My mother in law wants to get me a blender for Christmas? is there any brand and model you would recommend? I am overwhelmed by how many makes and models. I would love to get a vitamix but that is not in my budget or my mother in law's. Is a submerrsion blender good to have? I have looked at the Ninja but wasn't sure what model would be best. I would love some input by someone that has gone through the surgery.

I love my Ninja Pulse. I use it a few times a day and works great for shakes & purees

I am in love with my nutribullet. $100 at bed bath and beyond, and you can use the 20% off coupons on it. Watch the infomercial. I'm not sleeved yet, so not sure how that plays into it. Getting sleeved 12/26, so my feed back will be a little late for Xmas.

I use a Hamilton Beach that I got at WalMart, So far so good. It was only about 15 dollars. But I also use ice thats already pretty small. Im not getting sleeved until 12/17.

I just bought a Ninja 1100 with the 40 and 72 oz containers, dough paddle, and few other things. costco had them on sale for $94 with coupon. It's nice and works well, but not vitamix nice! :-)

It's a good balance between quality, functionality, and cost.

A smaller container one might be nice. I'm making smoothies now with it, but 40 oz is a lot for a sleaver to drink. I get about a 32 oz drink out of the 40.

thanks for the input on blender. Itseems there are some good options I will pass along. I haven't been sleeved yet just getting prepared.

I'm pre-op so take my recommendation with that in mind....

Of course the vitamix is the holy grail of blenders.. I'd love one too.... But THAT'S not going to happen anytime soon! I've heard very good things about the nutribullet but I don't have one. I do have the magic bullet and I love it.... They're similar but the nutribullet has more HP and is just supposed to be an all around better machine. I love to just mix my Protein shake with ice and then drink out of the same cup I mixed it in! It also gets the ice really small. Also, it's intended for smaller portions which will be great for the needs of a sleever. http://www.nutribullet.com/

I bought a Ninja 1500 - it comes with the 40oz, 72oz and single serve containers. I love it!

Love my magic bullet! (NOT to be confused with the silver bullet, ha ha ha!)

Love my magic bullet! (NOT to be confused with the silver bullet' date=' ha ha ha!)[/quote']

AMAZING RESPONSE HAHAHAHA I LOVE MINE TOO!

I've heard the ninjas are very similar to vitamix. I'm a chef and of course, the vitamix is king. Oddly enough, I got mine through QVC or was it HSN. I should say my mother got it for me and it came with a lot of stuff and she did flex pay. So, she didn't throw down $700, she made 5 easy payments. Prior to vitamix, I used this cuisinart blender that was similar to magic bullet. It has the big blender cannister, as well as the four individual smoothie cups and a mini chopper. I've made awesome things with it. truth be told, I really didn't need the vitamix, lol! This thing cost $69, plus I got a $20 instant rebate on top of my 10% professional discount from sur la table. That thing is lways on sale. I've seen it at Bed Bath s well. I've pureed soups, smoothies, made nut butters and ground spices with this thing. It's pretty awesome.