One of the most common questions that I am posed by my clients is how often can I cheat. The answer to it is also quite common: The frequency that you will be able to sustain. A lot of individuals try being extremely strict on the program and then indulge themselves with high calorie laden food only to see the lost weight coming back. How about incorporating the cheat meals as per your personal level of sustenance!!
While the frequency will be different for different people, what is of essence is the portion that you maintain at such times of cheat meals.
To explain you in a very lame language. Take an instance of a bucket. The bucket will take the water as per its capacity. Beyond its capacity, any excess water will overflow. In the same way, the body has a certain capacity of food it can absorb and digest at a time. When we overeat/overfeed, any excess food gets accumulated as fat around the cells leading to fat gain.
Overeating can be even worse than actually eating cheat meals at times. While unhealthy meals are by themselves of low nutrition, overeating can convert the healthiest of meals into unhealthy toxic food within the body!!