When you’re focusing on losing some of those unwanted pounds in time for the beach season, it can definitely be a tough balancing act. You need to be consuming fewer calories while also juggling not going through half of your day feeling extreme hunger. Thankfully there’s a shortcut that can make losing weight incredibly simple — smoothies! They aren’t packed full of calories but the ingredients used are all nutrient-dense and satiating, meaning you’ll be feeling nice and satisfied after downing one. This simple peanut butter banana smoothie for weight loss is one of my favorite smoothie recipes so I just had to share it with you guys. I’m sure you’ll agree that it can definitely help to make your weight loss journey a lot more enjoyable!

Peanut Butter & Banana Joy

One of my favorite ingredients to add into smoothies intended to aid with weight loss is a banana. When it comes to nutrient-dense fruits, you won’t find very many better options. They’re full of vitamins and minerals like potassium, magnesium, iron, niacin, riboflavin, folate. Bananas are also an excellent source of dietary fiber, which means they’ll help to keep you feeling full for longer. In addition, studies have found that bananas are a great energy source for fueling up before your workouts. (1) As we all know, losing weight and keeping it off comes down to a combination of exercise and a healthy long term eating plan. All of these reasons combine to make bananas my undisputed go-to fruit for including in my weight loss smoothies.

Along with the banana, using one tablespoon of natural peanut butter definitely helps to fill you up when making this smoothie. Just be sure to use natural peanut butter — you don’t want to eat those hydrogenated brands that are commonly found on store shelves. It’s also quite easy to make your own peanut butter from scratch. Simply add some roasted peanuts into a food processor (I use a 12-cup food processor made by Hamilton Beach that works perfectly for making nut butters–you can purchase it by clicking here) and process them, pausing every so often to scrape the mixture down off the sides with a spatula.

The peanut butter provides a solid balance of saturated fats, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats into this smoothie. In addition, you’ll also be adding chia seeds to provide your smoothie with a good amount of omega-3 fats. Chia seeds are also a rather well known superfood in their own right, as they provide you with tons of antioxidants, fiber, and cardiovascular heart benefits as well. (2) Speaking of antioxidants, this recipe also includes ¾ cup of frozen raspberries to provide even more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Raspberry polyphenols have actually been found to be particularly effective in treating stomach and colon cancer cells. (3)

Rounding out the smoothie recipe is one cup of milk (feel free to use almond milk instead if you’re sensitive to dairy products) along with a cup of ice. In order to up the flavor you’ll also be adding a bit of vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and a pitted date for some added sweetness. Simply add all of the ingredients into your blender and blend them until smoothie.

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