My typical 16:8 day turned into an OMAD one today because I usually eat my meals from noon to 8 pm, but today I had a late lunch at around 3 pm and had some stuff to do with a group until the evening, so I didn’t get to sneak in a filling dinner in that time. It’s late now and I’m on my 3rd cup of green tea to make my stomach feel warm and full, but mentally I feel like I didn’t nourish myself enough for everything I got done today…
What do you do when this happens? Do you go on instinct and just eat if you feel like you should? Or do you wait it out til the next day? I think I can manage staying hungry until tomorrow, but I’m worried it would affect the quality of my sleep, which is something I really value nowadays.
Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences!
My view will differ from most … just eat and don’t let it consume your life to that magnitude. An off day here and there from IF isn’t going to change anything. Live your life and eat your meal outside of your window. Just don’t make it a habit.
how far along in the lifestyle are you?
If you’re new, you need a rescue meal plan to save you from this feeling. Something you know if you eat it at 8.15, it’s now net a setback. (an example, one egg scrambled in one tablespoon of butter with one ounce of chia seeds) . That’s about 375 calories maybe? But it will land and make you feel full. And if you buy chia seeds, you’ll always have them. Any amount you buy is a lifetime supply.
It doesn’t have to be that, but it has to be something that you know will work that isn’t a granola bar or a cookie or anything that is carbs at night. Those calories are a trap.
If you’re a veteran, you just go to bed hungry and take the lump, but call it victory. I have to do this when I have to go to meetings at 6pm at night, because my window ends at six. Those days i have to end at like 4.30, so I always come home miserable and hungry. Then I just drink hot water and make inside soup out of whatever’s still in my guts. It’s not great in any way, but I can do it because i do it. I could eat, and I could eat the above meal or a peanut butter sandwich, but I’m on maintenance, so any day I can squeeze a diet day is a diet day.
In evenings, I skip it. My flexibility is before 6 pm. My preferred dinner is 4 to 4:30, but some days I work until 6, and don’t get my second meal.
Likely I’ll eat breakfast a wee bit early, then get back on schedule the next day.
How delayed would you be? This happened to me one week ago. I decided to eat two hours later than planned, and then started my fast. I delayed the end of my fast for one hour the next day. So my fasting window was just one hour shorter.This did not interrupt the weight loss and I did not feel miserable. 🤷
If it is really much later, the idea with eating something small with a lot of protein and fat in the other comment sounds grood.
I focus on the fast hours being the important part.
I do 20:4 with my 4hr usually falling between 4-8pm. However, if I go for a walk in the evening (say from 630-730) I don’t worry about trying to cook and inhale a meal in 30min as that mentally feels like I am punishing myself by only allowing myself to eat up until 8pm which I don’t see as a good relationship to have with food, nor with IF.
Instead I just cook and eat my meal as I normally would, and start my fast when done (say 9pm). So the next day my fast ends at 5pm. The important point being I try to get back to an 8pm finish ASAP so the following day might be a 21:3.
Mon-Fri it’s super easy for me to not eat until I get home from work (usually after 5pm). But the weekend can be a different beast with my brain typically less distracted by tasks, I can find myself actively waiting for 4pm to roll around.