Do you do free days or "cheat" days?

Nope. For various reasons (usually doe to lack of sleep and / or humidity as both affect me badly) ill occasionally go over, but it's not by design. If there's something I particularly want then I'll plan around it. As I need this to be my way of life now and forever I'm trying to learn to manage all I take rather than have pre planned good and bad days, if that makes sense.

I think of my calories as a budget. Although I may go over it at times, overall I need to keep it in check.

I don't think in terms of "cheats," because to me, that's a negative term. I think in terms of "treats," and I typically plan for them. For me, thinking of it as a treat means I can fully enjoy it without guilt -- counterintuitively, that tends to make me be satisfied with less.

I wouldn't call myself a foodie, but definitely enjoy food. I've found that I am simply not satisfied without one hearty meal a day, so I typically eat light breakfast/lunch and snack little so I can eat a full plate at dinner and still stay in my budget. You'll have to experiment with what strategies work for you that still leave you enjoying life. It has to be sustainable, or it won't stick.

I, like ksolksol above, think of my calories as a budget. I have a daily budget and a weekly budget. I try to keep within my daily budget, but sometimes go over. Last week was my birthday and between friends taking me out to eat and for celebratory drinks, I was way over two Saturdays in a row. I know that technically you can't make up for it, but I made up for it by doing a bit more in my workouts and planning a bit more "tight-like" in the days before and after.
I tend to do better in keeping to my budget if I do a solid breakfast. (I fought that for years, convinced that I was not a breakfast person.) 2 Eggs over a piece of toast with 3 slices of Turkey bacon. On days when I wake up famished, I change the budget to allow half an avocado or a slice of cheese on my breakfast toast. Light lunch and light dinner, with a strong portion of my daily budget left for my nocturnal gnoshing. I work strange hours and the wee hours of the morning are my trouble times, so plenty of budget left for snacks. I also allow daily "treats." I love a good dark chocolate...so I budget a square, piece or portion into every single day! Best of luck to you!

Yes when I really NEED one (typically when my body just keeps asking for more food). But that's why I've only lost 20 pounds in a year and I'm still not at my goal weight.

I think it depends on what you are used to eating. You will find that if you tend to eat less refined sugars and carbs, that these just don't taste as good as they used to. This is an easy way to manage on those temptation type meals. Usually they will seem too rich and as such you will not feel the need to consume large amounts. This also allows you to stay within or near your calorie range. I still enjoy birthday cake and red wine, but definitely not in the quantities as before. I find that now that I eat clean, everything tastes better, but bread is too bland and sugar is too sweet so I rarely eat them. Just my two cents:)

This content has been removed.

I have a single unplanned meal where i go all out and over gorge. Last one was this past NYE.

Nope. I think of this as just how I live my life. Sometimes I have treats, sometimes I indulge. Sometimes I over indulge. Clothes, a night out, food... it's my life. I don't think of it as something where I work and work knowing in X days I can "cheat". I eat healthy, and apparently within my calories, about 80% of the time. I exercise. When I indulge in something special, it's just that. cheers

For me, there's never a day that I don't track everything I eat. But some days I allow myself to eat into the margin between BMR and TDEE. As long as I stay below TDEE (maintenance level), I feel as if I've indulged without really threatening my success. And oddly, that seems like a LOT of food, I've not been tempted to go beyond because I think I would feel physically ill at this point. The key is knowing the difference between restricting and tracking. Always track, but you don't always have to restrict ... make tracking the one rule you never bend, and you'll always stay "on track" ... (pun intended) ...

Cheat days and 'free days' are very dangerous. Two weeks of discipline can be undone in one day. If you want to eat more on a day, always track what you ate. I agree with Quieau on this.

Today is a splurge day for me. I've been pretty good lately about staying in my caloric range, and even hit my macros the last few days. I didn't intend for today to be a "cheat day", but that's what it's turned into. Tomorrow I'll go back to eating like I had been, and drinking lots and lots of water because today is an epic sodium fest.

No. Why would you want to? It will just impede your progress. If you feel you absolutely MUST have some calorie dense food, work in a small portion into you allowable calorie count. If even the small amount of the food makes you exceed your daily limit, compensate for it on the following day or two.

Kinda sorta. Fridays and Saturdays are when I usually get the chance to go to dinner so that's when I tend to eat way over what I normally would.

In the beginning Sunday was my day to just log it without retribution. After several months I knew for me to initially lose some serious weight, I had to go 24/7 with planned eating. I also did the dry 30 days. Once I lost some I started occasional moderation. Now I do moderation as pleased. Every few months I'll do a dry 30 days to help my metabolism but that's me. The slow pace loss has kept it off and works for me.