Basically the question, I usually do 16:8 and OMAD 1-2 days a week. I mostly don’t eat and start fasting after 7 pm. On weekdays it’s fine since I am working and won’t go out much but weekends it’s tricky as I hangout with multiple sets of friends at bars or restaurants after 8-9 pm.
Last night I just sat there with my friends at a bar while they got beers and I sat there with water. I was thinking of getting a Coke Zero or a NA Beer with no sugar but I remember reading on this subreddit that artificial sweeteners can spike your insulin so I decided not to get anything.
How do you guys manage this? I am committed to IF and would like to stick to it
I do OMAD most days and have a longer eating window once or twice a week to accommodate social activities on the weekends.
This is also why most people suggest having your eating window overlap with a nighttime meal, since that is a more social time and thus more sustainable for most people. You also don’t need to have times set in stone. You seem to eat earlier which is fine, but on weekends you can start your eating window at 7 or 8 to have social activities overlap.
If you know you’re going out later, eat then and adjust for the day, and have fun with friends. If you feel like you over did it, go with a little lighter meal the next day, then jump right back on track.
I am not as strict on weekends. I want IF to be a lifestyle not a short term thing I do to achieve target weight. And compromises like you are talking about are not sustainable in long term.
And we are of mindset that once we stray from our original commitment we give it up altogether.
I drink alcohol during my fasting period on the weekends and it hasn’t affected my weight loss. Still no food during that time and plenty of water. If you do this be mindful you will wrecked way faster than on a filled belly!
I do 16:8 2MAD, noon-8pm. If I am going out in the evening and want to eat/drink, I either skip the 1st meal that day or the next day to compensate. Since I only go out a few times per month this works really well for me.
If is super flexible, you just need to review why you’re fasting and find the strategy that matches your needs :)