Cheat Days.

I come in under my calorie goal most days so I have a cheat day roughly every 2 weeks... I don't log anything and I eat EVERYTHING lol. It may not be the healthiest thing to do, but it keeps me motivated. If I want to eat something that's just too bad for me or a takeaway I can't log then I just think 'I can have it on my next cheat day'. I find it helps xx

I have a cheat meal every Saturday as it is the only
Night we have the house to ourselves. Normally
a 2 course meal sometimes 3 but I keep in my allowance
of 1200 or just below over the week that helps absorb the
extra calories from the Saturday night.

I don't have cheat days because I follow IIFYM (if it fits your macros) and I'm finding that I have a better relationship with food now because of it I can eat whatever I want as long as the macro ratio adds up at the end of the day...the funny thing is now I actually eat healthier because of it and yet I don't feel restricted at all. Now I can have a cinnamon bun or a burger if I want as long as I counter it with more of whatever macro I'm lacking. A lot of pro natural bodybuilders are following this way of dieting now as it seems to prevent athletes from binge eating and I can attest to that as I used to be a binge eater.

Right now I do calorie cycling, so I have a "Weekly" rather than "Daily" calorie goal... My week consists of low days, and then a couple of very high days, and in the end I still meet my goal.... So I guess you could say my high days, where I'm able to eat 2500-3000 calories would be my "Cheat" days, =x

I won't change the terminology for it, as others would, =p because being able to let myself *ahem* "Cheat" I think, lets me last longer on my diet.... =x I enjoy my high days more calling them cheats, rather than just high days, or free days... =p I think once in awhile it's good to relax a bit, and if things get too strict it gets stressful and harder to keep up with.... And I personally, want this "Diet" to be an ongoing process, so whatever it takes to keep me going...

I have a free day once a week, usually sunday, but if I'm going out for a special occasion I'll make it that day instead. I don't call it a cheat day because that implies I'm doing something wrong, and I don't think splurging sometimes is wrong if your overall diet and lifestyle is healthy. Also, because "cheat" implies that you're doing something wrong, it can bring on guilt, and I don't think thats healthy-i don't think its helpful to my weight loss to feel guilt about my eating.

I started changing my diet, and exercising, in May of 2012, and I've lost 56 lbs since then, eating healthy and exercising six days a week, and resting and eating what i wanted on the seventh. My exercise right now is simply walking, albeit very briskly (enough to work up a sweat and feel tired) for an hour everyday. I am starting to do Jillian Michaels dvds now, but thats only in the last few weeks.

Free day also works as a pressure release valve for me. Sometimes all i want is a damn 1000 calorie banana split. Knowing its at the most, six days away, and its not absolutely forbidden, and that if i have it on sunday i wont have "been bad" or "failed my diet", goes a long ways towards keeping me on track and working hard during the week.

Its funny though, something interesting started to happen with my free days. For the first few months, free day meant pancakes for breakfast, then a donut a few hours later, a big, calorie filled dinner, lots of ice cream for dessert... Its free day! Gotta eat the good food now before its time to diet again! But as I learned how to cook low cal meals that actually tasted good on the weekdays, and learned how to put together meals that were satisfying yet still healthy, and how to get my sweet fix without going overboard, i felt less and less desire to pig out on sundays. The pigging out really only lasted a few months. Nowadays i just eat normally on sunday, BUT if i want something i have it. Breakfast one sunday might be just oatmeal and an egg or two, or some toast. Next sunday it might be some pancakes with real butter and syrup. For dinner on sunday the bf and i usually eat out, but i dont go for the most crazy fattening thing just cos its free day. i get what i want, whether its chicken and veggies, or pizza with everything. Ive learned moderation - fom eating healthily and satisfyingly on the weekdays, AND from having my free day to experiment with. I lose about 2 lbs a week. It works for me.

Free days work for some, and don't work for others-all you can do is try it and see if it works for you.

I bring my own popcorn with me.
I use one of my bigger purses, and fill a big ziplock bag.
That way I can measure out how much I bring, and control the calorie content. I either pop my own with the air popper, or grab a bag of the 94% ff microwave popcorn

I used to schedule a cheat meal every week. Now, I just have a cheat meal when I feel like it. I normally have fast-food. I love burgers and fries. I have recently switched over to an all-you-can-eat fine dining Japanese-Thai restaurant for cheat meals, I eat a lot of sashimi, avoid sushi because of the rice, I do have some apps though like satay beef, peanut dumplings but overall I think it's a better choice

I think some people need cheat meals for sanity sake depending on how strict their diets are. I agree with the rest of them that said it should be a cheat MEAL not a cheat DAY. I also usually get in a workout before my dinner cheat and sometimes after depending on well I did with portions being reasonable or not.

Edit: Now, I just have a cheat meal when I feel like it. (This means that I have fewer than once a week not the other way around LOL, I can go weeks now without wanting a cheat meal)

I've just started, and still have really bad cravings. Its like a donut is constantly hanging over my head lately. :grumble: I dont bring junk into my house, and the thought of having to pack up a 2 year old and a 9 month old to go 30 minutes (we live in the boonies) to go get it doesnt appeal so Im sticking it out. I do know with me, personally, if I dont allow myself something once a week I will fail. I do plan on keeping it in moderation and fitting it within my day of calories. For example, last week my husband wanted Taco Bell. I am a TB fiend, and used to plow through a ton of it. I ordered one of those 99 cent grilled things, the new ones, and it was nearly 500 calories. I skipped the soda and at the end of the day was under my calorie mark. Eventually Ill be able to move it to every other week, and keep stretching them further apart.

I don't really see myself as being on a diet, I just eat a little less of everything. Some days I go a bit over, some days I feel like I've been stuffing my face and I've barely made it over 1000 calories. I don't feel being too strict will help me. I've kept it up for 5 months and am over half-way to my ultimate goal and my method has been working for me

This is all a complete change of lifestyle for me...basically making better choices most of the time and yes, currently eating at a deficit. But I don't consider myself to be on a "diet"...as in something that has a beginning and end point...this is a lifestyle for me. There are no cheat days...but there are days that I eat more than other days...special occasions, parties, holidays, etc. Does that mean I just sit back and rack up the calories? Absolutely not...but I don't worry about being a couple hundred calories over every once in awhile. To boot, even if I'm over by a couple hundred calories, I'm still at a deficit, just not as big. I will also on occasion eat to maintenance...bit deal, it's maintenance. I don't consider this cheating...I consider it real life and in real life I'm going to eat something that's not the greatest nutrition once in awhile...I'm going to go to parties and eat and drink...I'm going to cook fantastic holiday meals, etc...those things don't happen every day, they're occasions and they're fine and they're not "cheating"