Vegetarian(ish) dealing with hunger, beginning CICO

Hi there I'm just beginning this week and I'm having a problem dealing with hunger, especially at night and as the week goes on it gets more noticeable.

I'm currently the heaviest I've ever been at 5'8" and 225lbs. I'm female.

I've been vegetarian for 10 years, but recently have been wanting to eat some meat again, when I'm in the mood for it. Some days it literally sounds disgusting and others I'm eating a turkey sandwich because it's convenient and what we have on hand, or my dad makes the comforting chicken soup I loved my whole childhood/teenage years. Nevertheless, I'm eating vegetarian 90% of the time.

Basically, is feeling hungry at certain points normal? Like before bed? And it seems to be worse because I'm exercising now where before I wasn't.

I'm also worried about protein and carbs. I can only eat so much greek yogurt 🫩 and I try to have tofu or tempeh or seitan in my lunch and dinner. Beans have carbs so I try to stay away from too many and nuts are high in calories. I've been drinking the core protein milks with breakfast for a while now. But it still seems hard to hit my personal goal for that while staying under calories, while also not being too repetitive.

I'm open to meal prep ideas, and any advice to help!