Weight Management

Every library entry that names Weight Management as a goal. Each is a full page: what it does, stage by stage, and what the evidence says. Build a plan for this goal →

Which of these keeps you full longest

Ranked on the satiety index, where white bread is 100: how full a fixed 240 kcal of each leaves you two hours later. Measured for the foods Holt et al. (1995) tested, modelled from those measurements for the rest. Read the ORDER, not the gaps — the model’s error is around 40 points, so two neighbours here are indistinguishable while the two ends of the list are genuinely far apart.

Foods nobody eats 240 kcal of are not on this list at all: a spice, a drink or a salad leaf cannot be ranked on a per-240-kcal measurement, and giving them a number was how an earlier version of this page came to recommend cinnamon.

1. Lupin BeansVery high — 281 on the index, modelled
2. LupinVery high — 281 on the index, modelled
3. Egg WhitesVery high — 231 on the index, modelled
4. Prickly PearVery high — 228 on the index, modelled
5. King George WhitingVery high — 221 on the index, modelled
6. FlatheadVery high — 217 on the index, modelled
7. ChickenVery high — 215 on the index, modelled
8. Hoki (Blue Grenadier)Very high — 213 on the index, modelled
9. OatsVery high — 209 on the index, measured
10. Meat AlternativeVery high — 209 on the index, modelled
11. ChickpeasVery high — 208 on the index, modelled
12. Rabbit (Farmed, Whole)Very high — 205 on the index, modelled
13. Crocodile (Back Leg)Very high — 203 on the index, modelled
14. BassaVery high — 203 on the index, modelled
15. Greek YogurtVery high — 197 on the index, modelled

Per calorie, not per gram: this ranks what fills you up for a fixed number of calories, which is the constraint that matters here and is a different question from how much of something you can eat.

Supplements

• BerberineA plant compound studied closely for its effect on blood sugar.
• CaffeineYou build tolerance to some of its effects faster than others.
• ChromiumInvolved in how well your cells respond to insulin.
• GlucomannanA fiber from a Japanese root vegetable that swells enormously in water — helpful for constipation and cholesterol, but genuinely risky if swallowed dry.
• Green Tea Extract (EGCG)Concentrates the compound behind green tea’s reputation into a capsule.
• GuggulA tree resin used for millennia in Ayurveda for metabolic and cholesterol complaints — but the most rigorous modern trial found it didn’t work the way tradition claims.
• Psyllium FiberWorks by soaking up water rather than being digested.
• Whey ProteinThe 30-minute window after training is mostly a myth.

Food

• Almond BeverageA low-calorie drink that is mostly water. Check the label for added calcium — that is the part that matters.
• ArtichokeArtichokes are a fiber-packed flower bud that feeds your gut bacteria and gives your liver a gentle nudge to make more bile for digesting fat.
• ArugulaArugula's spicy taste and its vitamin K, calcium, and nitrates all come from the same peppery plant compounds.
• BarThe health-food end and the confectionery end of this shelf are closer together than the packaging suggests.
• BassaLean, mild and inexpensive — a white fish that gives you protein rather than omega-3.
• Bean SproutsBean sprouts are crunchy, low-calorie veggies with real vitamin C and vitamin K in them, but they should be cooked, not eaten raw, to stay safe.
• Bitter MelonBitter melon is a super low-calorie vegetable packed with vitamin C, and some studies show it can gently help lower blood sugar, but it's not a magic diabetes cure.
• BroccoliContains something no supplement quite copies — and it depends how you cook it.
• Butter BeansA soft, buttery bean that must always be cooked — never eaten raw.
• Chayote SquashChayote is basically water with a crunch, but it quietly delivers a solid dose of folate.
• ChickenNearly all the fat in chicken sits in the skin, not the meat.
• ChickpeasA plant iron and protein source that also feeds your gut bacteria.
• Chicory (Witlof)A low-calorie, slightly bitter leafy vegetable — from the same plant whose root is roasted and used as a coffee substitute.
• ChokoA mild, watery vegetable that takes on whatever it is cooked with.
• Crocodile (Back Leg)A very lean white meat — good for protein, but do not count on it for iron the way you would beef.
• Daikon RadishDaikon is a crunchy, watery radish that's low in calories but surprisingly high in vitamin C, and its natural enzymes may give your stomach a small hand with starchy food.
• Egg WhitesEgg whites are almost pure protein with barely any fat or calories, but you should always cook them first.
• EggsA genuinely complete protein — and a choline source most people overlook.
• FeijoaA small, fragrant fruit that’s low in calories but a decent source of vitamin C and fibre.
• FlatheadA very lean fish — lots of protein, very little fat.
• GrapefruitGrapefruit is packed with vitamin C, but it can also make certain medicines act stronger than they should.
• Greek YogurtA food first and a probiotic second — the two get mixed up constantly.
• Habanero PepperHabaneros are super spicy peppers packed with vitamin C — the burn you feel isn't your body being damaged, it's a nerve alarm going off.
• Hoki (Blue Grenadier)A very low-calorie white fish that quietly delivers one of the better selenium doses around.
• Honeydew MelonHoneydew is basically nature's flavored water — light, hydrating, and still packed with real vitamin C and potassium.
• Iceberg LettuceIceberg lettuce isn't "just crunchy water" - it's mostly water, but that water comes packaged with real vitamin K.
• JalapeñoA jalapeño's fire is a trick your nerves fall for, not an injury — and it definitely won't give you an ulcer.
• JicamaJicama is a crunchy, juicy root that's low in calories but high in fiber and vitamin C — just make sure you peel off the skin, since only the inside root is safe to eat.
• King George WhitingA delicate white fish that’s nearly all lean protein.
• LentilsA plant iron source without the oxalates that block spinach’s iron.
• LettuceNearly all water — but the darker the leaf, the more it actually gives you.
• LupinA bean that is mostly fibre and protein, with hardly any starch in it.
• Lupin BeansLupin beans are a super high-protein bean, but you can't eat them straight from the pod — they need a long soak to wash out bitter, unsafe compounds first.
• Meat AlternativeWhat these are made from matters more than the fact they replace meat.
• MelonAll melons are mostly water. The colour of the flesh tells you what else is in there.
• Mineral WaterPlain mineral water is water with dissolved rock in it. The flavoured version is usually water with sugar in it.
• Nashi Pear (Asian Pear)A crisp, juicy fruit that’s mostly water and a little fibre and natural sugar.
• NutAlmost all of them are high in fat — but chestnuts are starchy, and peanuts are not really nuts at all.
• OatsOne of the few foods with strong evidence for lowering cholesterol.
• Poblano PepperPoblano peppers are a mild, meaty green chile that bring real vitamin C and just a hint of heat without overwhelming a dish.
• Prickly PearA cactus fruit that’s mostly water and fiber, with a solid dose of vitamin C.
• QuarkQuark is a simple strained dairy food that gives you a lot of protein and calcium without much fat or sugar.
• RabbitRabbit meat gives you a lot of protein for very few calories, but eating only rabbit without any fat can actually make you sick.
• Rabbit (Farmed, Whole)A very lean white meat — high in protein, but famously too lean to eat as your only food.
• RhubarbA very low-calorie, high-fiber stalk vegetable with a distinctly tart bite.
• Rice CakesRice cakes look like a light diet snack, but because they're basically pure puffed starch with almost no fiber, they can spike your blood sugar faster than candy does.
• Rice Paper WrapperA thin sheet of rice and tapioca starch. It adds almost nothing to a roll except the ability to hold it together.
• Spaghetti SquashSpaghetti squash turns into noodle-like strands when you cook it, and it's mostly water -- so you get a big, filling plate for very few calories.
• SproutSprouting turns a dry seed into a small fresh vegetable, and the conditions that do it also suit bacteria.
• SquashA summer squash, picked young — which is why it is watery and mild rather than sweet and starchy like a pumpkin.
• SwedeA mild, low-calorie root vegetable that's a genuine vitamin C source, related to cabbage more than to potatoes.
• WaterTap, bottled and sparkling hydrate identically. What differs is fluoride, sodium and price.
• Wax JambuBell-shaped, waxy-skinned and about ninety per cent water — crisp and refreshing rather than sweet.

Movement

• Bear CrawlOnly two limbs are on the ground at any moment, so the body spends the whole time stopping itself from twisting.
• BurpeeMost of the cost is not the push-up or the jump — it is dropping the whole body to the floor and lifting it back up again, over and over.
• CyclingLower-impact cardio that still genuinely trains your heart and legs.
• Devil PressEach rep moves two dumbbells from the floor to arm's length overhead — a bigger vertical distance than almost any other repeated gym movement.
• Everyday Movement (NEAT)The movement outside your workouts can burn more energy than the workouts themselves.
• Goblet SquatThe weight in front acts like a counterweight, so sitting down between your heels stops feeling like falling backwards.
• HIITShort, hard efforts that keep burning calories after you stop.
• Man MakerThe dumbbell you can use is set by the weakest movement in the chain, which is nearly always the clean or the press at the end.
• PickleballThe small court is what makes it demanding — there is nowhere to retreat to, so the ball comes back before you have finished recovering from the last shot.
• Pull-UpIt gets harder as you rise, because the last few inches are where your arms have the worst leverage and the back has already shortened.
• RowingOne of the few cardio machines that works most of your body at once.
• RunningSteady effort that trains your heart like any other muscle.
• SquashThe ball comes back off the front wall whether you are ready or not, which is what removes the rest.
• Stair ClimbingOne of the highest-intensity things you can do with no equipment at all.
• SwimmingFull-body, joint-friendly exercise that also trains your breathing.
• ThrusterTwo exercises share one breath — the bar sits on the throat at the bottom and finishes overhead, so breathing is squeezed at exactly the moment it is most needed.
• TriathlonThe legs coming off the bike have spent an hour pushing without ever absorbing an impact, and running asks them to do the opposite immediately.
• Ultimate FrisbeeA disc stays in the air far longer than a ball, and that flight time is what turns every throw into a long sprint.
• WalkingThe most underrated cardio there is.
• Walking LungeEach step is a landing before it is a lift — you catch your own weight moving forwards on one leg, then push out of it.
• Wall Ball ShotHolding the arms overhead at the end of every rep is what drives the heart rate up, more than the weight of the ball ever does.

Recipes

• Air-Popped PopcornA wholegrain that comes in bowls the size of your head, for about a hundred calories.
• Baba GanoushAubergine burnt until the skin collapses, which is where all the smoke in it comes from.
• Baked Apple ChipsTwo hours in a low oven with nothing added at all, and they come out sweet enough to be suspicious.
• Baked Avocado & EggAn egg baked into half an avocado. Two ingredients, one tray, no technique.
• Baked Cod with White BeansA lean white fish sat on beans that soak up everything in the pan.
• Baked Egg MuffinsA tray of these on Sunday is five breakfasts you do not have to think about.
• Baked Pear with RicottaA dessert that is mostly fruit, and the only sugar in it came with the pear.
• Baked Portobello with FetaA mushroom big enough to be the main thing on the plate.
• Boiled Eggs with SaltThe most portable protein there is, and the timer is the only skill involved.
• Calamari with Rocket & LemonSquid is either cooked in two minutes or in forty. There is nothing in between.
• Celery with Peanut ButterThe childhood snack that turns out to have been right all along.
• Cottage Cheese & Tomato on EzekielSprouted-grain bread and 25g of protein, assembled in the time the toaster takes.
• Cottage Cheese Breakfast BowlThe highest-protein-per-calorie way to start the day that still tastes like dessert.
• Cottage Cheese PancakesPancakes with roughly the protein of a chicken breast, which is not how pancakes usually go.
• Crispy Roasted ChickpeasChickpeas roasted until they crack — a crisp snack that is mostly fibre and protein.
• Curried Chickpea SaladThe texture of a tuna sandwich filling, built entirely from a tin of chickpeas.
• Devilled EggsSix eggs, ten minutes of boiling, and about 6g of protein in each half.
• Egg White Breakfast WrapA breakfast wrap that keeps the protein and leaves most of the fat behind.
• FattoushA Levantine salad invented to use up stale bread, which is still the best reason to make it.
• Frozen Berry CupFrozen berries straight from the bag, with yogurt poured over to freeze onto them.
• Frozen GrapesThe single laziest thing in this library, and genuinely better than the unfrozen version.
• Ful MedamesEgypt’s national breakfast: mashed fava beans, lemon and oil. Cheap, filling, and about 15g of fibre a serving.
• GazpachoCold soup, which sounds like a punishment until the first genuinely hot day of the year.
• Grapefruit & Cottage CheeseA breakfast from 1975 that has aged better than most of what replaced it.
• Grilled Chicken SaladA genuinely filling salad, built around real protein instead of just lettuce.
• Grilled Whiting RollA fish roll made properly: grilled rather than battered, which turns a takeaway into a decent lunch.
• Hummus & Veg PitaA pocket of bread and whatever is crunchy in the fridge, held together by hummus.
• Hummus with Carrots & CucumberA dip-and-crunch snack that’s mostly vegetables.
• Instant Miso SoupUnder 50 calories, mostly water, and it stops the 4pm biscuit more reliably than anything else here.
• Kale ChipsThe trick is drying the leaves properly. Wet kale steams in the oven and never once goes crisp.
• Kefir & Chia PotMade in a jar the night before by someone who will not be awake enough to make it in the morning.
• Kohlrabi & Apple Slaw with HamKohlrabi is the vegetable nobody buys, which is a shame, because raw it is better than cabbage.
• Lentil & Walnut SaladThe lunch that survives being made on Sunday and eaten on Wednesday without complaint.
• Miso Soup with TofuEight minutes, four ingredients, and never let it boil.
• MujadaraLentils, rice and a mountain of fried onions. Three ingredients, and one of the great cheap meals.
• Nori Snack SheetsAlmost no calories, a lot of iodine, and gone in about ninety seconds.
• Oat Bran with PrunesThe highest-fibre breakfast in the library, and it is not close.
• Octopus & Potato SaladA Mediterranean harbour dish. The octopus needs an hour and absolutely no attention.
• OkonomiyakiA cabbage pancake, which is a much better idea than it sounds, and mostly vegetable by weight.
• Olives & FetaA snack that is mostly fat, and entirely fine for being so.
• Ostrich Steak with GreensA red meat from a bird, leaner than chicken breast, and ruined by anything past medium rare.
• Oven-Baked Fish & WedgesFish and chips without the deep fryer, and no worse for it.
• Pea & Mint DipA bag of frozen peas and four minutes. The greenest thing you can put on a table.
• Pepper Strips with HummusPeppers hold dip better than any cracker, and bring their own vitamin C.
• Pistachios in the ShellThe shells are the feature. Having to open each one slows you down enough to notice you are full.
• Pork & Cabbage Stir-FryCabbage, cooked fast and hot, stops being the vegetable nobody wanted.
• Prawn & Avocado CocktailA 1970s starter that was always secretly a very good lunch.
• Prawn & Mango SaladSweet, sour, hot and salty in one bowl — the four notes a Thai salad is built on.
• Prawn Green CurryPrawns go in last and cook in ninety seconds — everything else is ready before they see the pan.
• Prosciutto & MelonTwo ingredients, no cooking, and it has been on Italian tables for about four hundred years.
• RatatouilleEvery vegetable cooked separately before they meet, which is the whole argument between a good one and a bad one.
• Rhubarb & Yogurt BowlStewed rhubarb keeps a week in the fridge, which makes this a two-minute breakfast for six days out of seven.
• RibollitaTuscan bean soup thickened with yesterday’s bread. The name means reboiled, and it is better the second time.
• Rice Cakes with Peanut Butter & BananaThe three-minute snack that heads off the 4pm trip to the vending machine.
• Roast Cauliflower & Tahini BowlCauliflower roasted hard enough to go brown at the edges, which is the only way it is worth eating.
• Roast Pumpkin & Quinoa SaladOne tray of roast pumpkin becomes lunch for the next two days.
• Roast Pumpkin SoupRoast the pumpkin rather than boiling it, and the soup tastes like twice the ingredients.
• Roasted Broad BeansThe same idea as roasted chickpeas, with about half again as much protein.
• Roasted ChestnutsThe only nut that is mostly starch rather than fat, which makes it the lowest-calorie one by a distance.
• Scallops with Pea PuréeScallops take ninety seconds a side. Everything else on the plate should be finished before they go in the pan.
• Seitan & Slaw WrapWheat protein, which sounds unappealing and behaves more like meat than anything else on the shelf.
• Semolina UpmaA savoury South Indian breakfast that goes from cupboard to table in twenty minutes.
• Shrimp with Zucchini NoodlesA lighter, lower-carb take on shrimp scampi.
• Skyr with Toasted AlmondsIcelandic strained yogurt, which is essentially a soft cheese pretending to be a breakfast.
• Smashed Chickpea SandwichBuilt like a tuna sandwich, without the tuna, and it survives a morning in a bag better than one.
• Smoked Salmon Cucumber BitesCucumber instead of a cracker, which turns a canapé into something you can eat a plate of.
• Snapper CevicheFish cooked by acid rather than heat, which takes fifteen minutes and no equipment at all.
• Stewed Apple with CinnamonKeeps five days in the fridge and turns yogurt, porridge or toast into something else entirely.
• Sweet Potato ToastSlices of sweet potato through the toaster instead of bread. Sounds like a gimmick, works completely.
• Tom Yum with PrawnsHot, sour, and about 120 calories a bowl. The most flavour-per-calorie dish in the library.
• Tuna Cucumber BoatsCucumber hollowed out and used as the vehicle, which drops the carbohydrate to almost nothing.
• Tuna on Rice CakesTwenty grams of protein assembled from things that live in a desk drawer.
• Tuna Salad SandwichA tin of tuna, treated with more respect than usual.
• Turkey & Cranberry SaladWhat to do with the leftovers, any month of the year.
• Turkey Hummus WrapA five-minute lunch that doesn’t taste like a five-minute lunch.
• Turkey LarbA Laotian minced-meat salad, eaten in lettuce cups, that is basically all protein and herbs.
• Turkey Stuffed PeppersPeppers used as the dish as well as the vegetable.
• Vegetarian Bean ChiliA big batch that tastes better the next day — freezes well too.
• Veggie OmeletteA full vegetable drawer folded into three eggs.
• Watermelon & FetaSalt on watermelon, which sounds wrong until the first mouthful.
• White Bean & Rosemary DipHummus made from what is actually in the cupboard, and lighter than the chickpea version.
• Yogurt Dip with Veg SticksA dip with real protein in it, and something crunchy to carry it.

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