How many here are diligently planning diets, counting calories, weighing their foods in their meals they prep, etc? I'm more of a bodybuilder and usually spend most of my time trying to gain weight (far harder than cutting, done right) but last year I decided to diet and cut weight for a long period for the first time ever, and it went 100% as planned as I did exactly what I stated above. I had a cheat meal each weekend, but it was out for like a big seared fish filet and veggies and a beer (maybe a little ice cream, my weakness). You're an way off base if you make your cheat meals like a large pizza or some other 2000 calorie meal just because you "stuck to your diet all week" which far too many people do.
If you can do math and have discipline, there's virtually no secret to losing weight unless you have a medical condition in which should be addressed by a doctor (this is like 1% of people although it seems like 25% of people claim it lol)
First, one lb of fat generally equates to about 3500 calories. So, to lose a lb of fat a week you need to be in roughly a 500 calorie per day deficit, two lbs a week, double that. Unless someone is very obese I wouldn't recommend anyone aim to lose more than 2-3 lbs a week, and even 3 lbs you should probably be burning some of those calories through extra cardio so you're stilling getting some nutrition.
To start, you need to figure out about what your base metabolic rate is (how many calories it takes your body to maintain). Most average inactive women I'd GUESS are around 1800, while most average inactive men are probably closer to 2500. Mind you, the average US person seems to be a bit fat.
Weighing daily will just frustrate most people as there are a million factors into play. How much water are you retaining, when did you last use the restroom, have you had more salt lately, etc. I like to weigh on mondays and Thursday's. Monday's, because I usually had my reasonable cheat meal Saturday, and Thursday, because that's after 4 solid days of sticking to my diet.
Also, if you're losing drastically as you have a lot to lose, you'll have to continue cutting calories over time as your base metabolic rate will drop some. Not a lot, but a bit just depending on circumstances.
Anyways, this is a rough outline of the science of exactly how to lose weight. I started at 5'10 and about 220 in January last year and ended at about 188 and probably 7-8% BF over the course of around 4 months. A steady 1-3 lb weight loss a week, which was my goal. I kept my calories at about 1880 per day with a reasonable cheat meal Saturday, 3 days a week weights followed by 20-30 mins of pretty intense cardio.
Of course, then there's the whole "where are you getting your calories from" which is a different story entirely. The number on the scale is directly related to the number of calories, whether they come from ice cream or fish and potatoes. However, how you FEEL, how you stay full (with complex carbs vs simple) and how much muscle mass you retain, is directly related to where those calories come from. 500 calories in oatmeal will be far healthier and keep you full far longer than 500 calories in ice cream, as the ice cream will send your blood sugar crashing, thus creating more hunger.