Does it feel like everything gets more intense during perimenopause and early menopause, especially food cravings and the need for edible emotional comfort?

My cravings for chocolate increased significantly in the past year, which is super ironic because my other perimenopause symptoms, especially anxiety and sleeping difficulty get really amped up when I try to pick myself up off the emotional floor with a tasty square or 4 of Theo’s dark chocolate.

A part of me really wants to eat the chocolate that I recently bought a whole stash of because it's on sale and it's my fav. I thought I'd be thrifty and stock up for seasonal baking. I love using chopped dark chocolate bars in my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

But another part of me says, "just finish it all right now you don't need to save any for cookies. That way you can get back on track tomorrow!"

It's common to think in parts like this. Part of you wants to do this, while part of you says you should/need to do that.

What you may not realize is this way of parts-thinking is called the Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) and was created by Richard C. Schwartz in the 1980s.

As an evidence-based model, IFS helps to explain why different parts of you tell you different stories about a situation - like eating chocolate. 

My guest, beautifully explains this model using her own personal experience of healing from years of disordered eating.

Agnis J Pena-Toro, MA is a trained psychotherapist and Body and Food Liberation coach and consultant.

Based on her own personal experience healing from decades of diet culture harm and her professional clinical experience working with Internal Family Systems, Agnis helps women discover how to live their lives without restricting food and forcing their bodies to look a certain way. 

Here's what you'll hear in our conversation:

Get show notes and resources at www.alpinenutrition.org/blog

Are your parts getting in the way of an unhealthy relationship with food? Take the quiz to find out!

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