How to Stick to Your Plan & Negotiate with Yourself

During a recent baking session I had a very interesting challenge. 

As part of the weight loss plan I'm following I'm recording everything I eat and drink in my daily planner. The deal is that I must eat what is on my plan. If I want to fit in a sweet treat, a glass of wine or whatever, I have to plan for it. 

On my daily plan I'd included two Low Carb Chocolate Chocolate Cookies for afternoon tea. I set about baking the cookies because I'd run out (I wonder why???) and all the way through I was very aware not to 'try' the cookie dough, as snacking, tasting and grazing is another of my weight loss strategies. But it was a the end of my baking session where it got challenging. 

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​I love to 'lick' the bowl. Who doesn't?

But, as I starred at the bowl, imagining wiping my finger around it and putting it into my mouth, I realised that this would effectively be overeating, because it wasn't on my plan. Then it came to me. If I was willing to give up half of one of the cookies I had planned for afternoon tea, it would be fine to have the bowl scrapings. And that is what I did. 

Now of course in my head there was all sorts of chatter going on like...
But does that bowl scraping really equate to half a cookie?
Maybe it's only quarter of a cookie?
It's only a little bit, it won't hurt to have it as an extra.

These are the challenging thoughts that come up, and they are perfectly normal. We all have them. 

Learning how to become aware of your thoughts, and navigate them, is key.

So, the outcome was that I licked the bowl, and once the cookies came out, I served myself (on a plate) one and a half cookies for my afternoon tea. And I enjoyed every last morsel.

Question: What has been a challenging situation you have overcome by navigating your thoughts? ​Tell us in the comments.