Where to start 270lbs 5’10” male

I want to start losing weight. As the title says, I’m an 18 year old guy who is 5’10 and 270 pounds. My goal is to start losing weight when I begin college in about three weeks.

For some background, I was always a pretty average sized kid. I played football and basketball and spent a lot of time outside with friends. I think my weight gain really started during the pandemic when I was in 6th grade. Around that time, my mom lost her job and my parents got divorced. Fast food became the easiest option since my mom had always cooked almost every meal at home before that. Like a lot of younger guys during the pandemic, I spent most of my time sitting in front of my PS4 or my PC.

When school started back up, I decided to play football again in 8th grade. At that point I was probably around 220 pounds. That was also when I first started lifting. Believe it or not, I was actually pretty strong for my age. Going into high school I quit football for band, but I took weight training my freshman year and really enjoyed it. My best lifts were a 405 squat and a 275 bench. After freshman year though, I pretty much stopped working out consistently.

Now I’m entering my freshman year of college at 270 pounds, and for the first time I’ll have a gym within walking distance. I’ve never owned a car, so getting to the gym consistently has always been my biggest problem. I genuinely enjoy lifting and I’m still pretty active. I play pickleball and swim regularly, and I have friends who like doing active stuff, so I don’t feel out of shape physically. I’ve also done a calorie deficit before, but it eventually fell apart because eating differently from my family got expensive. Now that I’ll have access to a dining hall and a gym, I feel like I finally have the opportunity to be consistent.

I’m experienced enough in the gym and I’m ready to commit. I just want the best advice possible for someone in my situation. Right now my plan is to stop training mainly for strength and instead focus on losing weight while keeping as much muscle as I can. I’m thinking about lifting five days a week and adding running into my workouts. Does that sound like the right approach, or would you recommend something different?