Since joining Real Housewives of New Jersey, Jackie Goldschneider has openly discussed her struggles with anorexia, and she still continues to struggle in her fourth season. In one episode, she emotionally admitted that she needed help and sought treatment.
Jackie decided to fight her hidden battle with anorexia and allowed Bravo cameras into a therapy session on a recent episode of RHONJ.
This week, her hard work started to pay off when she took her kids out for ice cream and enjoyed eating with them – something she had not done in 18 years. The Bravo universe responded and shared how proud of Jackie they are.
Jackie Goldschneider compared eating ice cream to ‘walking off a cliff’
“Tonight’s episode marked the beginning of my recovery from an 18 year-long eating disorder that took over my mind, my body and my life,” she wrote on Instagram ahead of the show. “18 years of dangerous habits, secretive behaviors and obsessive eating and exercise patterns that I was terrified to let go of, because I wrapped so much of my identity around being thin.”
“I was ashamed of my behavior around food and scared that people wouldn’t understand why or how I could do this to myself,” she continued. “I also didn’t know how to get help, as a middle-aged woman with 4 young children.”
When she spoke to her therapist, Jackie revealed her fear is that if she puts on weight, Evan will stop loving and embracing her. She admits that her eating disorder has affected her four kids – twins Jonas and Adin, 13, and twins Alexis and Hudson, 11 – telling her therapist that whenever she takes them out for ice cream, she never gets any for herself.
In an emotional scene from this Tuesday’s episode, she makes good on a promise she made herself and enjoys ice cream with her kids.
Fans showed Jackie support in the comments.
Jackie said she is out of the danger zone in her recovery
The attorney and blogger exclusively told PageSix last week, “I’m about six or seven months really in [recovery] now. I have expanded to a team, instead of just the one therapist. So I speak to my therapist twice a week, I speak to a medical nutritionist once a week and I have a women’s wellness physician.”
She happily said, “I’m learning how to eat normally and intuitively, and I’ve put on weight,” though she does not know how many pounds she has gained because she is “not allowed to get on the scale.”
The “danger zone” Jackie referred to included decreased organ function, a heart that was not working at full capacity, and issues with blood pressure, estrogen levels, and iron levels. She also previously experienced temperature regulation issues and was always cold because she wasn’t consuming enough calories.
Jackie appears to be in a much better place, and her fans are thrilled about her journey!
Contact the National Eating Disorders Association Helpline at (800) 931-2237 for support, resources, and treatment options for yourself or a loved one struggling with an eating disorder.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.