’t matter to me. What you think of my posting about it is irrelevant to me,” she added.
“I love my body the way it is for the first time in my life. It’s unfortunate that I detested that lovely body, but it wasn’t the 20-year-old body that I detested. Although it was a very different body from the one I currently occupy, it had not yet undergone the necessary journey. Despite how difficult this journey has been and continues to be, I am thankful for it and wouldn’t trade this body for my 20-year-old body for anything. Never.”
She also expressed gratitude to those who had supported her earlier message of self-love.
“First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who connected with my previous post and understood what I was discussing—empowering ourselves to concentrate on our own self-acceptance and self-love. I recognize you. Together, we are in this,” she wrote.
Bertinelli had posted a selfie of herself in just her underwear on Instagram the day before, along with a reflection on how her body has changed.
She wrote as the photo’s caption, “I will talk about the madness my body has been through this year at some point.”
“But right now, sitting in front of a mirror in a hotel bathroom in downtown Manhattan, ready to color my roots late on a Monday night, makes every lump, wrinkle, and sagging part of me feel accepted and simply appreciated,” she added.
