Nutrition Advice from Anne Thacker, Vitamix Nutritionist

So if you're like many Americans, resolving to be healthier is your number one resolution...every year. Maybe healthy to you means losing weight, exercising more, or eating more fruits and vegetables. Whatever your goal, it is important to have and use the right tools.

• If you choose to start an exercise program, you need a good pair of athletic shoes.
• If you decide that losing weight is what you need to do, you should enlist the help of a nutrition professional or reference a credible book penned by a physician.
• And if your resolution is to eat healthier, you’ll definitely need a Vitamix.
• If you’re not sure which healthy goal you should tackle, recognize that eating more fruit and vegetables often translates into other healthy behaviors. So you can't lose!

The current recommendation for fruit and vegetable servings is 2½-6½ cups per day depending on how many calories you require. That is a lot! For example, if you require 2000 calories per day, you will need about 4½ cups per day of produce, that's 2 cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables. Eating this much may seem impossible but it's not. An easy and quick way to tackle half of this requirement is to start each morning with the Vitamix Going Green Smoothie.

Using your Vitamix in 2011 may not help you achieve all of your resolutions, but it can definitely get you started in the right direction.

Learn how to make the Going Green Smoothie

Going Green Smoothie

Yield: 3 1/2 cups (840 ml)

1 cup (160 g) green grapes
1/2 cup (78 g) pineapple
2 cups (60 g) fresh spinach
1/2 ripe banana, peeled
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
1 cup (240 ml) ice cubes

1. Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.
2. Select Variable 1.
3. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.
4. Blend for 60 seconds or until desired consistency is reached. Serve immediately.