When I know ahead of time, I’ll shift my window (I do OMAD so there isn’t a window but rather a sitting, which nonetheless I’m okay with it lasting for more than the one hour that for me is the norm). Should I receive invitation at the last minute (past my meal) then I’ll decline or attend without participating.
What happens when I do participate is a different story. Given that I like to eat to satiety, i.e., without calorie-counting, it’s hard not to overeat, e.g. at a restaurant, when the food is more palatable and calorie-dense than what I’m used to. As a workaround, I have a set monthly budget of “unbounded” meals – meals where I’ll eat whatever is available until attaining comfortable satiety, even if it’s a whole lot of fast food, alcohol and sugar-ladden dessert on top. Whenever I’m about to eat socially, I’ll ask myself if I have exhausted said “credit”. If I haven’t, no extra care will be warranted. If I have, I’ll proceed to ask myself whether there’s a chance I could adhere to my usual food choices (nutrient-dense & calorie-sparse; e.g. bunch of greens and meat) over the social meal, without potentially offending the host / cook. When not even that seems likely, then that’s further grounds for declining or abstaining; only as a last resort, when I absolutely must participate, will I actively mind my portions, something I greatly disdain.
Agree with Lea_R_ning, the adaptability of IF is its appeal. You shouldn’t let fasting windows interfere with your social life – then what’s the point?
I don’t know if this helps, but to me, the fasting window is what’s important, not the hours on the clock or how long your feeding window is. If a late dinner means you don’t start fasting until 6 instead of 5, then I would start at 6 and go to 10 the next morning. Adjust when you can, and if an occasional party means a day off from your routine, enjoy it and start fresh the next day.
If you stop having a social life because of IF, it’s going to get old real quick and it won’t be sustainable in the long run.
On days when I have food related social events, I try to eat a bit later (my eating window is 7:30-8am, OMAD) and much less until the event, but ultimately I know I probably won’t fast that day and that’s fine. The next day I also have to adjust depending on how I feel since I don’t usually eat at night, if I have night events, the next day I really don’t feel like eating in the morning. Things go back to normal a day after that.