Pretty much the only time I eat off plan is for work/social events, when I have to eat out. When I'm at home, I rarely go off plan. I never eat off plan as a reward, because I don't feel like cooking, or because I don't feel like eating what I planned.
My biggest problem is getting back on plan when I've been off plan. When I eat out for lunch or dinner, I have gotten into a really bad habit of going off plan for the rest of the day (good thing I never eat breakfast out--the whole day would be shot
). The problem is that I don't count the calories in the off-plan meal because it's so hard to do with restaurant food. And then, since I didn't bother to count the calories for lunch or dinner, I stop counting for the rest of the day. And if I'm not counting, it doesn't feel like the food has calories and I eat way too much of food that I really shouldn't eat at all. I feel like I have to eat as much as I can because it's my only chance to eat like this--I know I'll be back on plan the next day. And I am always on plan the next day, but I really need to get on plan by the next meal. I don't know if the solution is to be more restrictive about off-plan eating, be less restrictive (so I don't feel like it's my only chance to eat treats), or just live with it since it doesn't happen that often.
Luckily, I rarely eat out. I only do it for social or business purposes. My SO and I rarely just go out to eat by ourselves. If I want a special meal for the two of us, I make something special. If I don't feel like cooking, I make something that doesn't require a lot of prep (e.g., sandwiches) or we get pre-made salads from TJ's.
I do always have birthday cake on my birthday. We always go out for dinner (I'm not cooking my own special birthday dinner) and we always have cake. If there are leftovers, I can even have a piece of cake a day until the cake is gone. Usually I try to get a small cake so there won't be a lot of leftovers. Life's too short to not have cake on my birthday (and it's only once a year anyway, for Pete's sake). It's not an excuse; it's a rule. I have lots of rules that I live by. Another one is that if I'm at someone else's birthday party, I get to have a piece of their birthday cake too (I'm 40 and I work from home so it's not too often that I'm at birthday parties these days). I know that some people can be on plan 100% 24-7-365, but that's not me. I have to have allow for some off-plan eating occasionally. The only thing I'm working on is getting back on plan again afterwards.