Help eating on a slight body recomp !

M18. Hey everyone. I’m currently at around 185-190 lbs at 6’1. I used to be pretty in shape when I was younger, maybe 16, say 165 lbs at 5,10 with decent muscle mass. I kinda lost habit at the gym and gained some weight this past year, I got up to around 205ish, but didn’t consistently measure myself at university either so it could have went up. I realized around Thanksgiving that I needed to lose weight, but mostly just get into shape. I’ve started going to the gym consistently again, probably 4-5 times a week depending on my split/ rest, and doing cardio maybe once or twice, although I hope to increase that when I get back to school. I actually enjoy working out so that isn’t much of an issue, but I’m struggling on what to eat. I love eating, but I know that I need to be more conscious of what I’m eating now. My biggest question is of how strict I need to be exactly. I personally don’t think I’m necessarily overweight, I have very big legs with a lot of muscle mass, so my actual weight is higher than I seem, a lot of people are surprised when I tell them how much I weigh. Right now I’m basically just trying to make sure anything I eat has some health benefit, as opposed to straight trash. Sometimes I have some chili, sometimes a sausage, sometimes a sandwich, some seafood. Essentially I’m not trying to eat chicken rice and broccoli 3 times a day 7 days a week because I don’t necessarily think I’m to that point yet, and I like eating good. My biggest question is how bad is it to have a cheaty snack every now and then. Things like a Christmas cookie, sometimes egg rolls, chocolate chip pancakes, and especially cheese and crackers. I know these things aren’t good, but I’m struggling to determine if it’s really worth completely shutting them out of my life when I enjoy it occasionally. So if anyone has some advice for me that’d be great. I’m not trying to get to an extremely lean point like 10% body fat or go on a crazy weight loss journey. I just want to lose a little chub I have and overall get some muscle mass to fill my frame. I’d say I have an above average body build, but I’d like to get into the “good looking” range.