Splurging isn’t a big deal.
Splurging every meal is.
Don’t beat yourself up for enjoying yourself. You’re also probably feeling the alcohol far more than the meal especially if you don’t drink much to begin with and you drank on an empty stomach.
I legit fast only 5 days a week because it’s all my schedule allows. Monday nights I’m out late with good beer around. Same with Friday nights. The rest of the nights, my window closes at 7pm and opens at noon/1pm the next day. Sometimes I indulge more than I should on those off days, sometimes not. I’ve learned this process is a LIFESTYLE change and does not need to be perfect everyday. That’s why it works so well for so many people.
I’ve also learned the value of patience. I do a little thing called Weigh-In Wednesdays. Since weight fluctuates for a variety of reasons, I found it’s counter-productive to weigh in more than 1x per week. Wednesdays is perfect because I usually have a good 18 to 20 hour fast the day before.
I’m dropping about 1 to 1.5 lbs. per week on this schedule. Don’t beat yourself up over a splurge day. Like everyone is saying, just don’t do it every day.
It’s fine. I did that yesterday. Will be doing it again today for someone’s birthday. Tomorrow will be a fasting day and my next meal will be on Wednesday.
As long as you set aside days where you’ll be committing to the fast those splurges are usually undone by a session or two of 48 hour fasts.
It’s okay, you complied with your window boundaries and with time and practice self-discipline within your window will get easier.
Personally I find perceived lack of choice (“you can’t”) to be mentally much easier to cope with than ambiguity (“you may but probably shouldn’t”), which is one key reason for still preferably limiting myself to a single sitting per day despite currently being in maintenance. In your shoes I would have had to opt for either cocktails or dinner (assuming they weren’t served at the same table), an easy choice when fasted for 20+ hours. Surely I’m more than capable of overeating during just one sitting, however, when it’s a proper meal rather than a purely comfort-oriented sitting, I can at least try to structure my intake (order) strategically to promote satiety (fiber + protein first; starches + grains + sugars + alcohol, if need be, last). Furthermore, so long as I’m not out having a five-course dinner evening after evening for weeks, it’s improbable I’ll regain enough to matter in the grand scheme of things (my records indicate that 3-5 substantial restaurant feasts per month are what I need just to maintain).
Not a big deal… tomorrow is another day to get back on track. A few drops of Peppermint essence either neat or in some water helps me when I’m feeling bloated or a bit uncomfortable after indulging and getting that icky feeling
Totally get this! When I have an overindulgent day here and there, it isn’t so much the feeling of “oh god I blew my IF protocol” as it is just physically feeling like shit because that’s just not what my body enjoys doing anymore.