Just one year ago, Valerie unveiled a new milestone in her weight-loss journey: After losing 40 pounds with Jenny Craig, she decided to don a bikini for a national commercial and photo shoot.

As with her commitment to weight loss, getting in shape for the bikini was a serious undertaking – so she enlisted a coach in personal trainer, Christopher Ross Lane.

“I met Valerie in November 2008 at Maria Shriver’s women’s conference,” Christopher recalled. “At the time, they were talking about the concept of a bikini. The first goal was to see if we worked well with each other. We knew would be successful after she felt like she could trust me. We really clicked and that’s when we committed to the bikini.”

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Understanding that the camera can add up to 10 pounds, Valerie worked with her Jenny Craig consultant, Kathy, on her menu and with Christopher on her fitness. Valerie did her homework – following each of Christopher’s workouts to the letter. Having such a goal-oriented client helped Christopher get her ready for the photo shoot in just a few months.

“My ‘proud papa’ moment came when I was in Palm Springs for the bikini shoot – I was like one of those overzealous sports parents,” Christopher recalled. “To see her come out of the dressing room with such confidence. I was so proud of her. This is a woman that’s been empowered by Jenny Craig, and now she felt empowered by her own strong, fit body. She looked fantastic.”

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Valerie’s fiancé Tom Vitale shared Christopher’s pride in Valerie’s transformed body.

“She just looked so confident and beautiful – but there was zero cockiness about her. She stood up straight and just felt great about the way she looked – and still looks, I might add.”

After the initial rush of seeing his gal’s new bikini body, Tom wanted to help Valerie have a successful commercial shoot – a daunting task, given that she had to fall backwards into a swimming pool in full hair and make up.

“The first shot, you could see her grit her teeth a little bit before she hit the water, so they had to re-shoot it,” Tom recalled. “So I told her, ‘You’re going to have to commit to this and fall in like it’s the Iron Cross in the Olympics, and you’d better smile all the way down.’ She really busted me on that one, saying ‘Oh, so you think you’re a director now?’”

“But she got it on the second take,” Tom said. “She didn’t even wince and she was smiling all the way.”

Check out these behind-the-scenes videos of the “Diving In” commercials from Jenny Craig to see a very special “work day” for Valerie.

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