Valerie Bertinelli, celebrity Jenny Craig spokesperson and recent loser of a whopping 40 pounds, has released a fitness DVD through Gaiam, showing that losing weight isn’t only about diet, but fitness, as well.

Valerie Bertinelli: Losing it and Keeping Fit contains two workouts designed to introduce you to the basics of exercise, and then how to ramp it up to really get results.

I was a little skeptical at first — I mean, sure, Valerie has had amazing weight loss success and is cute as a button, but what does she know about fitness?  Turns out, her real life trainer, Christopher Ross Lane, actually leads the workouts, while Valerie follows along and offers tips  she uses when she works out, plus a little entertainment value.

The DVD is funny to me as a personal trainer because you can totally tell that Ross Lane is her trainer in real life — he counts while he makes her do most of the exercises, and she light-heartedly complains about every exercise he makes her do — which is the perfect client to have: Always game for everything, but always gives a little bit of sass too.

Losing It:  Beginner Basics (level 1)
Duration: Approx 20 minutes
Intensity: 5-6 (on a scale of 1-10)
Equipment needed: none

This is the first workout on the DVD and is designed to introduce you to the basics of exercise. While there are no weights, and it’s comprised of relatively easy to perform exercises (squats, lunges, pushups, etc.) I was surprised that I was sweating a bit, and my butt was sore the next day. The routine was very fluid with very little instruction. It’s the perfect routine to use to fit in a quick workout when you are short on time, and, of course, to learn basic form for basic exercises.

Keeping Fit: Bikini Ready (level 2)
Duration: Approx 40 minutes
Intensity: 6-8 (on a scale of 1-10)
Equipment: Chair, light hand weights

The intensity on this one really depends on how hard you push it, which is, of course, true of all exercise. This routine delves a little deeper, exploring more intense and more complicated exercises including multi-joint movements. It also introduces a little bit of stability training and cardiovascular components. This routine will get your heart rate up, strength train your whole body and work your core at the same time.

In the end, after spending some time, and working out, I was pleasantly surprised with this DVD — it was more intense than I thought it would be, and had more credibility by the addition of Christopher, Valerie’s trainer.

Valerie Bertinelli: Losing it and Keeping Fit is available for purchase October 27, 2009. We are going to be giving away a few copies of this DVD on October 28th, so mark your calendars!