The RHONJ alum admits she continues to struggle with old eating habits, but is taking steps toward “food freedom.”
Jackie Goldschneider is getting real about her road to recovery.
Since joining the Bravo-verse in 2018, The Real Housewives of New Jersey alum has been quite open about her years-long battle with anorexia. Although she’s made huge strides to combat the eating disorder, Jackie admitted she had yet to conquer a longstanding fear of certain foods; however, she was pushing herself to change all that.
The Jersey mom revealed her next steps in a March 31 Instagram video she shared just minutes before boarding a flight to Italy. Jackie said the family vacation was significant because it would mark a major milestone in her recovery.
Jackie Goldschneider says she’s “ready to start making changes”
“Back when I decided to recover from anorexia, I was really intent on getting over all of the things that were, you know, typical textbook anorexia (habits) that were keeping me super unhealthy and making me sick,” she said. “And I did and I’ve come really far. I don’t do any of that kind of stuff anymore. But I don’t let myself eat certain foods.”
She continued: “It’s just certain things I can’t get past — foods that I’ve labeled ‘bad’ in my head for 30 years, and now I just can’t bring myself to eat them. And one of those things is pizza. So, why am I telling you this? Because I’m ready to start making changes.”
Jackie Goldschneider reveals her next big “goal” in her recovery journey
Jackie said she wanted to use the Italian trip to fulfill an old promise to herself: eat her first slice of pizza in nearly three decades.
“I realized how restricted I still am. Even though I’m not anorexic anymore, I still don’t have food freedom,” she admitted. “I’m always looking at what’s healthiest or what’s lightest. And I’ve always promised myself that if I ever went back to Italy — I’ve been there (before) but didn’t eat — if I ever went back to Italy, I would have my first slice of pizza in 26 years.”
The mother of four said she intended to eat the Italian staple during a lunch stop in Naples, but was very anxious about the big step.
“I gotta be honest, I am terrified,” she confessed. “I start to shut down around scary foods and I don’t even want them, but I do. I want pizza. I also need to stop hanging onto these stupid rules and habits, and I would love to take you guys along on the ride with me… I really hope that I can eat some really good Italian food on this trip without worrying. So that’s the goal.”
Jackie Goldschneider addresses her “fears around food”
Jackie chronicled her recovery in The Weight of Beautiful, a courageous and moving memoir she released in 2023. The former ’Wife spoke about the book during a September 2023 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, saying she was about “80 percent” recovered.
“The rest of it is not an eating disorder; it’s more like fears around food that I [have] to conquer,” she explained. “But, I’m really almost all the way there, and it’s life-changing. It’s amazing.”
