Some people don't have cheat days at all, some plan cheat days. It's really up to you what you eat on a cheat day if you want one.
For special events I decide ahead of time if I will cheat or not. Making a snap decision doesn't help for some reason. Not always successful but no one is perfect.
For ME, let's say Easter. Let's say I plan to cheat on Easter. I'm not going to eat any ham, cheese and sausage, bacon etc. Why would I? I can eat that any time. I'm going to be eating my fudge eggs, Cadbury eggs, pancakes with syrup and some cheesy potatoes. That's how I feel at least.
Personally, if I'm up and down in weight, as easy as it is to say "screw it!" and have a cheat day, it'll only hinder you from moving down for good. On the other hand, when you have a lot of success you want to keep it going.

I don't feel a need to cheat. Most anything I might want that's carby can be made differently that will be more keto friendly. For example, I craved mac n' cheese the other day. I used shirataki noodles (found near the tofu in my grocery store) and used those instead. 1 full package is 5g of carbs! I also have a birthday coming up, so I've been experimenting with cake recipes for keto. Indulging without cheating! That's what works for me. Hope that helps!

I don't do a ton of cheat days. Around the holidays I took myself to a sushi restaurant and ate a few pieces with rice. That was nice. Otherwise I make lower carb versions of what I'm craving or eat a portion small enough to fit my macros. I know it's cliche but I consider how I eat more of a lifestyle than a diet so cheating the way I live seems a little odd to me. My reasons for not eating carbs (and other things I restrict) are for health overall, not just to lose weight.

As far as potatoes go, on a rare occasion if I really crave it I'll have half of a small sweet potato and just skip some other carbs for the day. Potatoes are pretty healthy in moderation.

What's a "cheat day"?

Okay, seriously... I don't generally do planned cheat days or meals. Instead, I make choices on a regular basis. LCHF is my diet, as in, it's the way I generally eat. It's not some "diet" that I follow and feel deprived on and whatever (that was USDA/SAD/MFP style eating for me), so I generally don't feel the need or desire to "cheat."

Does that mean I never choose to eat something that contains carbs/grains/sugar? No, though I do increasingly find that doing so isn't really worth the consequences. So, I may choose one day to have a gluten free cookie, or a few bites of the French Silk pie my husband got for dessert on a night out (actually, I went after the whipped cream on top more than the pie, itself, because the pie was super-sweet), or get a cappuccino even though I know it's going to have more sugar than I usually consume. I accept the consequences that come with it (both with how I feel and things like on the scale), and move on.

When I choose what I eat, it's generally a conscious decision whether or not to eat it. As a result, I make the conscious decision that yes, I'm going to have the cookie or whatever, so it's not a surprise and I don't feel guilty over it. More often than not, though, I have little to no desire for such things, and even seeing them on a menu in a restaurant (and not just desserts, but things like pancakes and French toast, too) doesn't generally trigger any kind of desire for them, anymore (though, admittedly, smell still does, and that's harder to resist, but doable).

I don't really like the idea of planned cheat days just because. They strike me as a remnant of the fad diet mindset and in my opinion perpetuates the notion that this way of eating is or should be "hard" or "restrictive." The mindset that comes along with that, too, the "I can't have this," is counterproductive to any lifestyle change, in my opinion, and perspective is the kingmaker in this arena. I can have that cake or cookie or donut or whatever, but I choose not to. I decide I don't want it (or the consequences that come from eating it). It might seem like a small difference, but the effects are huge, and it's hugely empowering when you actually make that shift.

It does take a little getting used to if you're used to basing your meals around grains, but it can be done, and very soon, it will become second nature (true story -- it doesn't even really occur to me to ask for anything other than lettuce wrapped or bunless when I get a burger anymore). Base your meals around meats and non-starchy vegetables. Start with simple stuff, then experiment from there. Don't keep the pastas and breads around the house (if you have a spouse that doesn't do it, a common arrangement is that they keep their carby stuff at the office and/or have it for lunch and dinners are primarily LCHF), for the first couple of months, at least, until you can break the "starch-first" mindset. Then you can bring stuff like rice or potatoes in for an extra side for the more carby family members.

I agree with most of these posts. I don't plan any kind of "cheats" and I haven't had the desire to. I have read and heard too many post-cheating complaints about getting kicked out of ketosis, having to go through keto flu basically all over again, gaining lbs, etc. I don't crave foods I "shouldn't" eat on keto. The fat is enough to keep me satisfied all the time without cravings. I feel like I'm cheating all the time with the kind of stuff I can eat. But that's just me.

I don't use the word cheat. It conjures all up all sorts of negativity and guilt.

I do what dragonwolf does. I decide, then and there, if I'm going to eat it or not and then live with it. This is life. Sometimes that chocolate chip cookie has my name it. Most times it doesn't. Even if I do decide to eat it I might get half way through and not want the rest. So I don't eat it. I have a teenage son and he's happy to finish it off otherwise it goes in the bin. I will sometimes work a particular food into my macros for the day. If I want to eat that fun size Mars Bar that will be the only carb I eat for the day.

What I've found more often now is that things don't taste the way you remember they do. I was salivating over some M&M's the other day, remembering how good they tasted. So I decided to have a couple. I ate one. It tasted really bad. Really bad. Nothing like the memory I had. I discovered that I was wasn't missing out anything after all and decided to have a cup of tea to wash the taste out of my mouth.

Different approaches work for different people. You don't have to eat any carbs at all if you choose. It's all about choices.

I would wait at least a couple months before the first one. Some people find diet breaks, especially planned ones, help with compliance. For some people, like my wife, never eating carbs again is just too daunting an idea to face. So, she plans on one day every so often. Then she knows she just needs to be strict until that day.

Personally, I found being strict with not allowing them eventually led to a lack of desire for them. The thought of most foods people wants on cheat days doesn't appeal to me at all.

Eat (verb) is what I do. Diet (noun) is what I eat. I can't cheat on a diet; if I eat it, it is my diet. Whatever I chose to eat (whether It's a wise choice or a foolish one) is my diet and I have no choice but to live (or not live) with the results.

Who are you cheating?

*sniff* wow I think I found the right forum! So pleased to read these responses. Good job people!!!

No planned cheat days here either. LCHF if my way of eating but I enjoy some foods in moderation as well. A glass or two of red wine with a steak dinner, one roll of sushi before switching to sashimi, french onion soup (minus the bread), etc. I just keep everything in track and it evens out.
I couldn't imagine eating high carb foods for an entire day. Actually, I can because I tried it once almost two years ago and it was painful and gross. I carbed up to try and reset and I felt disgusting for two days. Haven't had sugar since Halloween 2013 because of how bad it made my stomach feel. I had a constant stomachache for over 24h.

Hi There, A colleague of mine had a birthday and I had a small piece of chocolate brownie, half of it . I felt like absolute crap the following morning as I have been LCHF and ketosis for over 2 months, max carbs per day 25grams.

Cheat is not the problem,its what you cheat with.

I ate at a buffet a couple weekends ago. I stuck to the meats, although all of them had some sort of marinade on them. Based on the amount of water weight that showed up over the next couple days, I'm guessing there was sugar or starch in those marinades. Not the end of the world, but it is a nice reminder of why I prefer to cook my own foods.

The high carb day last month loading up on oranges and fresh cherries was not bad like the pasta and refined sugar load Thanksgiving but my ketone levels stayed low for like a couple weeks. It is the pot luck dinners at church and the like that can nail me hard if I go and have not eaten in like 8 hours. I do a better job of selecting foods if I do not go hungry.

Since I do low carb 1st for pain management for me to carb load is like skipping taking one's critical medicine.

My BMI has been under 30 for about 10 days and it makes me happy the US gov no longer labels me as Obese. If I drop another 20 pounds over the next four months I will be at 190 which will be OK but 175 would be best. I still have gut fat to address but am OK other wise. I do miss my butt fat when sitting on hard benches very long.