Jackie Goldschneider Ate Pizza for the First Time Since 1998: 'It Was Pretty Damn Good'

The 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star has struggled with an eating disorder for nearly two decades and is enjoying more foods amid anorexia recovery

• Jackie Goldschneider has struggled with anorexia for 18 years and has been vocal about her eating disorder recovery

• The Real Housewives of New Jersey star said she had her first slice of pizza since 1998

• The 47-year-old said she has a fear of gaining weight but it doing better at eating “freely”

Jackie Goldschneider is enjoying pizza again after struggling with an eating disorder for nearly two decades.

In the May 5 episode of her Two Jersey Js podcast with her Real Housewives of New Jersey costar Jennifer Fessler, the 47-year-old opened up about trying pizza for the first time in 26 years.

“I was anorexic for 18 years. And even though I recovered, I still had a lot of disordered eating. So not an eating disorder, but disordered eating where I was afraid of a lot of foods,” she explained. “So I was eating enough calories and I was eating real foods, but I was still scared of a lot of foods. And right at the very tip top of that list was pizza. I have not had pizza since 1998.”

Goldschneider said she decided to have her first slice of pizza during a trip to Rome alongside her family. She shared that her kids —  twins Jonas and Adin, 15, and twins Alexis and Hudson, 13 — were really supportive of the moment, joking that Hudson teased her for filming it.

“I've taken them for pizza a million times and never had it with them,” she said. “Jonas and I shared one, and it was great. I really ate out of my comfort zone in Italy, and it was great. A little scary for me.”

“I do have this fear,” she continued. “Listen, I have a fear regularly of gaining weight, but with everyone around me so thin right now, it's compounded. But it didn't hold me back and I ate very freely and it was wonderful… It was pretty damn good.”

Related: 'RHONJ' 's Jackie Goldschneider Criticizes Weight Loss Trend of Misusing Ozempic: 'Eating Disorder in a Needle'

Goldschneider, who detailed her lengthy battle with anorexia in her recent memoir The Weight of Beautiful, spoke to PageSix in September 2023 about her eating disorder recovery.

The reality star admitted that the turning point in her health journey was in 2021 when a debilitating bout of tendonitis left her on the floor of her basement gym during her daily run on the treadmill.

“I had this moment on the floor where my body was in so much pain and I had been starving myself,” she explained. “A few days before I fell, I was at the supermarket and I saw an old lady looking at the calories on the back of a frozen meal and I said, ‘That’s going to be me.’

“I had my moment on the floor and I thought about that woman. I realized that I’d be doing this until the day I died if I didn’t stop,” she continued. “In that moment, I just decided to start recovery.”

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Goldschneider told the outlet that filming “New Jersey Housewives essentially saved my life” because it held her more accountable when it came to her recovery. She recalled filming her meeting at Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders, where she was told that without proper help from medical professionals, she could lose her life.

“[I was told that] starting to eat again can make your blood circulate so much faster that you are at risk of a heart attack,” she said. “I’m lucky to be alive. I could’ve died and that really scared me.”

At the time, Goldschneider said she’s doing much better thanks to her consistent work with a therapist and dietician as she learns to love her body.

“I would say I’m about 80 percent recovered,” she said. “I still have a lot of fears around foods that I, for 20 years, labeled as ‘bad.’ I still get nervous sometimes about gaining more weight than I’ve already gained because I’m comfortable with where I’m at.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with  an eating disorder, please go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.

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