A bit of an issue here that comes up quite frequently. I’ve been doing 16:8 along with tracking my calories and doing IIFYM. It works like a charm for losing weight. Especially when I plan out my meals.
But sometimes, I end up in a social situation where I can’t eat my own pre-cooked meals. My friends will offer me food that I didn’t plan to eat that day. Like I’ll be hanging out, and my friends will order a pizza. Or they’ll cook some enchiladas. Something like that. I’m kind of freaked out because I didn’t plan for that food on that day.
Is the only solution to turn them down for the rest of my life, and only eat stuff that I’ve prepared so that I know the exact calories and macros? I am not very satisfied with that solution at all.
Solutions I thought of are to estimate the calories of the food and work it into my macros, or if I end up going over just eat less/move more the next day. If I know an event is coming up, I could eat less the day before. Or if I can, even just work it into my macros. That way, I could have a very FLEXIBLE yet foolproof plan that I can stick to no matter what comes up: and I could live my life and be happy while still achieving my physique goals. I’m thinking that being flexible with your diet and eating less before or after whatever comes up is the only way to do it. Imo, flexible dieting is the way to go.
But these are just my thoughts, I’d like to know what you all think. Do you have any strategies or tips?
If “sometimes” is every couple weeks or so, then just have their food and guesstimate the calories. Long term, these meals wont matter. Just keep to your plan on the other days.
If “sometimes” is weekly or more often, then either tell them it’s not in your best interest to eat like that, or find ways to excuse yourself. If these wont work, then guesstimate the calories, and cut down your own meal’s calories to compensate.
And you don’t have to eat a lot of everything they get for you. Your caloric intake is entirely your choice.