An old new guy, kinda.

Hi from the Great State of Oklahoma. No, I'm not from Muskogee darn it. I am a very young looking and feeling 43 years old. I did not start playing guitar till after I was 41. I had not ever played an instrument before either. I started off buying an Ibánez Gio from Guitar Center. It came strung with 9's. I bought a spider iv 15 watt amp at the same time and mainly practiced/played with headphones. I downloaded several different softwares to learn from, finally settleing on yousician. I bought a Scarlett i2 midi device to facilitate this. I dedicated at least 30 minutes on weekdays and the 60 minutes on weekends of practice time barely missing (I have noticed I don't fall asleep as well when I don't practice or play at night now) any days.
When I started yousician, level 3 was hard for me mainly on the rythym side. Mainly because it was learning the chords and transitions. I have worked up to level 7, having just paid my second year fees about 2 weeks ago. The software has filled the void of having a real teacher, but I feel it has not adaqutely replaced one.
Last year I bought an American Design Experience Strat. I love my kids almost as much as this machine. It sounds so much clearer and feels sturdier and stronger then the $200 Ibánez. It is also harder to play, more challenging. I made it more challenging by ordering it with 10's strung on it.
Now I just play for fun, so I am wondering if I am just making things harder by keeping the 10's on, or if I would like my playing better if I switched to 9's on the Strat. Playing the Ibánez is easier, especially with the 9's.
What does the forum think? Would you switch to 9's and why? Or would you tough out the 10's and why. Thank you for reading this.