Hi Nichole!
I am a firm believer that if your body says "I'm hungry" you EAT! That beging said, of course you want to be sure you are eating things with good nutrition for both you and your baby. When I was pregnant with my son I ate a ton. I was hungry! IT wasn't "Cravings" like eating a half gallon of icecream, I was just hungry.
I do know that you cannot try to NOT gain the weekly weight you should at this point. Even if it puts you over your "goal" weight, you should still be gaining about 1 pound per week. Check to be sure you are not eating things high in sodium. I swelled and had a lot of water weight with my son as well. Really, if you gain about a pound per week from now till week 36, you will only be at 37 pounds, which is right around the recommended weight gain, anyway.
Talk to your doctor about your concerns. My doctor never said anything about me gaining too much weight. I was healthy and my baby was growing fine, so she wasn't concerned.
Just remember, the baby canNOT live of of stored body fat. He/She needs constant intake of nutrition. By cutting back too much now, you would just be depriving your baby, which you were clear about not wanting to do. You can always just work a little harder later to take off any excess weight, but don't sweat it! Life it too short to worry about a few extra pounds :)
Good luck!