Valerie Bertinelli -- who recently dropped 50 pounds from her 5-foot-4 frame -- has discovered the secret to staying thin.

"I've realized I'm more important than food is. I love a big slice of pizza. But I love myself more," the Jenny Craig spokeswoman tells the November issue of Ladies' Home Journal.

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"Being thin is about changing the way you think about yourself," says Bertinelli, 49.  It's about saying you deserve to be healthy."

Still, she admits, "In no way have I perfected this eating thing and I don't know that I ever will."

She's OK with that.

"Life is about making progress," she says. "It's not about perfection."

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Bertinelli says she used to have a love-hate relationship with her closet.

"For years I hated all my clothes and how I looked in them, and I hated myself for it," admits the actress. "Now it's my inspiration cabinet. I look in here and everything fits. It's kind of a miracle."

Now she loves showing off her body.

"I'm almost 50 and I haven't felt this good about myself since I was 16," she says.

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