Always have on your journey? the reason i am asking is because i would like to focus on my calorie intake everyday and then just one meal eat whatever i have been wanting all week!? If you have or do this does it knock you too far off of your weekly loss?

Thank you

I do one a month. One a week could knock out a serious chunk of your calorie deficit.

It really depends on your personality, though. I am really, really good at deferring gratification as long as I know it isn't forever. So I really, seriously, never go off plan. I never go to a party and eat more than I planned, or break down and have a slice of pizza, or anything like that. However, tell me I can't ever have something and I will get depressed and give up entirely, and once I go off plan, I tend to stay off for a long, long time--I am very bad at pulling myself together.

A once a month planned indulgence (it isn't a cheat--I plan and account for it) allows me to satisfy whatever craving is strongest. However, if you are someone who is usually "mostly" on plan but does sometimes give into temptation and eat more than they should, then I wouldn't add additional, planned indulgences.

It depends. Is that one meal going to be thousands of calories?

I allow myself something off plan now and then but it's a PLANNED item. If I were to allow myself one meal to eat "whatever" I'm sure I'd easily put away over 2k calories!

I don't "cheat". The only things I'm really cutting out of my life that I might want to cheat for is candy and chips. I know full well if I cheat and have a candy bar I'll want a second and a third all too soon. So no cheats. Everything else I want, including things like some pizza or a burger, I can have so I don't feel the need for a cheat.

I always have a special meal (not a cheat meal, because it's planned) on Friday nights. Because I know I'm going to consume extra calories at that meal, I eat more lightly M-Th. This is a form of zig-zagging my calories. It's very important to me to get to have that special meal at the end of the week, but it's pretty much always home-cooked, so it's controllable and I know what's in it and how much I'm going to have, etc.

Well considering I only allow myself a certain amount of calories everyday, I can technically eat whatever I want so long as I stay within that amount of calories for the day. That having been said, I don't eat crappy all day everyday but every couple of days I may eat some hot-cheetos(weakness #1) or pizza but never go over my calories.

No, I hate the word "cheat". I have planned treats as life dictates. For me, this is a lifestyle change. I have to learn how to eat for all of life's occasions and it never means I get to eat "whatever I want". But I'll plan all day for an ice cream treat one evening. Or I'll plan all day for dinner out with friends.

Tonight, it's popcorn while watching The Biggest Loser Finale!

Yes, one day a week we go out to eat and it is usually at our favorite authentic Mexican restaurant. I get veggie fajitas and request no cheese or sour cream on the topping plate so it turns out to be a vegan meal. I wish I could figure out how many cals it is though.

Like others said, I don't "cheat" because I don't consider myself on a diet. I have made a commitment to myself to make healthy eating choices. Yes, sometimes, I make a decision to make a less healthy choice, but I do try to plan for it, and eat less food the rest of the day and/or other days of the week.

But I definitely do not ever "eat whatever I want" anymore. Esp. if you are talking about restaurant food, it's scary just how easy it is to eat away a full week's worth of a calorie deficit if you don't pay attention. So while a restaurant meal is still an indulgence for me, I am careful to watch portion sizes and make sure I am paying attention to everything I'm eating - no mindless nibbling my way through the bread basket, for example.

I know this can sound a little bit strict when you are first starting off, but over time, it really does become of an ingrained way of living, and you are likely to find that even when you are being more flexible about the foods you choose, you just tend to gravitate towards more healthy choices.

I am different from the other posters: I allow myself to eat whatever I want for one entire day every week, with no limits.

To compensate, I typically have one or two very low calorie days after that. (Meaning I sometimes dip as low as 1,000 calories). Most of the time my body is just fine with this, since it's still dealing with everything I ate the day before & I'm not as hungry throughout the next day.

I enjoy having one day a week to look forward to when I can just relax and give in to the urges I've been battling all week. However, I have noticed that I have enjoyed this "treat day" less and less as time goes on. Most of the time I just feel physically icky if I indulge in too much junk. I now really notice how too much sugar & fat affects me: I feel sick!

It doesn't stop me from looking forward to that day and gobbling up whatever I desire, but I think that eventually I will find myself not eating as much junk on that one day. In a sense, it feels like I am slowly weaning myself off sugar/fat/junk this way. Perhaps in the future I will cut it back to one day a month, or one meal a month, because it is simply becoming less enjoyable as time goes on.

It has not had a negative impact on my weight loss, which continues to be steady. I might be able to squeeze in an extra .5 or 1 lb loss a week if I didn't do this, but for now it's worth it to me.

I know others will disagree with how I'm doing things, but this has been working well for me.

I tried one special meal a week and that really slowed my weight loss. On top of that, I tend to gain in the winter and on vacation so I need to be able to lose at a more reasonable weight between those events. At this time, I am only having a special meal when there are social commitments (e.g. Mother's Day).

Apple, for me, I don't have desires to eat like crap anymore, ever really. I don't "battle urges all week". If you don't mind battling urges all week, that's great. But if you want to live without the battle, maybe what you're doing isn't working as great for you as you think.

Just food for thought.

You can either a) just "cheat" or b) structure your calories so that there is room for one meal a week. Meaning that maybe you eat 1300-1600 cals all week and then have 2000-2500 cal day once a week. The actual calorie numbers are individual. This typical works for me and doesn't affect my weight loss much except when I go over the alloted extra cals and just "cheat". I try not to label it as cheating though, it's a choice, and get back on plan immediatly. You have to do what works for you and most people cannot be 100% 100% of the time, I know I can't. So if that means a "cheat" day or a "cheat" meal to keep you on track long term than so be it. You really really just have to do what works for you.

I usually don't say no when it comes to anything I want- but I eat it within my calorie range and make up for it in other ways. That being said, I rarely get any cravings for anything very bad for me. I just got a visit from Aunt Flo, which usually has me craving chocolate...but I'm indifferent now. Sure, every now and then I desire something, but I either come up with a healthy way to enjoy it or limit myself to a little taste, and I'm completely satisfied with that.

Just takes time and getting used to the idea.

I have a "Treat Meal", not a cheat meal, every Sunday. I save calories for this, and feel no guilt since it's planned. One nice thing is, the longer I'm OP, the less power and pull my old eating style has on me, but if I do crave something particular during the week, I just (usually, hehe) practice portion control and have a smaller amount.