Crossed into normal BMI two months ago - when do I stop?

Quick backstory:

Started on March 10th at 32.7 BMI (type 1 obese). I picked my 'ideal weight' as a target weight and decided to make some changes. Originally shot for a 1000 calorie deficit, with 1 hour of cardio on an elliptical, upping the resistance a notch every month or so (I have a mechanical aortic valve so the cardio was for heart health but the weight loss was a big bonus).

Slowly evolved my diet over this time and I gradually made changes and kept stepping things up a notch every ten pounds lost so as not to lose momentum. Was averaging around 2.2 pounds per week lost which was pretty much on target with my calorie deficit.

May 6th I crossed from 'obese' to 'overweight'. Still maintained around 2.2 lbs week. Kept adding resistance to elliptical every month and kept honing my diet.

First true plateau happened at 25.1 BMI (just a shade above normal BMI). That, coupled with the fact that my wife told me some people thought I was sick (they hadn't seen me due to the pandemic so the weight loss was understandably jarring to a few people) let me to finally introduce weight training into the mix.

I work out 7-12 minutes every day. Two alternating routines per day, three sets of x. I rotate the below three regimes:

Day 1: CORE/CHEST Planking (3 sets of 60 seconds) and pushups (currently 3 sets of 28)

Day 2: BICEPS/BACK curls and reverse flys

Day 3: FOREARM/TRICEPS dumbbell wrist flexes and tricep kickbacks

I figure the elliptical machine with the increased resistance has my legs covered. So all told with the hour of cardio immediately followed by weights/protein shake and shower, it's 1.5 hours per day.

The weights did the trick. Normal BMI achieved on August 16th. At this point I was still a shade above 2 lbs per week lost.

HOWEVER, due to the weight training, the 1000 calorie deficit was now no longer possible. I was ravenously hungry ALL THE TIME. I now hover 100-500 below my TDEE. Not surprisingly, the much smaller deficit has impeded weight loss and since August 16th I've lost...five pounds. BUT, I've put on a lot of muscle and it shows, so I know this net number is misleading.

Today I'm 4.8 pounds away from the (arguably arbitrary) ideal weight I picked back in March. BMI is now 24.1 and I'm over five pounds down from the normal weight / overweight line.

Questions / concerns:

My concern is the muscle that I've put on might have moved the goalposts. I'm still (very, VERY slowly) losing weight and I suppose I could continue, and I do NOT want to hover just below overweight desperately clinging to normal weight territory but I'm wondering if a 23.3 BMI is achievable if you're putting on muscle mass (I'm 46, so no spring chicken).

Also, there's the psychological impact of 'stopping'. Relinquishing the 1000 cal deficit was tough enough, so truly eating maintenance scares me.

So, when and how do I stop? Are the rules different for losing weight when you're already normal weight? If anyone who has hit 'their number' has any anecdotes or advice, I'd love to hear it, an for anyone who revised their number, what was your reason?

submitted by /u/mikestorm
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