Fall Fruits...

Fall is in full swing and there is no better time to take advantage of the wonderful fall fruits then now! We all know that most fruits are low in calories, filling and fiber packed. Luckily, fruit is also very convenient to take along in your bag. Here's a guide to some of the best fall fruits that you need to enjoy now!

• Apples: Gala, honey crisp, red delicious, macintosh, with such a variety you can't go wrong. Apples are packed with fiber and vitamin C. They also store great in cool, dry places. Calories: 70
• Banana's: Loaded with B6, potassium and fiber. Banana's are great even frozen! Calories: 105
• Clementines: How can you go wrong with such a cute, sweet citrus fruit? Celementine's are loaded with vitamin C and folate. Calories: 35
• Cranberries: A chock full of antioxidants. These make a super tart snack. Calories: 44, one cup serving
• Grapes: Whether you go red, green or black, you can't go wrong with a cup full of of grapes. Grapes are also loaded with vitamin C. Calories: 105, one cup serving
• Persimmons: One of my most favorite fall fruits! If you are going to eat this, make sure you eat it ripe. Strong flavored with tannins that give a unique flavor. Calories: 118
• Pears: Pears are full of flavor and variety. Whether you go Bosc, Bartlett or Sickle, pears are a sweet snack to have and fiber filled! Calories: 96
• Pomegranates: Lovely jewels of red rubies encased in a shell. The only hard thing about pomegranates is prying them open without staining your shirt! It's so worth the effort though. Pomegranates are packed with iron! Calories: 75, half cup of seeds

image: fusioncrosstraining.com

Banana topped w/Chopped Almonds and Cinnamon

Hello everyone, I though I'd share my recipe for my easy and nutritious breakfast!


Ingredients: One ripe banana, sliced One tablespoon of chopped almonds One teaspoon of good cinnamon Preparation: In a bowl mix the bananas and cinnamon. Place on a plate and top with almonds.

Just 10 Challenge: Day 3

I am now beginning day 3 of the Just 10 challenge. So far I have lost 3 pounds. I'm sure much of this is water weight, especially with all the junk food and sodium I ingested over the weekend. To my credit though, I have been eating right and exercising. Lately for breakfast I've been having two slices of toasted Ezekiel's bread with almond butter, cinnamon and sliced bananas. A pretty


filling breakfast. Lunch the past couple of days has been a mozzarella and tomato salad with a balsamic vinegar. I'll also have a small tomato soup on the side. Dinner has been something light such as a bowl of roasted veggies drizzled with a little olive oil. When I snack I always have fruit or veggies. The other day I bought a bag of baby carrots and I've been having them when I crave something crunchy. I will also keep a Kashi granola bar in my purse, for those unexpected hunger pangs. Today will be a bit tricky. I will be going out for lunch and dinner, so I need to be careful with my food choices. More to come later....

Peanut Butter and Banana....

Good Morning Everyone, So, in an effort to eat more natural foods, I decided to see how full I would be from eating just a banana with 1.5TB of natural peanut butter. So far so good. It's been half an hour and I'm still full...YAY!!! This hopefully filling breakfast ranks in at 5WW points. An interesting thing I noticed yesterday...my top was a bit loose on me!! This calls for another YAY!!! I also randomly went out and bought a bunch of fruits and veggies, all of which I plan on consuming in some shape or form today. Here's what I bought: canteloupe avocado cucumbers tomato lemon blueberries spinach I see a salad brewing for lunch, but as always, I will keep you all posted. Anyone watch Losing It With Jillian last night? How are you all doing?

Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie

Good Morning Everyone, On this hot and humid morning I started my day off with a low point, filling Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie. Ingredients: 1/2 banana, chopped 1TB. of peanut butter 1/2c. of almond milk (I love Silk Pure Almond, sweetened) 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I used Designer Whey) Ice as needed Preparation: Blend all ingredients in a blender or hand mixer. Enjoy! WW points: 6 Tip: When I see my bananas getting really ripe, I slice them up and place them in individual baggies and freeze them. When I make my smoothies I drop them in frozen and they double as ice cubes.

Breakfast time...

This morning I was able to shave off 1.5pts. from my delicious breakfast and still manage to stay full until lunch time. I still used one whole, small banana, diced and a quarter cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch. However, instead of my usual two tablespoons of peanut butter, I used a tablespoon and half....this is what saved me 1.5pts. How was your breakfast?

Here we go...the 6pt Breakfast

As discussed yesterday, today I will have a 6pt breakfast, 6pt. lunch and 6pt dinner to see if I feel less hungry and snack less through out the day. So here goes...my 6pt. breakfast: 1 small banana: 2.5 pts. 2TB of PB: 5pts. 1/4c. of Kashi Heart to Heart: .5pts. OK, so my 6pt breakfast turned out to be 7pts! Let's see how this goes...I hope it was worth all hte points.

***Breakfast Time***

This morning my breakfast consisted of an Arnold's Wheat Thins, half of a banana and 2 tsp. of creamy PB!

Total WW pts: 3.5

Total Calories: 211

Don't forget guys, you need breakfast to jumpstart your metabolism for the day. Try to always start your day off with a healthy, filling breakfast, with lots of fiber!

What did you guys have for breakfast this morning?

***Snack Attack -and new find***

Another great find for yogurt lovers...YoPlait YoPlus+ Digestive. So far I've only found this flavor in strawberry, but it is extremely creamy and delicious!

Here are the deets:

Cal: 110

Fat: 1.5g

Fiber: 3g

Points: 2

I was able to make the best snack out of this. I chopped up the half of banana that I had left over from my PB&B sandwhich this morning, and I added that to my YoPlus yogurt...delish and only 2.5pts!!!

Not bad for a snack!

Breakfast this morning...

One Arnold's Wheat Thins Half a banana, sliced 3 tsp. of creamy PB Total Points: 4 What did you guys have?

Nuts About Nuts....

Hey Guys, One snack I always keep in my bag, purse and at my desk are nuts!! I love creating different types of trail mixes, some sweet, some spicy and some salty. Nuts and trail mixes are a great, easy portable snack. They are filling, filled with omega 3 fatty acids and are easy to make! However, nuts and trail mixes can be very easy to go overboard with the points. Remember, they can be high in calories and fat, BUT this can definitely be controlled by filling up portion controlled snack bags for you take along! Here are a few trail mix recipes I've created: Sinfully Sweet Trail Mix 1/4c. Almonds 14 Cashews 1/4c Dried Currants 1/4c Dried Apples 1/4c Dried Bananas Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and divide this up into four equal portions. Each portion has 3 WWpts. Spice Mix 1/4c. Almonds 49 Shelled Pistachios 1/4c Dried Apricots 1/4c Raisins 1 tsp. of Chili Powder 1/4 tsp. of Salt Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and divide this up into four equal portions. Each portion has 3 WWpts. Chili Lime Mix 1/4c Almonds 14 Cashews 1/4c Pumpkin seeds 1/4c Sunflower seeds 49 Pistachios 1 tb of Lime Juice 1 tsp. of Chili Powder Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and divide this up into seven equal portions. Each portion has 3 WWpts.

I hope you guys will try some of these trail mixes :-)