How often do you have "cheat'' days?

I'm also against the idea of "cheat days". Many people that do it ask why they're not losing weight. Some days or on special occasions I go over my calories. I then go right back to my normal habits.

I'm also not a fan of the cheat concept, on two fronts.

For one, who or what would I be cheating? Is food a sin or something? Nah. The whole idea is Just Wrong. To me, "cheat days" are kind of like Santa Claus is to me as an adult, a jolly little myth.

Food is just food - we need some - not a moral proposition. Some days I eat more, some days I eat less. Eating more can be for technical reasons (the appetite hormone resets, to spike lagging energy level, whatever), or it can be because food tastes good and I want things that day that won't fit in my basic calorie goal.

If I do that too often, I'll gain weight, and that creates a negative situation for me - worse health, feel worse physically, have to buy new clothes (I hate shopping!). So I need to balance short term pleasure with long term health and happiness. If I "cheat", I'm not getting away with anything. (It's kind of like people who goldbrick excessively on the job whenever possible to "stick it to the man", then are angry they don't get raises and promotions like their more committed co-workers do. We sometimes shoot ourselves in the foot via our own attitudes.)

For two, when I was losing weight, I logged every thing I ate every day like it was religion, because I wanted a really good estimate of my own calorie needs. (MFP, fitness trackers, other calorie calculators just spit out averages for similar people. We're not all exactly average, and a rare few are pretty far off average, possibly in either direction. Turns out I'm one of them.) With that personalized calorie needs estimate, I find I can manage my weight (loss, maintain, gain) quite precisely when I want to, which is nice.

Make a plan for weight loss that's sustainable for you, and - at least at some point during weight loss - that gives you insight into the habits you can practice routinely to stay at a healthy weight permanently, almost on autopilot. If you want the long-term life pattern of eating substantially more or differently one day a week on a particular regular schedule . . . that's a little weird to me, but it's your call. In maintenance, it implies you'll need a small deficit during the week to balance things out calorically.

Paperpudding has the right idea IMO.

I find looking at my weekly averages to be most helpful as well as having a calorie goal range. I typically have a higher calorie day on Saturday as that's the day I usually go out. I don't think of it as a "cheat" but an opportunity to have a little more flexibility or enjoy larger portions. I track macros, so I increase fats and carbs especially. I've found this to be super helpful in maintaining sanity, adherence and motivation.

I would rather have 200 calories' worth of chocolate each day and be happy, than to go completely without six days a week (feeling miserable and cranky) and eat 1400 calories of chocolate one day a week (and feel guilty about it, let alone not be able to fit my other nutritional needs in that day).

I assume people who are banking for the weekend dont intend to eat all their banked calories on a single food thing like chocolate - more likely a higher calorie meal, say, pizza and a couple of beers or going out for dinner etc.

I found weekly calories a good way of managing variety in days - but I didnt feel miserable and cranky on the days I went 100 or so under goal to bank up.

^ interesting comment to add 4 months afterwards.

As had been established already, OP was looking at ways to manage one higher calorie day each week, a perfectly reasonable thing to do within one's weekly calorie allowance.