@lostandtired Hey lady! Also 5'8" mirena using, food loving, sweeth tooth lady here. This is completely anecdotal but I found my weight really stabilized when I adopted a semi-intermittent fasting vegan lifestyle. Now, I know this sounds horrible but hear me out.
In the morning my husband and I alternate making fresh squeezed juice from vegetables and a small amount of fruit. This gives me the blood sugar and nutrients I need to get going but doesnt seem to open the flood gates. Previously when I was eating breakfast daily (ranging from homemade granola bars to cheesy 3gg scrambles) I found I wanted a mid morning snack and was famished by lunch. By skipping breakfast and just having liquids (juice, coffee, water) I seem to hold off breaking the rhetorical seal.
For lunch I have a huge meal. Sometimes it's a giant salad with two vegie burgers, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, balsamic, croutons, sometimes it's 2 cups kale, 2 cups broccoli, half a block of fried tofu, cashews, siracha and soy sauce. If im not stuffed after that I have a piece of fruit. The key for me is getting to where I'm super full at lunch, the point where I need to go for a walk to feel comfortable.
Sometimes in the afternoon I need a little pick me up around 3. This may be just a coffee, a diet coke, a tea, or piece of fruit. Whatever sub 200 calorie thing I'm feeling that I think will get me to dinner.
Dinner is often similar to lunch, but with a carb. Tacos with rice beans and avocado, pasta with soy crumbles, red sauce and cashew "cheese", a monster salad with all the fixings, pizza with tofu"cheese" soy crumbles and lots of vegies, Asian stiry fry with 4 cups veggies, soy sauce, and seitan (tastey wheat gluten based protein).
I've never been healthier or felt better, even when I was consuming an omnivore diet.
I would be hesitant to cut out gluten unless you are actually allergic. My brother has celiac disease so I went through a phase where I avoided it, but in the end I found that I was often more satisfied in my diet when including a carb than not--and there are a lot of delicious based carbs.
Feel free to pm me if you have any questions!