You're tall. Life is practically won already 
Those of us that used to be heavy really do have much more muscle mass to work with once the fat is dropped. Its really just a matter of getting the he ball rolling. I suggest scheduling non negotiable cardio and then picking a progression based lifting program. You will be able to improve in the weight room every single workout for a year or even longer. That is the coolest most fun thing hitting a new personal best either weight moved or reps every rims you go in there. You seriously can get retarded strong really fast following a progression program.
Keep learning and GI e yourself that first test only cycle as a reward for hitttinv a certain weight or a certain body fat percent. With THAT as incentive e I bet you kill the cut and drop wright in record Time.
Oh yeah, your first year you can easily drop fat and put on muscle at the same time. You are in a flden Tims period naturally! Take full advantage.