I personally disregard weight goals because I find it can be discouraging to feel objectively better, but then the number on the scale says you're no different. So I just walk by the scale now.

Anyway, but that's me. For snacking, I find drinking a lot of water after meals, and having healthy snacks that I like (chopped carrots, mixed nuts, chia seed pudding, really dark chocolate, etc) helps.

Also I personally don't believe in "cheat days" but I like allowing myself to enjoy some junk socially. Like we have a local doughnut+coffee shop nearby, and my buddy and I will usually meet there on our dates. It's fun, it's local. I don't feel bad about it.

Hopefully there's a helpful tidbit in here and I didn't come off as preachy!

But once I’ve hit my goal and don’t need to hit gym that hard anymore… That frightens me.

I'm pretty sure the notion of not needing to exercise as much after you've hit your goal is a misconception to begin with, if it makes you feel any better.