abstemious
ab-STEE-mee-usadjMeaning eating and drinking only a little; sparing
Memory hook ab-STEM-ious: just one STEM. At a table piled with food, Professor Edwin eats one stem of celery and calls it lunch: he is abstemious.
The abstemious hiker carried only a pear and a bottle of water for the whole day.
In context At the wedding feast, while other guests went back for thirds, Professor Edwin stayed abstemious, taking a single plate of vegetables and a glass of water.
Similar sparing, moderate, temperate, self-denying
Opposite gluttonous, greedy, indulgent