I don't think there is anything wrong with carbs. This is a very Anglo-Saxon obsession, UK, USA and where I live, Australia. The more anti-carb a country is, , the fatter it is.
I am from Monaco, so French / Italian way of eating, which includes normal carbs and a disgust towards processed foods.
I am very slim and a VEGan, and the first three letters matters. if you focus on the VEG in vegan, you can't get it wrong and it is very difficult to put on weight if the bulk of your food is vegetables.
When going plant based you need to be mindful of nutrients, because it is very easy to become malnourished on a 50-shades-of-beige foods.
For breakfast, it depends, I might have 35 gr of flaxseeds with a few tbls of rolled oats, with a sliced up date or some homemade spelt or rye bread with chopped papaya on top. Sometimes I made a chia pudding with raspberries. And without fail, I have 1 Brazil nut (for the selenium)
Lunch is a variety of salads with home made dressing. I always have in my fridge some steamed veggies (usually broccoli or cauliflower ) , some cooked asian greens, sliced cabbage and then it can be asparagus, fennel, celery, cucumber, tomatoes, .... to the salad I usually add some marinated tofu, or quinoa, or some lentils/beans/chickpeas / edamame. If I fell fancy, I will had some seeds, sliced almonds, ... I might also add some pomegranate or sliced pear. French have always eaten salades composées, but you can think of it as a Buddha bowl or a poké bowl.
I eat a big volume of it some days, and other I will only have a whole artichoke vinaigrette.
Dinner is often soup. French are crazy about soups. Some morning, I even eat soups for breakfast. From the pumpkin-carrot, onion soups, to a classic minestrone with some tiny pasta in it as well. It can be a Dahl or some middle Eastern dish. I might have a fougasse (a type of focaccia) with it or socca bread (chickpea flour flat bread) . If not soup, I love roasted veggies. From potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, zucchini, ... extra virgin olive oil, coarse salt, fresh rosemary and very hot oven. I will often bake mushrooms (try the oyster mushroom, sliced lengthwise and marinated in mirin, olive oil and soy sauce) at the same time, or slices of tempeh or a quiche with a delicious butter lettuce.
I focus on getting 30 different vegetables (not 30 plants, but 30 vegetables, extra plants such as grains, herbs and spices are a bonus) per week. I make my own kimchi, sauerkraut and other fermented veggies.
When I cook rice (brown, black or red, not white) , I had a fistful of lentils, yellow split pea or other pulse that cooks in 40 min.
I love kale chips. Beetroot chips take a lot of time for very small amount in the end but so delicious. Totally worth the red hands and purple nails one will carry for a few days.
I am lucky that in Australia we have watermelon all year round, so I will have that if I want a tiny something in between meals. In winter , I might do myself a turmeric latte (drink with a straw to avoid yellow teeth!!) or a match latte.
I use soy milk as it has the higher protein content and it is also protective for breast cancer.
Think good food, delicious food, go a bit adventurous with herbs and spices. Then one morning, you fancy a baguette or a croissant, and you go for it.
If going plant based, you MUST take a B12 supplement, and even if you eat seaweeds, an EPA-DHA is highly recommended, a is a vitamin D supplement and iodine drops.
I am never hungry. If one week, trousers feel tighter or the zip on a dress struggles to go up, I cut the nuts and seeds for a weeks, and I eat a bit less, and clothes feel fine again.
Visit your local library , go in the cooking section, and take home some books. From Mediterranean cooking (ratatouilles , stuffed peppers, ....) to Asian there is so much. You can adapt non vegan recipe with easy substitutions . Same with baking.
I stay away from Frankenstein-food, so the fake burger, fake bacon, fake cheese, fake whatever. The only exception is egg replacer for backing biscuits. Chickpea water is too wet, it works fine for cakes, waffles , but not shortcut pastry or dry baking.