“I’m in the middle of a fast, but I’ve got drinks with friends tonight…”
“I want to enjoy great food on my trip, but I’m worried it’ll throw my fasting schedule off.”
A lot of people probably have worries just like these.
But here’s the truth: fasting isn’t something you have to do perfectly.
If you slip a little, you can simply get back on track.
In this article, I’ll share 5 tips that let you keep up 16-hour fasting without strain, even if you travel or eat out a lot.
- 1 16-Hour Fasting and Eating Out, Tip 1: Let Go of Perfectionism
- 2 Tip 2: Adjust Your “Start Eating” Time Even When Eating Out
- 3 Tip 3: Always Keep Water, Tea, or Black Coffee on Hand, Even While Traveling
- 4 Tip 4: Wholeheartedly Enjoy “Special Days”
- 5 Tip 5: “The Day After a Drinking Party” Is Your Chance to Fast
- 6 How to Choose Menu Items That Won’t Backfire When Eating Out on 16-Hour Fasting
- 7 Frequently Asked Questions About 16-Hour Fasting and Eating Out
- 8 Keep Up 16-Hour Fasting While Enjoying Meals Out and Travel
16-Hour Fasting and Eating Out, Tip 1: Let Go of Perfectionism
One of the biggest reasons people can’t stick with fasting is perfectionism.
So many people think, “I couldn’t keep my fast today… what’s the point anymore?” and quit.
But that’s a big misunderstanding.
The effects of fasting are determined by how much fasting time you secure over the whole week.
Even if your schedule slips for a day, it’s no problem as long as you start again the next day.
Think in Terms of the “80% Rule”
If you do it properly on 5 to 6 days out of 7 (roughly 70 to 80%), you’ll get plenty of results.
The 1 or 2 days that fall apart because of travel or eating out can be covered by the remaining 5 or 6 days.
Having a day you can’t do perfectly isn’t a failure.
When I first started, I’d sometimes beat myself up, thinking, “I couldn’t stick to it today…”
But once I decided that “80% is good enough,” my stress actually went down and I was able to keep it up much longer.
Just looking back over the week and counting, “I did it 5 days this week,” gives you a real sense that you’re keeping it up, and that can help you feel more positive.
Think of Fasting Weekly, Like a Savings Account
It’s easier to understand if you think of your fasting time as a kind of “savings” that you build up a little every day.
Even if you overspend a bit one day, as long as you steadily save on the other days, your total for the week is still comfortably in the plus.
On the other hand, if you stop saving just because you overspent one day, you won’t be able to make use of everything you’d saved up to that point.
The day after eating out throws you off, I recommend skipping the self-criticism and thinking only about “when my next meal will be.”
Also, even if your weight is up the morning after eating out, most of that is water retained along with salt and carbohydrates, so there’s no need to panic.
If you go back to your usual rhythm for a few days, the number should naturally drift back toward where it was.
Rather than aiming for perfection and quitting after 3 days, keeping it up loosely for 3 months will likely change your body far more.
Try thinking of fasting not as a sprint, but as a leisurely walk you just keep taking.
Tip 2: Adjust Your “Start Eating” Time Even When Eating Out
There’s a trick to getting the most out of fasting even on days you eat out.
That’s being mindful of the time you start eating.
That’s because the length of your fasting window is determined not only by when you finish eating, but also by when you start eating.
For example, if you have a drinking party starting at 7 p.m., shifting that day’s lunch a bit later (to 2 or 3 p.m.) keeps you from snacking before the party,
and if the party wraps up at 9 or 10 p.m., you can secure an 11- to 12-hour fasting period by around 9 a.m. the next morning.
It’s not a perfect 16 hours, but even an 11- to 12-hour fasting period gives you plenty of the benefits of fasting.
Sample Fasting Patterns for Days with Dinners Out or Drinking Parties
| Situation | Example Adjustment | Fasting Time You Can Secure |
|---|---|---|
| Drinking party from 7 p.m. | Push lunch back to 2 p.m., and leave a gap from when the party ends at 9 or 10 p.m. until around 9 a.m. the next morning | About 11 to 12 hours |
| Business lunch at midday | Skip breakfast and finish dinner by 8 p.m. | About 12 to 14 hours |
| Breakfast buffet while traveling | Eat breakfast a little late (8 to 9 a.m.) and skip lunch | About 12 to 13 hours |
Instead of fixating on “exactly 16 hours,” simply keeping in mind to make your fasting time as long as you reasonably can makes a world of difference.
Count Your Fasting Time from “the Last Time You Ate”
The starting point for counting your fasting time is “the last time you put anything in your mouth.”
If the party wraps up at 10 p.m., then around 2 p.m. the next day, 16 hours later, would be a good target for your next meal.
If that doesn’t fit your plans the next day, it’s fine to eat at noon and call it at 14 hours.
What matters is looking at the clock and deciding for yourself, “If I can go until here today, that’s good enough.”
When you have a clear finish line, you can get your rhythm back without second-guessing, even on days you eat out.
Setting a phone timer or jotting a note like “I can eat again from X o’clock” is another small trick that helps you keep going without forgetting.
Fit Eating Out Inside Your Eating Window
Another approach is to shift that day’s entire “eating window” to match your plans to eat out.
For example, if you have a lunch gathering at noon, make that day’s eating window noon to 8 p.m., and finish dinner the night before by 8 p.m.
If you often eat out in the evening, skipping breakfast and lunch and making 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. your eating window is another option.
Writing your plans in your planner or calendar first and working backward to decide your eating window makes it easier to keep up 16-hour fasting without strain.
On days when you know you have a drinking party, deciding your eating window in the morning means you won’t have to second-guess yourself.
Tip 3: Always Keep Water, Tea, or Black Coffee on Hand, Even While Traveling
One big reason fasting tends to fall apart while traveling is “boredom hunger.”
When you have nothing to do while sightseeing or getting from place to place, you end up snacking without thinking.
That’s where keeping water, tea, or black coffee on hand at all times really helps.
Simply ordering black coffee when you stop at a café, or buying water or tea at a convenience store, can take the edge off your hunger quite a bit.
- ✅ Keep tea bags in your hotel room
- ✅ Choose black coffee at cafés in tourist spots
- ✅ Carry a bottle of water when you’re on the move
- ✅ Get through hunger pangs with sparkling water
Drinks to Watch Out for While Fasting
On the other hand, some of the drinks you tend to grab while traveling or out and about can break your fasting window.
Sweetened canned coffee, juice, sports drinks, and milky café lattes raise your blood sugar just by drinking them, switching your body back into “meal mode.”
Local specialty drinks and smoothies at tourist spots also often contain more sugar than they appear to.
The juice and yogurt drinks at the hotel breakfast area are also something to be careful about timing-wise.
If you want to drink them, enjoying them within your eating window lets you keep your fasting rhythm intact.
How to Think About Travel Days and Trips Across Time Zones
On days with long trips by plane or shinkansen (bullet train), you sit for hours and get bored easily, so it’s easy to reach for snacks.
If you decide to use your travel time as fasting time and eat properly once you arrive, it can actually become a time that makes fasting easier.
When traveling abroad across time zones, it’s said that deciding your eating window based on local time from the day you arrive helps your body clock adjust faster.
You don’t have to finish every in-flight meal, so adjust smartly while keeping an eye on your fasting time and local mealtimes.
When you get to your hotel room, having a glass of water or tea first and catching your breath can also ease that “vague hunger” that comes from travel fatigue.
Tip 4: Wholeheartedly Enjoy “Special Days”
On “special days” like trips or anniversaries, it’s perfectly okay to take a break from fasting for a while.
What matters is the fact that you usually keep it up.
One meal out isn’t going to erase the habit you’ve built up until now.
Even if you eat well and enjoy yourself for 1 or 2 days, the effects of fasting come right back once you restart the next day.
There’s even a way of thinking that says, “The day after overeating, you can get into a deeper fasting state.”
Rather than eating while carrying guilt, deciding “today is a day to enjoy” and savoring your food is probably better for both your mind and your body.
Fasting is a habit for weight loss and managing your health, not a rule meant to make your life feel cramped.
There’s absolutely no need to sacrifice the joyful moments of life.
Balance Things Out Before and After a Special Day
To fully enjoy a special day, it helps to balance things out a little on the days before and after.
For example, on the day of an anniversary dinner, if you skip breakfast and keep lunch light, you’ll be able to truly enjoy dinner with an appetite.
Then, the next day, simply going back to your usual 16-hour fast is enough.
If your trip lasts several days, it’s a good idea to make at least a little fasting time within each day, for example by having a late breakfast at the hotel and keeping lunch light.
If you decide to “keep my usual rhythm on the day before and the day after,” the habit itself won’t fall apart even with a special day in between.
How to Enjoy Your Food While Avoiding Overeating
Even on special days, small changes in how you eat can make a big difference to the burden on your body.
- It’s said that starting with vegetables such as salad, soup, or appetizers helps your blood sugar rise more gently.
- If you eat slowly while enjoying the conversation, your brain has an easier time getting the “I’m full” signal, which should naturally help prevent overeating.
- Instead of thinking, “Since I’m here, I have to eat everything,” choosing and savoring the things you truly find delicious is another key to enjoying a special day.
- Sharing dessert with everyone and enjoying a little at a time is also a smart way to keep portions down while still feeling satisfied.
Tip 5: “The Day After a Drinking Party” Is Your Chance to Fast
The day after a drinking party or a meal out is actually a golden time when fasting tends to work well.
Because you ate and drank plenty the night before, you naturally tend not to feel very hungry the next morning.
Since your body has plenty of energy stored from the previous day’s meals, it’s probably easier to stretch your fasting time a little without strain.
If you take advantage of this and extend your fast until lunch or dinner the next day, you can secure a longer fasting period than usual.
Once you can adjust with the attitude of “I ate too much yesterday, so I’ll fast a bit longer today,” fasting gradually becomes a natural part of your lifestyle.
If you can turn a day of overeating into “a chance to adjust” rather than “a failure,” fasting becomes much easier to keep up.
I call the day after a drinking party my “recovery fast,” and I make a point of fasting a little longer than usual.
The guilt is gone, and it actually gives my routine a nice rhythm that makes it fun.
How to Do a Recovery Fast
Even though it’s called a recovery fast, you don’t need to do anything special.
- The next morning, first rehydrate with 1 or 2 glasses of water or plain hot water.
- Your body tends to be short on fluids the day after drinking alcohol, so it’s important to sip water or tea regularly throughout the morning.
- When you start getting hungry, begin your first meal with things that are gentle on your stomach, like miso soup or other soups, eggs or tofu, and vegetable side dishes.
If you suddenly eat fried food or ramen, it puts a strain on your resting digestive system and can make your blood sugar spike.
If you compare your digestive system to a car engine, it’s like letting an engine you ran at full throttle the night before warm back up slowly at idle the next day.
If you also keep dinner a little lighter than usual, you’ll be more likely to feel refreshed the following morning.
It’s Also Important Not to Go Too Long
I don’t recommend going to extremes, like eating nothing for a full day or more to “make up for yesterday.”
That’s because you may feel sluggish or end up binge eating at your next meal as a rebound, which can actually throw your rhythm off.
Going just 1 to 2 hours longer than usual is plenty, and if you feel dizzy or strongly fatigued, don’t push it; have something to eat.
If you have a chronic condition or take medication, it’s a good idea to consult your doctor before extending your fasting time.
How to Choose Menu Items That Won’t Backfire When Eating Out on 16-Hour Fasting
Choose a Set-Meal Style
If you’re unsure what to order when eating out, the easiest option is a teishoku (Japanese set meal) that comes with a main dish, side dishes, and soup.
Single-item dishes like donburi (rice bowls), noodles alone, or just pasta inevitably tend to be heavy on carbohydrates.
Choosing a meal that gives you protein and vegetables together, like a grilled fish set or a shogayaki (ginger pork) set, helps keep you feeling satisfied for longer.
At restaurants where you can choose your portion of rice, asking for a smaller portion is another option.
Even when you grab something at a convenience store, combining onigiri (rice balls) with things like a boiled egg, “salad chicken” (ready-to-eat cooked chicken breast), and an instant cup of miso soup gets you closer to the balance of a set meal.
Prevent Blood Sugar Spikes with the Order You Eat In
When you break a fast, your body tries to absorb whatever comes in first very quickly.
That’s why eating rice or sweets first right after a period of hunger tends to make your blood sugar shoot up.
Try to keep this order in mind: vegetables like salad or small side dishes first, then protein like meat or fish, and rice last.
Just sticking to this order should reduce the burden on your body, even with the same meal.
Setting your chopsticks down after every bite is another simple and effective trick to keep from eating too fast.
It’s said that chewing well helps you feel satisfied with a smaller amount of food.
How to Choose at Izakaya and Fast-Food Restaurants
- At an izakaya (Japanese pub), I recommend choosing dishes centered on protein and vegetables, like sashimi, yakitori (grilled chicken skewers, with salt), edamame, hiyayakko (chilled tofu), and salad.
- It’s best to keep fried food, the “finishing” bowl of ramen, and rice dishes to small amounts if you eat them at all.
- At a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, it’s also a good idea to start by ordering chawanmushi (savory steamed egg custard), miso soup, or salad, and then focus on sushi with plenty of fish.
- When fast food is your only option, just switching your side to a salad and choosing water, tea, or black coffee instead of a sweet drink makes a difference.
I go into more detail on ordering tips for eating out in Eating Out Is OK Even While Fasting: 7 Clever Ways to Order Without Throwing Off Your Blood Sugar, so give it a read as well.
Frequently Asked Questions About 16-Hour Fasting and Eating Out
Yes, it does.
Even with a 12- to 14-hour fasting period, you’re still securing more time to rest your body than on a day when you don’t pay attention at all.
Looking at it week by week, as long as most of your days have a solid fasting period, it’s no problem.
Enjoy alcohol within your eating window, and avoid drinking during your fasting period.
Choosing distilled spirits like shochu (a Japanese distilled spirit) or whiskey over sweet cocktails or umeshu (Japanese plum liqueur), and drinking water alongside, makes it less likely to affect you the next day.
It’s fine to take a break.
Prioritize enjoying yourself, and going back to your usual rhythm from the day you get home is enough.
It’s also a good idea to work fasting in where you can, for example by making only your travel time a fasting period.
I recommend eating something light first, like soup or salad, and then moving on to the main dish.
Avoid diving straight into fried food or a large serving of carbohydrates.
Keep Up 16-Hour Fasting While Enjoying Meals Out and Travel
There’s no need to give up on 16-hour fasting just because you eat out or travel.
- Simply letting go of perfectionism, adjusting the time you start eating, and choosing your drinks wisely is enough to secure solid fasting time.
- Enjoy special days to the fullest, and you’ll be fine as long as you get back to your usual rhythm with a recovery fast the next day.
- When eating out, just choosing a set meal and being mindful of eating vegetables first can greatly reduce the burden on your body.
What matters isn’t how perfect each single day is, but keeping it up for months.
Start by picking your next planned meal out and trying just one of these tips.
If you want to revisit the basics of 16-hour fasting, be sure to check out The Complete Beginner’s Guide: Types, Benefits, and How to Do Intermittent Fasting as well.
If you’d like to make fasting easier to keep up even while traveling or on days you eat out a lot, the fasting support supplement I use is one option to consider.
▼ Related Articles
- 【The Complete Beginner’s Guide】What Is Intermittent Fasting? Types, Benefits, How to Do It, and Why You Might Not Be Losing Weight, Explained Simply
- 【A Schedule That Makes It Stick】How to Do 16:8 Fasting, Schedules for Every Lifestyle, Your 8-Hour Eating Window, and a 4-Week Starter Plan
- 【Which Is Easier to Stick With?】16-Hour Fasting: Skipping Breakfast vs. Eating Dinner Early, Pros, Cons, and How to Choose
- 【Watch Out for This Mistake】Does Eating Junk Food After Fasting Backfire? Why It Causes Weight Gain, What to Eat to Break Your Fast, and How to Recover
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