Berry Banana Smoothie ~ Low Calorie, Non-Dairy

Although this is a recipe post, it still fits in with the weight loss theme that my Thursday posts have been leaning toward lately....

I love smoothies.  And while they are a great way to enjoy getting those servings of fruits into your daily routine, they can be a pretty high-calorie snack.  Not that I cared too much about calories in the past few years!  But now that I'm trying to lose weight and I'm counting and limiting my calorie intake, if I want a smoothie for breakfast, I need to know the nutrition information in order to track my count for the day.

Recently, I entered the ingredients for my Strawberry Banana Smoothie recipe into the recipe builder on the My Fitness Pal site.  The calorie count was 352!  Although I knew it would be a pretty high number, I was very shocked to see just how many calories were in that single serving!  Yikes!  To think, sometimes I drank two of those in a day!

So, since 352 calories is really too high for a snack and really didn't keep me full enough to be considered a meal, I started to experiment with my smoothies.  Using less banana or less milk to lowered the calorie count, but not enough to make it worth it.

After seeing a pin on Pinterest, I decided to try adding dry oats, figuring that would help keep me from feeling hungry so soon after.  That didn't work either.

One night, I was venting to Nicole (from Colie's Kitchen) about wanting a lower calorie smoothie.  She gave me a few tips and tricks that uses when she makes her smoothies.

I always use frozen fruit when I make my smoothies, but it never occurred to me to cut the dairy out of my recipe.  And after I thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense.  I decided to give it a try.

Here's what I came up with:

Low-Calorie Berry Banana Smoothie

Ingredients: 

• 1 large banana, sliced and frozen
• 2 large strawberries, sliced and frozen
• 1/4 cup blueberries, frozen
• 1/2 cup water

Directions: 

• Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.  

Notes: 

• Oh my goodness!  Yum!  These smoothies are soooo good!  I always thought I needed to add the yogurt and milk to make the smoothie creamy.  The frozen banana is enough to give it the creamy texture that I love!  
• These low-calorie smoothies are great for a snack on their own.  They are also wonderful for breakfast along with a handful of almonds or a low-calorie English Muffin.  

Serves 1

Total calories: 153 

If you want to lower the calories even more, use 80 grams frozen banana, 35 grams of frozen strawberries, 35 grams of frozen blueberries, along with the 1/2 cup water.  Those small changes bring the calories down to 101 calories per serving!

I love the flavor and texture of these fruit smoothies and have been enjoying them almost every day, sometimes twice a day! I love that I was able to find a lower calorie option that will free up some calories so I don't feel as if I'm just drinking my meals each day.  Now, I can enjoy smoothies twice a day in addition to my regular (lower calorie) meals and still have calories left to EAT some yogurt later in the day!