Skipping a Meal So That You Don’t Go Over Your Budget When You Go Out To Parties?

That's one way to do it, or you can just include having a beer or a glass of wine (or two) in your eating plan for the day. A single glass of chardonnay (5 ounces) is about 125 calories, so it's not a huge deal to fit in a glass or two.

Another thing you might not be enthused about doing is walking off the damage, either in advance or the next day. Since I don't know your stats, you can plug them into this calculator and see how much work would be required to walk off a glass. For me, (5'2", 148#), it's only 1.5 miles in half an hour.

I actually got into 16:8 Intermittent Fasting for this very reason. I'm a short woman, meaning I don't get many calories to work with in the first place. My eating window is from 12-8 most days. Since it's basically skipping breakfast, it allows me the calories in the evening to have a bigger dinner. Or a smaller dinner, with a dessert or adult beverage. I did have to build up to it slowly though. I was a regular breakfast eater, and would be hangry by 12 if I didn't eat by 9-10 am. If this sounds like you, I would recommend shortening your eating window slowly. There is an IF group that could be helpful if you are interested. Otherwise, as mentioned above, a lot of people will "bank" their calories all week so they can indulge later without going over their weekly allowance. You may also want to look into lower calorie drinks & cocktails. Alcohol can be way high in empty calories and sugar. Knowing what to go with and steer clear of could mean the difference between a 1500 calorie night of dinner & drinks or a 3000 calorie night. A good example for you: Over Easter, I scanned the barcode on some mudslide mix I was drinking. I was stunned to find out it was 800 calories for 12 oz!!! on the flip side, the Redd's I drank the next night, was only 210 for the whole bottle.

Saffyra wrote: »

If I know Im going out that night, I dont really eat anything else beforehand. Maybe an apple or a serving of my protein drink. And I try to plan out what I *think* i might eat or drink while Im out so that I at least stay in a decent range. Im short, too, so every little bit counts. >.<
But I dont get out much so it doesnt happen a lot. Tomorrow is our 10 year wedding anniversary and I'll probably have protein at noon and then nothing until our fancy dinner out. And, I'll be honest, Im not even bothering counting. I can lose weight any time but a 10 year anniversary only comes around once!

Happy Anniversary in advance!!

I don't skip meals. I plan to eat less meals though. In my head that's not skipping meals as there is no rulebook to tell me how often or when to eat.

Pre planning makes it easy to account for times when you know you're going to use more calories later in the day.

I’ll eat a lot of filling, low calorie foods during the day so I won’t be starving and eat everything later on. Carrots, salsa, peppers, tuna, fruit, egg whites, most vegetables actually. Haha I’d definitely recommend not skipping meals though, especially if you’re going to be drinking. Cause I know after I’ve had a few drinks I just want to munch on everything, I guess that’s why they have beer nuts.