So, how far do you go on a cheat day?

I don't even call it a "cheat day". It's in my plan to have one day a week where I don't think about losing weight. I don't exercise and I don't count calories on that day. I feel like if I called it "cheating" I'd be giving myself permission to go way overboard. Since it's part of the plan, it's not cheating.

Yesterday, for example, we went out to eat to celebrate Father's Day. I got biscuits and gravy for breakfast, which is huge in calories. Normally I order an egg white omelet and fruit when we go out for breakfast. Not a really big deal since it's a once-a-week thing. But if I'd "cheated", I'd have given myself the go-ahead to get lunch at a drive thru, plus an ice cream sundae, and then when we went out for dinner I could have gone even farther.

BTW my dinner was grilled salmon, broccoli and rice pilaf. Even on my day off, I don't go overboard.

I don't cheat regularly, but every now and then I just need to take the day off and not panic about the calorie count of something I really badly want. Once I've had my curly fries or whatever, I'm usually good and I eat reasonably for the rest of the day. That's not always the case, but I've found that if I allow myself to let loose every now and then, it's not really rebelling, so I'm less likely to want to go crazy!

I don't think I've gone over 2500 on any given "cheat day" yet so far.

Moderation is the key...allow yourself a treat, not an entire day! You don't want to regret it later. Good luck!

On the days that I have had a cheat day its usually just a cheat meal, not the whole day

Same- I know that it is easy to get into a funk and have a whole day- but I know for me knowing I had a moment of weakness is easier to recover-mentally- from than a day of weakness.

I feel really guilty if I have a cheat day so I try not to anymore. The only time I will is for special occasions. For example it is my brother's birthday (twins, they are 30) on Thur and we are going out for a family meal on Friday night. I will probably skip breakfast or lunch, and/or go for an extra long cycle and then I won't care what I eat when we are out. I still won't go that crazy, but I expect I'll have a dessert Also having a family party on Saturday with pork, apple and stuffing rolls plus other nibbles. Again I won't go crazy but I expect I will be over for the day.

I also have treats other times. I just got myself a cheap (so low-ish in sugar and fat) plain chocolate bar. I'll treat myself to a few squares a night probably. At 60-80 cals it's hardly anything but still feels like a treat and is enough.

I don't indulge the "oh, so very "hungry"" type of cheating. That kind of hungry is in my mind, not my body and there is no food that will fix it, so I don't even bother (I gave up emotional eating back in January). If the hunger is persistent, I have a few times gone up to maintenance level, and that usually gets me 300 calories or so which is a decent sized snack or meal. I have no problem at all with exercising to get a few hundred extra calories to eat and do it probably at least once a week.

That being said, for me sticking to my calories is very important. Number 1 was logging, and when I had that ingrained, sticking to calories/no emotional eating was next. There are other ways to get the job done and I probably have more day to day treats than some, but this works for me.

I agree with others, drink 16oz. water maybe add lemon juice. This helps me to feel full

I don't have 'cheat days". But I do cheat once in a while. I feel if I have a regular cheat day it will only serve to sabotage everything I've worked so hard for leading up to it.