The IFS Eating Cycle
Extreme polarizations around food exist inside of us and outside of us in the nutrition space. I created the IFS Eating Cycle based off of IFS trainer Cece Sykes’ addiction triangle. My goal is to illustrate what is happening with our extreme parts and bring balance to the intense polarizations around food.
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You can start from anywhere on the triangle. The intuitive eating world believes the cycle starts with restriction. The food addiction world believes the cycle starts with overeating. In IFS, we believe it all starts with the exiles, our young wounded parts carrying burdens of shame and unworthiness.
Many of us turned to food at a young age as an accessible form of comfort. As we grew up and were exposed to cultural messages around food and weight, we developed managers who tried to control food and criticize us. This might have led to yo-yo dieting and increased feelings of shame and unworthiness.
We see this polarization in the outer nutrition space as well. Diet culture’s excessive focus on food and body backlashed to intuitive eating’s rejection of all food rules. “Eat whatever you want, there are no bad food,” dietitians say (some funded by the food industry). While intuitive eating has many valuable components, like listening to our hunger and fullness cues, it ignores the influence of food companies that engineer ultra-processed foods to be addictive. In fact, the founders of intuitive eating say food addiction doesn’t exist!
The food addiction world tends to be manager-led, encouraging food plans and abstinence from sugar and ultra-processed foods. They sometimes shame the bingeing part, calling it the “addictive voice” that "feeds us lies." The intuitive eating/eating disorder (ED) world does the exact same thing to the restricting part. As written in PsychCentral, “The ED voice is a liar. And, while you might still hear it talking, you don’t have to listen to it, and you can tell it to shut up."
IFS offers a different approach. We don’t shame parts or try to get rid of them—we know they are just stuck in extreme roles due to pain. After accessing our calm, core Self (that everyone has), we listen to our parts with compassion and appreciate their positive intentions. With a newfound perspective of the cycle, we replace inner warfare with curiosity and acceptance. Our parts relax and return to their naturally valuable roles in the system, as we heal on a personal and societal level.
Here is a simpler triangle if it is helpful. I took out the manager/firefighter language because it's not perfect!
As Dr. David Wiss says (quoting George Box), “All models are wrong, some are useful.”
Our infinite, nuanced human experience can never be captured in a single model—they all just point to some truths. Still, I hope the IFS Eating Cycle brings some perspective and understanding to the intense polarizations around food, helping us heal inside and out.
I'd love to hear your feedback!
A Simplified Version
To hear more about my health philosophy, check out this podcast where I discuss food addiction, intuitive eating, continuous glucose monitoring and mind-body healing.