Hell yeah, off to a great start!
Yeah it’s a little staggering how much it is to sustain, let alone add, weight sometimes. Obviously you’re not eating to maintain that weight any more, but it’s important to not crash to super low either, not have any wiggle room to make adjustments, and/or making it really unsustainable/inconsistent. We’re making long haul changes to not just get the weight off but also to teach ourselves to keep it off with a better relationship with what we eat overall.
What worked really well for me was to keep my weight loss rate around or under 1% bodyweight a week. My understanding, sustaining above 1% is where you start running into diminishing returns on muscle sparing, essential nutrition, and such. This shortcuts having to get really pithy with TDEE activity factors and such. And it’s self regulating in adjusting as the weight comes off.
So like right now you can get away with a lot because you have a lot of calories to play around with, but it’s something to be mindful of going forward. I wouldn’t just eat to eat, but don’t force the process either you still have essential nutritional needs even with body fat to spare. And part of the process is learning how to eat better and more sustainably. You might only spend a year or two taking the weight off, but it’s the rest of our lives to keep it off. So it’s important to not just crash diet and find a good balance.
Best of luck!
Hmm, interesting. I ran your numbers through the calorie calculator at calculator.net for BMR. What you’re currently eating is below your metabolic rate for your current weight, but if you were 200 lbs it’s about equivalent. I wonder if you are tall and have a narrow frame rather than broad. All these calculators work off averages and if you’re outside of the average build, it’s of less use to you.
Anyway I wouldn’t be too concerned - your body seems to be happy to get the extra energy it needs from your fat reserves. I would only say remember to focus on essential nutrients such as water soluble vitamins and essential amino acids.