Decisions decisions decisions

[Mulliganal]

I just received my Vitamix 5200 today and I also purchased a Blendtec which will be here Wednesday; I got the Blendtec on eBay at a good price after ordering the Vitamix. So now I am undecided about which one I should keep. I've wanted a Vitamix forever, even before I knew anything about Blendtec but at this point I have yet to use either one of them.

I was thinking about keeping the Vitamix for my family and giving the Blendtec to my mother for her 70th birthday in November, but I wonder if she'll even use it (even though she's a really health conscience person) or if it's just too much blender for her. I also have a 10 year old and thought the Blendtec would be good for him since he could make smoothies by himself by just pushing the smoothie button. The Vitamix may be a bit more than he can handle.

I must admit, I love the beefy manly look and feel of the Vitamix; it just looks like a beast of a blender and my wife says I always like/buy manly looking stuff. :D

Well, at 52 I've always been pretty fit and athletic but now I'm on a new path in life and want my whole family to be even healthier and happier so this was the reason I purchased a blender. With our busy schedules we really need to get more greens and fruits in our diet and this seems to be the best way to do it.

I guess I just needed to vent, but I also wanted to say hello and say thanks for a great site. There seems to be some great stuff going on here and a lot of support for living and eating right. I'm looking forward to sharing our family successes.

Edit, can you folks tell me how you start of your morning and which smoothies are best to help energize without coffee? I want to begin making smoothines this week for myself and for my family.

[Aleesha Sattva]

vent? i don't see you having anything to vent about. you have two great machines. you can try both out and find out which one you love more for yourself and then gift the gift of health to someone else. seems like a lovely thing - not a vent.

i start my day with a green smoothie every day. looooove them. we have a sticky on the forum "70 green smoothies" so you can check that out as well!

[Revvell]

I'm with Aleesha here... vent? Uhhh, that's not a vent.

I also have the VM and a BT. I keep both. One, the VM stays home with me; the BT travels. If something happens to the BT on the road, I wouldn't be anywhere near as upset as I would if the VM got hurt.

As far as smoothies go, add water or juice to the blender; then fresh or frozen juice; then throw in some greens. I saw your other thread. Don't know if you've got a juice but I would most likely juice the carrots, then add some strawberries and throw in some greens. Bananas are always good for thickening.

If you look at my sigline, I've got a book on smoothies with specific amounts and what the produce is good for, etc.

Most of all, explore!! Find out what works, what tastes good, etc. and, always, play with your food! :)

[Mulliganal]

Thanks so much for your help.

Well, this morning was my first test with the family. I threw some kale, spinach, bananas, apples, frozen strawberries and frozen blueberries in the VM and crossed my fingers; it turned out wonderful. MY 10 year-old drank a whole glass without saying a word, which is a good thing. I then got a little carried away while making a drink to take to work and added some celery, kiwi, carrots and cucumbers to the remaining mixture. I think I was good until I added either the celery or the cucumber. I can't tell which one it was but one of them really overpowered the drink. At least I've gotten over the initial fear of throwing things together and making a mistake. I know now that I need to tread lightly on either the celery or the cucumber at least until I'm at the point where I can stomach a 100% green drink.

I'm going to give that 30 day green diet a try to see how far I can go. I only need to lose about 10-15 pounds max so this is less about losing weight and more about gaining energy, feeling better throughout the day and making a life style change. I don't know if I can wean myself of coffee or beer (but beer is green right?) but I'm going to give it a try.

As for the BT, I think I'm going to give it to my mother for her 70th because I really like the VM. I think she'll be really happy with the BT.

Thanks again for the help.