Fat distribution question

Over this year I’ve lost 65ish lbs, and I’m starting to be toned in ways I’ve never seen on myself. I’m vascular in my arms/legs/lower abdomen, have visible abs, solid muscle definition, etc. One issue: love handles. For whatever reason they just aren’t following suit with the rest of my body and I still have a muffin top in my sides/lower back. I know spot reducing fat isn’t a thing and that just continuing to lose fat is probably the answer here, but would there be another explanation/solution? Other parts of my body that used to be pretty fatty have gotten pretty lean so I’m somewhat apprehensive to dive too heavily back into serious weight loss. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? What did you do about it?

For what it’s worth, the way I lost it was counting calories to stay in a 500-1000 cal/day deficit, lifting frequently, and playing rugby. Maybe a change to something in there?