Dieting for weight loss - compensating for bad days?

[MaxPower]

Given your size, weight, and activity level you should consistently lose weight even if you occasionally eat more than 2000 calories. You should figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate which is probably something like 2400 calories.

Weigh yourself once a week. If you weight less each week, what you are doing is correct. I don't think you need to compensate for days when you eat more (don't call them bad days). For instance last week I lost 2 pounds even though I ate pretty heavily on Thanksgiving and the day after and had about 8 alcoholic drinks. The key thing is to eat a healthy diet most of the time. Indulging yourself every so often is a good thing that will make it easier for you to continue to lose weight.

I don't know about metabolism, but I think that severely depriving yourself of calories on certain days is going to backfire because it will make you very hungry and cause you to overeat. Don't ever let yourself get very hungry.