Do you have cheat meals/weeks?

Today I have eaten exclusively fried chicken, bacon, cupcakes, mini eggs and red wine. Technically it fits into my calories but it sure as hell feels like a cheat day!

I just keep my settings on 2lbs per week and follow it Monday through Friday when I exercise and then mostly ignore it on weekends because if I have to think about/count every calorie... I'll spend my life thinking about food. Hence developing an unhealthy habit I didn't have previously. And eating 1200 calories on weekends is too restrictive with Summer activities with the family. I still log... but I don't worry about the calories because weekdays mean I'll still lose *something* on a regular basis. I still eat fairly healthy... but I don't restrict calories enough to make dieting bothersome.

I rely on a weekly deficit/weekly average numbers, and so some days I'll eat more than others. It broadly balances out in the end.

I don't believe in cheating - the whole concept. On the way to losing a third of my body weight, around 60 pounds, in just under a year, I had a very few way-over-calorie-goal days (birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving), when I ate and drank freely; and a few slightly-over-maintenance-calorie days (big meal with out of town friends, vacation, parties).

For predictable events, I would bank a modest number of calories (like 100) daily for the few days beforehand, eat lightly at other meals the day of an event, or fit in some additional fun active thing (bike ride, say) on top of normal activities. After an over day, planned or otherwise, I'd just go back to my regular healthy deficit routine.

I'd also log all of it, estimating if necessary, so I knew the impact. Usually, it just delayed my ultimate goal by a day or three (1500 over goal when losing a pound a week is 2 more days delay). Not really a big deal, as long as it was infrequent. Sometimes, looking back, I'd decide it hadn't been worth it, and decide to handle future circumstances differently. Much of the time, it was OK.

Like others have said, I didn't cut out any foods I love or crave, I just ate the higher-calorie things in smaller portions, or less often, or compensated by reducing other foods I liked less. I'm not saying I didn't change how I ate. There were certain foods that I'd been eating that didn't give me sufficient tastiness, nutrition or satiation for their calorie "cost", so I now eat them less, or not at all.

Personally, I think of weight loss as practice for permanently maintaining a healthy weight. If it's not something I could imagine doing forever, I didn't do it during weight loss (other than the moderate calorie deficit). This extended to occasional indulgent (over goal) days: I wouldn't plan to live without them forever.

Why white-knuckle it through a "diet", only to arrive at goal with no practiced strategy for maintaining the loss forever? Take the stress or emotion out of it: They burn no calories.

Now in my second year of maintenance, that strategy's worked pretty well for me.

Depends on where I am in the "Cut". In the beginning I have a cheat day, mid cut, cheat meal and near the end, none at all lol

I fit what I want to eat into my calorie goals for the day, moderation balanced diet and I focus on healthy. I don't call it cheating because I refuse to make my journey one of guilt. I love that quote "exercise should be a celebration of what our bodies can do, not a punishment for something you ate." I had to change my mind set before I started my journey, I think that will be my most contributing factor in my success. I'm learning a lot hear.

Ugh. I had an unplanned cheat day last night because we ordered Chinese. I usually stick to a negative 1000 on weekdays do that I don't have to eat 1200 on weekends, but my significant other decided he didn't want to cook on a Friday. I ordered what I normally do: General Tsaos Chicken Platter (which comes with veggie fried rice) and then we ordered Veggie Lo Mein as an extra. I think I stayed in my goals by a hair because I had a lot of exercise calories... but normally those are for Saturday and Sunday when I don't work out at all. Agggh. It's not always easy.

And tonight I'm having my "every 3 weeks" night where I allow alcohol back into my diet. I use what is essentially organic, herb infused moonshine... muddle my own berries... and add only club soda (thank goodness I was a bartender in my late teens) and count the shots mostly. I'm probably a bit over 1200, but I did pretty well with the alcohol and such. But that's why I've only averaged about 1.5 lbs per week at best. Weekends. And unplanned surprises from the cook in our home. Just work it out with... actual workouts. Jump rope is always fast, and cheap, and easy, and high calorie burn for emergencies.