I've had a "free" day (I don't call it cheat day because it's planned - I'm not "cheating" on anything) since I first started my weight loss. It works for me - if I have a craving for a food, I know it's never more than six days away. It's really helped me stay on track. Originally it was free day, then for a while I just did a free meal, then it went back to free day. I usually do it on sunday, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do for may - a whole day or just a meal.

I do believe free days help you to lose weight, and I don't just mean because it helps you stay on track knowing you can eat what you want one day a week. There's something about exercise and calorie restriction, and then having a day where you eat more, that just seems to click for me, weight-loss wise. Maybe because it lets my body know that we're not in a famine, that the low cal days don't last forever, so it doesn't have to hang onto the fat quite so tightly...