That probably won't work for everyone. Personally, the times I've had to diet down to a lower bodyweight, I find it MUCH easier to maintain that diet with 100% adherence. If I just abstain from calorically dense foods entirely, and mentally remove those things from the list I consider food, it's MUCH, MUCH easier for me to maintain the prescribed diet.

Otherwise, I will crave those foods. But if I just create a wall in my brain where I no longer consider such things food, it's way easier for me to stick to with way less willpower. It's like my brain recalibrates and shifts the whole baseline to a healthier level, rather than having to use willpower alone to keep my eating where it needs to be.

At the levels most people will be dieting, around 500 calorie deficit per day or less, you will wipe out an entire week of dieting with one cheat meal. This is how people stay fat. Cheat meals are idiotic and unsustainable. Just stop eating crap, and deal with it. Once per month if you must.

You’re implying a cheat meal of 7 x 500 = 3500 kcal. That’s… a lot.

It's a lot, but completely possible (Johnny Rocket's Bacon Cheddar double burger 3500kcal, Cheesecake factory Breakfast burrito 2730kcal, Sonic Pineapple upside down shake 2020kcal). These are one off dishes/items.. combined with a starter or dessert, snacking, or a "cheat day" you can exceed.

It's really not that much when you're fat. A Domino's medium pizza is over 1600 calories and I can eat that as a thin person. Add in soda, dessert, etc. And if you have a 'cheat day' which is a common pattern, then it's trivial.

I used to eat a medium pizza from there... after eating nothing the entire day. I do think it depends on what your cheat days look like, but I'd struggle to get anywhere near 3500 calories.

Yes, I know that Cheesecake Factory & such have some high calorie foods on the menu as a sibling comment mentions. I also know that I avoid that place like the plague because I hate wasting food and I can't even eat half of most of their dishes. The few times I have gone, I literally looked at the calories listed on the menu to find suitable items that I wouldn't end up wasting.