First of all I don't use OPT meal plan/macros but I too like having a bigger dinner with my family. Dinners with family are my biggest variable.
I also believe that part of being a family means give and take for everybody including myself. There are times my family may give up something they'd rather have so I can stay on my diet but there's also times I need to do the same for them. So I plan accordingly to try and work around that.
I've found it's a lot easier to start my meal planning with dinners first and adjust the rest of the day to get the calories and macros where I want them. For example if the family wants shepherds pie for dinner which is a little higher in carbs and lower in protein then I try to have eggs for breakfast and higher protein lunch. Or if I know we're having larger quantity of meat for dinner then I might have oatmeal for breakfast. If we're going to be eating out or ordering pizza then I try to save extra calories for dinner. I also expect that as a general rule healthy food is eaten by everyone the majority of the time. Fast food, junk, sweets have always been limited so it does make it easier overall to adjust dinners to meet my needs as they are typically in the ballpark to start with. Somewhere I was reading that someone actually starts their day with the previous night's dinner and they adjust the next days meals to make their day work. I think that's brilliant actually and if my tracking software would accomodate this easier then I'd do it in a heartbeat.
I also found that I prefer having fewer snacks and therefore more calories available for meals. I'm much more compliant with a flexible diet than I am a rigid one so I also typically set a range of calories that I'm aiming for instead of one specific amount. (1500-1700 calories instead of 1600 as an example.) I plan my meals to get as close to the lower range as possible that way I have some wiggle room for the day. I'm finding that I like having 200 free calories to spend on whatever I want.
For the most part those strategies are enough to help deal with the unexpected when dinner comes around or when it's time to put my families needs ahead of my diet. If they're not I tend to just do the best I can realizing I don't live in a vacuum.
I don't do well with skipping meals or trying to make up for too many calories by compensating later in the week. So I've never tried IF but from reading that strategy has worked well with others and I don't see why you couldn't do it with OPT. For me if I've flubbed up then I find it's just best to move on.
|