Tina Murray

One piece of advice often given to dieters is to eat until you reach satiety — that is, until you feel full.

The problem is that different foods can have vastly different effects on hunger and satiety.

For example, 200 calories of chicken breast may make you feel full, but it could take 500 calories of cake to have the same effect.

Thus, weight loss isn’t just about eating until you feel full. It’s about choosing the right foods that make you feel full for the least amount of calories.

What Makes a Food Filling?

Many factors determine a food’s satiety value, or how filling it is relative to its calorie content. The calorie/satiety ratio is measured on a scale called the satiety index (1).

The satiety index also measures a food’s ability to make you feel full, reduce your hunger and lower your calorie intake over the course of the day.

Some foods simply do a better job at satisfying hunger and preventing overeating than others.

Filling foods tend to have the following qualities:

High volume: Studies indicate that the volume of food consumed strongly influences satiety. When foods contain a lot of water or air, the volume is increased without adding calories (2, 3).
High protein: Studies show protein is more filling than carbs and fat. Diets higher in protein increase satiety and lead to lower overall calorie intake than lower-protein diets do (4, 5).
High fiber: Fiber provides bulk and helps you feel full. It also slows the movement of food through your digestive tract, which keeps you feeling fuller for longer (6).
Low energy density: This means that a food is low in calories for its weight. Foods with low energy density can help you feel full for fewer calories (7).
So if you eat foods with the above characteristics, then you can usually eat them until fullness without getting in too many calories.

Here are 12 filling foods you can eat a lot of without getting fat.

1. Boiled Potatoes.

Due to their higher carb content, many people avoid potatoes when trying to lose weight, but they shouldn’t.

Whole potatoes are loaded with vitamins, fiber and other important nutrients. They also contain a certain type of starch called resistant starch (8, 9).

Resistant starch contains half the calories of regular starch (2 instead of 4 calories per gram). In your digestive system, it acts a lot like soluble fiber, helping you feel full.

Because adding resistant starch to meals helps satisfy hunger, it causes people to eat fewer calories (10, 11).

Interestingly, cooling potatoes after they’re cooked increases their resistant starch content. In fact, studies show that cooling and reheating potatoes multiple times continues to increase their hunger-suppressing effect (12).

In a study that measured the ability of 38 foods to satisfy hunger, boiled potatoes ranked the highest (1).

While boiled potatoes were the most satisfying food tested, fried potato chips were found to be three times less filling.

2. Whole Eggs.

Eggs are another food that has been unfairly demonized in the past. The truth is, eggs are incredibly healthy and high in several important nutrients.

Most of the nutrients, including about half of an egg’s protein, are found in the yolk.

Eggs are a complete protein, meaning they contain all nine essential amino acids.

In addition, they’re very filling.

Several studies found that people who ate eggs for breakfast were more satisfied and consumed fewer calories throughout the day than those who had a bagel for breakfast (13, 14, 15).

In particular, one study found that people who ate eggs for breakfast lowered their body mass index (BMI) and lost more weight than those who ate a bagel (16).

3. Oatmeal.

Oatmeal is a type of porridge, or hot cereal, that is often consumed for breakfast.

It’s incredibly filling and ranks third on the satiety index (1).

This is mainly due to its high fiber content and ability to soak up water.

Oats are a good source of a soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which helps slow down digestion and the absorption of carbs (17).

When compared to ready-to-eat breakfast cereal, oatmeal was better at suppressing appetite, increasing satiety and reducing calorie intake throughout the day (18, 19).

4. Broth-Based Soups.

Liquids are often considered to be less filling than solid foods.

However, research shows soups may be more filling than solid meals with the same ingredients (20, 21).

When soup was eaten at the start of a meal in one study, subjects consumed 20% fewer calories at that meal (22).

Several studies found that routinely eating soup can reduce calorie intake, enhance satiety and promote weight loss over time (23, 24, 25).

Stick to broth-based soups, as they tend to be lower in calories than cream-based varieties.

5. Legumes.

Legumes, such as beans, peas and lentils, are well known for being good sources of fiber and protein.

This, combined with a relatively low energy density, makes them a filling food that may even promote weight loss (26).

A review of several studies indicates that beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils are 31% more filling than pasta and bread (27).

6. Apples.

Fruits are an important part of a healthy diet.

Several studies indicate eating fruit is associated with lower calorie intake and can contribute to weight loss over time (28, 29, 30, 31).

In particular, apples score very high on the satiety index (1).

Because apples contain pectin, a soluble fiber that naturally slows digestion, they help you feel full (32).

They are also over 85% water, which provides volume and improves satiety without adding calories.

It’s important to note that whole, solid fruit increases satiety more than puréed fruit or juice, both of which are not particularly filling (33).

One study looked at the effects of eating solid apple segments, applesauce or drinking apple juice at the beginning of a meal.

It found that those who ate solid apple segments consumed 91 fewer calories than those eating apple sauce and 150 fewer calories than those drinking apple juice (34).

Eating apple segments also resulted in higher fullness ratings and lower hunger ratings than other forms of fruit.

7. Citrus Fruits.

Similarly to apples, citrus fruits are high in pectin, which can slow digestion and increase satiety.

They also have a high water content. Both oranges and grapefruit contain over 87% water, which means they’re able to fill you up for very few calories.

It has often been suggested that eating grapefruit can promote weight loss.

In one study, obese participants eating grapefruit lost significantly more weight than those given a placebo (35).

In another study, eating half a grapefruit three times daily at mealtimes for six weeks was associated with modest weight loss and a significant reduction in waist circumference (36).

When combined with calorie restriction, consuming grapefruit or grapefruit juice before meals resulted in a 7.1% weight loss, a significant reduction in body fat and weight circumference (37).

However, these results may not be exclusive to grapefruit, as drinking water before meals had similar effects.

8. Fish.

Fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids may increase satiety in people who are overweight or obese (38).

They’re also loaded with high-quality protein, which is known to be very filling.

In fact, fish scores higher than all other protein-rich foods on the satiety index and ranks second of all foods tested (1).

One study found the effect of fish on satiety was significantly greater than that of chicken and beef (39).

Another study found participants who ate fish consumed 11% fewer calories at their next meal than those who ate beef (40).

9. Lean Meats.

Lean meats are high in protein and very filling.

In fact, higher-protein diets lead to lower overall calorie intake than lower-protein diets (5).

One study found that people ate 12% less at dinner after eating high-protein meat at lunch, compared to those who had a high-carb lunch (41).

Beef scored second highest of all protein-rich foods on the satiety index, but other lean meats such as chicken and pork are also weight loss friendly (1).

10. Cottage Cheese.

Cottage cheese is low in calories but very high in protein.

It is also packed with healthy nutrients, including B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus and selenium.

These characteristics make cottage cheese a weight loss friendly food.

One study found that its effect on fullness is similar to that of eggs (42).

11. Vegetables.

Vegetables are low in calories and high in volume.

They’re also packed with all kinds of beneficial nutrients and plant compounds that make them an important part of a healthy diet.

Furthermore, they’re high in water and fiber, both of which help fill you up.

Research shows that salads, in particular, help satisfy hunger, especially when consumed before a meal.

In one study, participants who ate a salad at the start of a meal consumed 7–12% fewer calories at the meal (43).

Another study showed that eating a salad at the start of a meal increased vegetable consumption by 23%, compared to eating it with the main course (44).

In order to keep your salad low in calories, avoid adding high-calorie ingredients and dressings.

12. Popcorn.

Popcorn is a whole grain and contains more fiber than many other popular snack foods.

It is also high in volume, so it takes up a lot of space in your stomach, despite being relatively low in calories.

Studies have found that popcorn will fill you up more than other popular snacks such as potato chips (45).

Air-popped popcorn is the healthiest. Commercially-prepared or microwave popcorn can be extremely high in calories and contain unhealthy ingredients.

To keep your popcorn low in calories, avoid adding a lot of fat to it.

Some urban legends involving cars are hard not to believe. You’ve seen them online, spreading virally across social media, inspiring fear in concerned drivers. We all know that parking lots can be eerie settings. One myth about parked cars and coins in door handles keeps surfacing. According to the legend, finding a penny wedged into your car door signifies something sinister. Or does it?
In this urban legend, criminals supposedly place coins between the door handle and the vehicle body. The space created by the coin will not allow the door to lock. As such, someone could enter your car. From there, the spooky scenarios can start to fill your head.

The story began circulating in 2015 as a “new method” of vehicle theft.
Not only did the mechanics laugh, but they also said no such action would deactivate a vehicle’s locking system. Because the key fob locking mechanism would still be intact, coins or anything wedged in the door handle wouldn’t affect whether the car locked.

Snopes also spoke with Arnold Chevrolet Buick in New York to ask the same questions about the rumor. That mechanic also chuckled, saying it would be “implausible” for such a car theft scheme to work.

However, one YouTuber posted how her rear car door, a Nissan model, didn’t lock when she placed a coin as described. The video is embedded below and has over a million views.

Other myths involve someone taping or placing a coin on the door handle to signify impending theft, carjacking, or other crime. However, none of these have been confirmed, at least not in the U.S.

Since there are so many different makes and models out there, you might check your own car door handles to see if wedging a coin in stops it from locking. Overall, though, there’s probably nothing to worry about, as this is now a years-old myth.

For general safety, always remain alert when parking or returning to your car.

Sharks have long held a point of fascination among us. These are creatures both feared and revered; respected, yet avoided. So when we see one  out of sea, clearly in distress, we end up unsure as to what to do.

When this particular giant shark was found by fishermen, they quickly spotted that something was wrong with it. It was moving extremely slow and had a giant unnatural bulge on its body. They debated on what they can do to help, finally agreeing to cut open the predator to reveal what was causing the bulge.

Nobody could believe a shark of this size was found so close to the shore; more so when they saw what was inside it.

A life or death situation

It was already unusual for a shark of this size to wash up ashore. It was still alive when they found it and as fearsome as it was, they knew they could still do something to help.

This shark needed to be cut open because there was obviously something in its stomach that shouldn’t be there. It could spell the difference whether it lives or dies.

Very nervous

When the vet finally arrived, he quickly sedated the shark. The animal was in distress and nearly lifeless, but its teeth were big and sharp–it was better to be cautious.

It wasn’t the first time he did a procedure like this but he was still nervous. He wasn’t in his trusty clinic. Instead, he was outdoors, in the elements, at the shore of an unfamiliar sea.  Anything could happen here…

“How was this possible..?

When the veterinarian carefully cut open the enormous bulge on the shark, the contents were immediately revealed.

Everybody’s jaw dropped to the floor. “How was this possible…?”

Fishing for food

For a couple of months now, fishing in The Gulf Stream has been ongoing.

Fishermen had been working very hard to make sure they fish enough to keep the customers happy but that has not always been easy… And their lives would even get more difficult.

Long and slow process

It has been a slow and difficult process so far as getting the fish to the markets. The seas were dangerous, the weather was fickle. And they were always worried about sharks.

Working around these predators has slowed their progress down a lot. But there was one thing they worried about most…

Threatening boss

The fishermen are way behind schedule, which put all their jobs on the line. The employer was even thinking of firing the fishermen.

The fishermen knew they had to work as hard as they could, especially after boss gave them an ultimatum.

Something in the sea

On a day like any other,  the fishermen went out fishing in the morning, tired and worn after they had to work the night before.

Suddenly, one of the fishermen stops in his tracks and jumps back. Something was in the sea–and it scared him so much he almost fell off the boat.

A Giant Shark

It was a shark, but not just any shark. It was the biggest shark they had ever seen!

And the scary thing was, that is was slowly, menacingly almost, making its way towards the boat.

It’s moving slowly

Sharks however, are known for being fluid and swift. This one was noticeably slow–as if it pained to have itself move across the water.

The fisherman, after recovering from the initial shock,  took a closer look. The shark had a giant bulge in its belly–a strange discovery for sure.

Catching the shark

It should be noted that the fishermen’s boats were also far too shallow for a shark this size to be spotted. Was it moving slowly because it wasn’t used to being in shallow waters?

As the shark continued to slowly circle their vessel, the fishermen decided the best course of action would be to call a vet who could help.

Calling a specialized vet

The vet says that the shark might be pregnant and is about to give birth, close to the shore of the beach.

To confirm the vet’s suspicions, he needed the fishermen to take on a dangerous task.

Dangerous task

She asked the fishermen to find out where exactly the bulge on the body is. To do this, however,  the shark needs to be laid out on land.

Most of the fishermen hesitated if they should or even could actually do this. What if the shark attacks them? Then one of them takes control of the situation.

Catching the shark

The brave fisherman decides that he will locate himself in the most dangerous spot to make sure the others are safe.

Then 2 other brave fishermen decide that they will pull on the tail of the shark to try and stretch the shark. Luck was on their side while doing this.

Head and tail

The head is quite a bit away from the end of the tail so the chances of it being able to bite them are slim.

Especially with how slow the shark was moving before. But they still don’t want to take a risk, so they take extra safety measures.

Stretching out the shark

The 2 men try to gear themselves out with some of the toughest materials they can find, while another fisherman joins them to distract the shark if necessary.

With the lead in their shoes, the 2 men grab the tail of the shark. All fishermen are holding their breath, hoping that everything goes according to plan…

Not okayBut there was nothing they had to be worried about as the shark put up no fight whatsoever and let itself get stretched out almost fully.

It is becoming more and more obvious that something is very wrong with this animal.

Change of tone

Now the fishermen can see where the bulge is located on the body clearly and call the vet back to report their findings.

The fishermen are curious about what they have to do next, as they have never seen a shark give birth before. But the vet’s tone changes immediately when she hears where the bulge is.

Bulge at the start of stomach

If the bulge was because of the pregnancy, it would be located way further back on the body.

The bulge is located at about the start of the stomach, meaning it is something that is probably unable to enter the shark’s body.

What to do?

The shark obviously swallowed something it shouldn’t have and probably required immediate surgery if it was to survive.

There was no time to lose. But the fishermen didn’t know what to do. So they asked the vet what they should do.

Going to the company’s warehouse

The vet decided to visit the company’s warehouse.

After 3 hours she finally arrived and was finally able to lay eyes on the shark.

Starting to worry

The fishermen meanwhile were starting to worry. Despite the shark not being in top shape , a shark of this size could still easily hurt them.

When the vet finally arrived at the site, the shark was still laying at the same place as where the fishermen kept him. But it became more and more obvious that this would not be the case for very long, as the shark had gotten really aggressive at this point.

Shark attack!

The shark did not like it getting blocked, and instantly targeted the fishermen that were holding the sheet metal as a way to protect themselves.

Many of the fishermen already had some close calls, but the fear for the shark increased to an all-time high now.

Sedating the shark

Some fishermen dropped the metal and ran back. The vet had to act quickly and knew that the only chance here was if she could quickly sedate the shark.

But sedating the shark was not without certain risks.

Risk of sedative

There was always a risk that the shark might not wake up from this, considering the condition it was described to be in.

But seeing it so actively trying to attack the fishermen, the doctor had the confidence that it would survive the injection. The only thing left was approaching the shark with the tranquilizers.

Waiting for the right moment

The vet waited for the shark to have his head turned in the other direction.

After that, she slowly approached the shark and swiftly injected the sedative into the shark’s lower body. Now they had to wait until the shark was fully sedated.

Completely sedated

Over the next couple of minutes, it slowed down more and more and the vet was able to inject the shark with a couple of more sedatives which were necessary for a shark this size go completely out.

Now the vet could finally turn her attention to the big bulge on the shark that she actually came for. She takes her surgery kid out of the big jeep from the company’s warehouse and sets it up to get to work.

Examining the body

She can quickly confirm her suspicions that the object is stuck at the entrance to the shark’s stomach by feeling its body.

The object stuck in its body was something that the shark had swallowed and could not be broken down by the digestive system.

Surgery neededAt this point, there is nothing else to do but to carefully cut open the shark and whatever was causing the bulge out.

But surgery always comes with a risk, especially if this surgery has to be done in the middle of nowhere. But there is no other option available.

“This can’t be true”

Out of the shark came a weird bag, that baffled the vet at first, but the fishermen immediately knew what it was and realized what happened.

But the fishermen also realized that this was not good news for the shark…

A toolbox!

This bag was their bag of tools, in which they kept most of their items like fishing rods, reels and other tools.

However, the rod in this one was broken so they left it before they sailed out.  But they still couldn’t figure out how the shark found this bag as they thought they left it somewhere by the shore.

Almost fatal

Inside the bag were packs of meat that they had forgotten to unload.

The shark must have picked up the scent off the meat and thought it was prey so it swallowed it as a whole. But it sadly quickly learned the consequences of an error that might be fatal to the shark.

Implanting a tracking chip

With the bag removed, the vet quickly starts stitching up the shark again.

While she does this, she also chips the shark to track its movement and see if it survives in the ordeal in the long run. Then they wake up the shark, hoping it will not be aggressive anymore.

Fully healthy again

It takes about a few minutes for the shark to wake up. It is still dazed and confused at first.

.

But after a while, it starts crawling away a lot faster than it was before the surgery. After the shark was gone again in the forest, the vet had one thing left that she needed to do…

Satisfied vet

She thanked the fishermen for their incredible effort to keep the shark and themselves safe.

She also monitored the shark’s behavior via the chip she planted. The shark is behaving completely normally and the vet can confidently say that the operation has been a success. She saved the animal’s life.

The Bolton native is one of the UK’s most successful comics and his stand-up tours and TV shows like Car Share and Phoenix Nights mean he’s worth an estimated £50 million.

His shows sell out in minutes and Peter’s 2010 tour was the most successful ever, with 1.2 million ticket sales.

But behind every great man is a great woman, right?

Peter has been married for about 20 years to Susan Gargan – here’s all you need to know.

Susan and Peter were said to have met at a nightclub in Bolton in 1998. At the time he worked in a cinema and she worked in a local Boots and soon after they went on their first date.

Peter has even used their second date as material in his comedy – apparently, they went to an ice rink and he ended up breaking his arm in two places.

He said in his book: “Luckily the whole disaster worked out for the best as the girl took pity on my incompetence and eventually she married me.”

They married in 2001.

Susan is a director of Goodnight Vienna Productions, the company that co-produces Peter’s comedy productions.

Peter has always been notoriously private about his social life so not so much is known about Susan or their three kids.

He said previously: “I’m actually shy, and my salvation is coming home and being normal.

“My children are still young, and I want to be at home with them.

“It makes you much more aware of the minutiae of life, it’s not about your needs anymore, it’s about everyone else’s.”

Their eldest is called Charlie and is thought to be 19, and the names and ages of their other two children remain unknown.

Back in 2017, Peter announced he would be taking a break from performing so he could concentrate on his family and spend some time in Ireland.

He tweeted at the time: “Due to unforeseen family circumstances, I deeply regret that I am having to cancel all of my upcoming work projects.

“My sincerest apologies… I’m sure you’ll understand that my family must always come first.

“I’ve always endeavoured to protect my family’s privacy from the media. I hope that the media and the public continue to respect our privacy at this time. Once again, I’m very sorry.”

Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit their royal roles to start a new life in the US, we haven’t seen much of Archie or Lilibet.

They are being raised pretty low-key to have a more private childhood than their cousins. While the Sussexes decided to keep their children out of the spotlight, their new Netflix show features some adorable insights about Archie, Lilibet, and the couple’s life in their coastal California home.