Two Questions:How to handle cheat meal w/out losing as much progress and how to keep RMR H

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I am so close to hitting my goal that I set for myself many years ago

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Then don’t cheat. That’s a pretty big motivation to help you.

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I mean how big of a cheat meal are we talking about? Are we talking you have a cheeseburger and fries or are we talking about you have a double cheeseburger, fries, a shake and 4 beers and then have some ice cream later that still is part of the cheat meal? Basically is this cheat meal 1500 calories or more like 4,000?

I do cheat meals on Saturdays and realize there is a huge difference in what I can do and what I sometimes do. If I go off the reservation for an entire day it takes me 3-4 to get back to my pre weight with all the sodium intake.

To lessen the effects, you can work out before your cheat meal so your body is using some of the calories to repair cells, and you can talk a walk after to help as well. Hydrate a ton too

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For my meal I normally will keep it around 1500 calories for the cheat meal. For snack I keep it under 1000. It's typically a slice of cookie cake or an ice cream. Still that is a 2500 calorie day. It just makes the rest of the weak much easier knowing I have Saturday coming. I guess I might have to just suck it up for a few months until I hit my goal.

Cut back somewhere else. If you know you're gonna have a cheat meal on a saturday then reduce your calories the rest of the day or week so that you still hitting your overall calorie goals per week. If reducing the size of all your other meals doesn't work then maybe fast on Saturday until the cheat meal. You can also drink a ton of water on Saturdays to try to feel fuller so you don't eat as much during the cheat meal. Also increase your step count. Go for a long walk

I went out with a friend and got off my plan on Saturday. I didn't eat the rest of the day and got back on the plan on Sunday. Just don't let a cheat meal turn into a cheat weekend/week/month.

Last summer I took a 17 day cross country road trip where I pretty much cheated everyday. And I ate a lot of food, it wasn't like I just ate a slice of cake or a single burger. Entire pizzas, massive fried seafood platters, huge burgers, lots of ice cream. When it was over I only gained 2 pounds for the entire trip and it only took me 10 days to get back to what I weighed when I started the trip. What I did was only eat once a day. Do not spread your cheat out throughout the day. Utilize a 23-1 fasting method. Eat your food in one sitting in an hour window. Do not make it a cheat day, keep it as a cheat meal.

Here are some other tips if you just want to do it once per week:

1. Fast after the cheat meal. 24 hours minimum but try to go closer to 36. I've found that when I cheat its easier if I do it around 11am-Noon, eat nothing the rest of the day, and it makes the next day of fasting not too hard. This past Saturday I cheated at 11:30am, ended my eating window at 12:30pm, then didn't eat anything until 10:00am this morning where I broke my fast with a flat iron steak and eggs. So a 44 hour fast when all was said and done and it was very easy. I find fasting 44-48 hours a lot harder when the cheat is done at night.

2. Go low carb before the cheat meal for at least 48 hours and get as insulin sensitive as possible. This will make your post cheat fast easier as you will be more insulin sensitive, more fat adapted, and less apt to fat storage and carb cravings.

3. Go low carb after the cheat meal/post cheat fast as well so you aren't overloading your insulin and allow your insulin sensitivity to return.

4. Make sure you stay active. I think cardio is better than weight lifting on a cheat day but either is fine. Also do some post cheat walking or light cardio afterward. I walked 4 miles after my cheat on Saturday and ran 11 miles in the morning before the cheat.

5. Make it count. When I say make it count I am not saying eat 12,000 calories every time you cheat but you can easily get away with a 6,000 calorie cheat as long as you do what I said above. My cheat this past Saturday was about 6,000 calories(massive plate of homemade nachos and then a generous bowl of blue bell ice cream). I had gone low carb 5 days before hand, and fasted all day yesterday, and stepped on the scale this morning weighing equal to what I weighed the morning of my cheat.

6. Don't overdo it... I think a single cheat meal in a week might be fine, depends on your goals. See how it works for you and cut back if needed. Since I am already at or below 10% body fat, insulin sensitive, and fat adapted, a single cheat meal doesn't really hurt me. But if I were fatter and looking to get to 10%, I might space out the cheat meals a little more. I think this is what helped me on the road trip, I was already lean to start the road trip, and was still relatively lean at the end of it. The leaner you are, the more you can get away with cheating since you are insulin sensitive.

It's all about controlling insulin response. The more insulin sensitive you are, the less likely a cheat will hurt your progress.

I would forgo the cheat snack entirely. It's pointless and will only serve to fuel insulin resistance and carb cravings.

Edit: Here is what I ate each day of my roadtrip:

Aug 24 / Las Vegas - Massive Jack in the Box Order... 4 burgers, loaded tiny tacos, 2 regular tacos, potato wedges
Aug 25 / Grand Junction, CO - Carne Asada Fries, Tres Leches Cake, Smothered Chimichanga at Mexican Restaurant
Aug 26 / Denver, CO - 16 inch Supreme NY Style Pizza, Frozen Custard
Aug 27 / Sioux Falls, SD - Fried Mac and Cheese Balls, Double Beer Cheese Burger, Fries
Aug 28 / Eau Claire, WI - Fried Cheese Curds, Burger smothered in a white cheese sauce, Jalapeno Cheddar Fries, Ice Cream Cone with 3 scoops of Ice Cream
Aug 29 / Mackinaw City, MI - Crab Cakes, Fish & Chips, 2 Bars of Mackinac Island Fudge
Aug 30 / Cleveland, OH - Skyline Chili Dogs and Spaghetti, 2 Bars of Mackinac Island Fudge
Aug 31 / Buffalo, NY - 30 Buffalo Wings and Blue Cheese at Duff's
Sep 1 / Kennebunkport, ME - Steamed Clams, 2.5 Pound Lobster, Fries, Lobster Roll
Sep 2 / Cape Cod, MA - Fried Whole Clams, Fries, Lobster Roll, Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae
Sep 3 / Brooklyn, NY - Half a NY Style Pizza, Burger from Emily
Sep 4 / Philadelphia, PA - Philly Steak Sandwich, Fries
Sep 5 / Greenville, SC - BBQ Nachos, BBQ Plate with Brisket, Jalapeno Sausage, Potato Salad, Mac and Cheese
Sep 6 / New Orleans, LA - Massive Fried Seafood Platter at Acme Oyster House with soft shell crabs, shrimp, oysters, fish and fries + Freddy's Frozen Custard in BR
Sep 7 / Houston, TX - Steak and Salad from Taste of Texas with a side of loaded mashed potatoes, snickers pie

Fasted on September 8 and then went low carb/keto for 10 days and was back to the August 24 weight on September 17.

Honestly you shouldn’t be sweating this. I still don’t know your TDEE but I would imagine that 3000 calories is like 500 cal over at most? That’s nothing if you’re in a 200-300 calorie deficit the rest of the week.

Relax. Lift. Sleep good. Hydrate and hit your protein goals. You’ll be fine.

How does one raise their RMR?