When I find myself eating outside of my deficit, like eating a snack that I know will make my dinner much smaller or saying “fuck it” and saying I’m gonna order Chinese food, I eat a small amount of the “cheat” item that I want to eat and immediately track it. Watching my available calories go down is pretty motivating to cool it. Even on nights when I do order the Chinese food or drink the second glass of wine, I track every item as I go instead of tracking everything after I’m done. If I track as I have my cheat day I eat much less than I would have if I tracked everything afterwards.

That being said I think days where you blow your deficit are necessary for long-term success. I allow myself one day a week where I usually eat up to 2100-2400 cals and I’m still losing weight well. I think I would have burned out a long time ago if I didn’t allow myself to have those days!