It has been nearly a 12 months since Valerie Bertinelli had a sip of alcohol, and he or she says she’s happier than ever.
Whereas on the inaugural Food & Wine Classic in Charleston on Sept. 28, the newest member of The Drew Barrymore Show‘s roster of specialists shared an enormous motivator when she determined to stop drinking alcohol 8 months ago.
“I really assume lots of it has to do with getting older,” Bertinelli, 64, tells PEOPLE. “I believe the older you get, the much less you actually wish to actually be placing that in your physique. I imply, anyone can do regardless of the heck they need, however I really feel higher.”
Now that a number of months have handed since she gave up alcohol, Bertinelli says she not often craves a glass of wine or drink anymore.
“I do not miss it as a result of I do not miss the way it really made me really feel both after having it or the following day,” says Bertinelli.
In early September, PEOPLE exclusively announced the previous Meals Community star is the newest “Drew Crew” member, and can make common appearances on Barrymore’s present on completely different life-style segments. Her favorites to this point have been those surrounding wellness.
“Drew tackles topics that I want I had heard about 10 years in the past, like menopause alone,” she says. “She tackles topics that not lots of people do, and he or she does it with such grace and such vulnerability and authenticity to her and that every one of us can relate to. I really like being there.”
Opening up so candidly on the speak present, she says, has helped inform her about her personal experiences with menopause.
“I really like with the ability to speak about it as a result of issues are occurring to my physique. I ask my physician however he is simply, like, ‘I do not know,’” she says. “So it is enjoyable to speak to different ladies which can be going via the identical factor and we are able to relate and we are able to say, ‘Oh my God, [I] do not feel alone.’”
On the Meals & Wine Traditional in Charleston, fellow Drew Crew workforce member Ross Mathews additionally caught up with PEOPLE — and revealed he’s elated to have Bertinelli be a part of him on the present.
“She’s been household for me for a very long time,” says Mathews, 45. “I’ve identified her. However the second she walked into our studio, it was like, ‘Welcome house.’ Everyone felt it, and it simply made a lot sense.”
Earlier this summer season, the Sizzling in Cleveland alum opened as much as PEOPLE about her alcohol-free journey and the noticeable adjustments it’s dropped at her on a regular basis life.
“Even with life struggles and the way life might be difficult, I discover that it’s simpler to get myself clearer sooner, about what I have to do and caring for my life,” she stated. “I really feel good once I get up within the morning. I am not groggy. I am not drained. I am not: ‘What did I do final evening?’”
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Bertinelli stated she considers herself “one of many fortunate ones.”
“I do not assume I ever actually had an issue [with alcohol] and that is why it was a bit, I do not wish to say straightforward, however it was a better path for me to begin with dry January,” she stated, including. “After which go, ‘Nicely, I am midway via February, now I’d as effectively simply preserve going.’ And now for me, I form of make a recreation of it.”
The Meals & Wine Traditional in Charleston is happening now September 27-29.