Sorry for being so MIA for the past few weeks. This summer has been busy, busy, busy. Just in the past 2 weeks Jason and I attended 3 weddings, photographing one of them. They were all over the map, Banff, Leduc, and Waskatenau. Also, this August marks Jason's and my 5th year anniversary. So last minute, in the midst of all these weddings, my amazing in-laws decided to take our 3 adorable children for 7 days so that Jason and I could go on a mini road trip. Our trip started from Waskatenau, we continued to Jasper's Columbia Ice Fields, Lake Louise/Moraine Lake, Invermere, Lussier Hot Springs/ Whiteswan Lake, Kimberly and Sylvan Lake. It was so great to have my husband all to myself. Life can be crazy with our 3 munchkins, so the opportunity to reconnect was amazing. It surfaced all the amazing qualities I first fell in love with that have been put on the back burner since having children, for good reason. But as parents, we have a tendency to forget who we were before children and get caught up in only being mommy and daddy. We forget that we are still Jason and Sheena. Jason isn't only the most incredible daddy, he is also intellectual, spontaneous, inspiring, loving, and truly the goofiest man around. He's my soul mate my partner and I'm so lucky to be able to spend the rest of my life with him. How did I get so lucky? Jason, I love you to the moon and back. Attending the past 3 weddings, I realized that our wedding day was probably the least I loved you in the past 5 years, every year that goes by my heart fills with a love I didn't know was possible. Thank you for choosing me.
My Thoughts On My 3 Day Juice Cleanse
Over the past 3 days I've been on a small juice cleanse. I've been doing juice cleanses for years. There are so many opinions out there when it comes to juice cleansing, so for those who are interested, I'd like to share with you my thoughts, knowledge and experience. Please keep in mind I'm not a doctor and I am not telling you or anyone, to to do a juice cleanse. I'm just sharing my own personal experience, and the benefits I have found from doing them. In saying that, remember that everybody is different, what may work for some, may not work for others. You know your body better than anyone. Listen to it, it will let you know better than anyone could tell you.
So if you want me to be brutally honest about it, I ALWAYS have an incredible experience when I do a juice cleanse. Despite the odd headache and my few hangry moments, the way I feel afterwards is just so surreal. There is a big misconception, people think that they are simply starving themselves, but in fact they are just giving their body's digestive system a chance to rest, while loading your body full of concentrated nutrients. This allows the body to give some well needed attention toward other elements of your body. Did you know that between 40-80% of your body's energy can be used during the the digestion process. The amount of energy your body uses during digestion is dependant on how processed, unhealthy, or large your last meal was. If you have ever experienced exhaustion after eating a meal you know exactly what I'm talking about. Juicing takes most of the fibre out of your fruits and vegetables, what you are left with is a nutrient dense, and easy to digest juice! The benefit to this is less work for your body and digestive system, to absorb a ton of concentrated nutrients very quickly. I like to make each serving of juice out of 5-6 lbs of fruits and vegetables, I personally incorporate a large amount of greens so I can get all the alkalizing benefits. While cleansing, I drink between 6-8 servings of juice a day. One of the kids and my favourite juices is Monster Juice!
If you are thinking about trying a juice cleanse be sure to ease your way into it. A few tips and tricks from my personal experience would be: Transition yourself slowly. Eat very clean a few weeks prior, and be sure NOT TO BINGE EAT the night before. You want your juices to be organic, cold pressed, raw vegan, with no preservatives or chemicals. Only fresh squeezed and/or homemade. During the cleanse you may find yourself experiencing some or all of the following detox symptoms; nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, sore muscles, crankiness or headaches. This is completely normal. I personally only get the odd headache, nothing else. The benefits I experience from these cleanses are hormonal improvement, improved digestion, increased energy, clearer skin, fewer cravings and in the long run weight loss. When breaking your cleanse/fast resist the urge to binge. Ease your way back into food, it should take you just as long to ease back as the cleanse took. ex. 3 days if your doing a 3 day cleanse, 6 days if your doing a 6 day cleanse. Breaking your fast is just as important as the fast itself. It should be done in the morning hence the word "break-fast" and with only raw juicy fruits such as watermelon. You don't want to just go filling your body full of junk right afterwards. Remember this is a time to love your body not shock it and have it hating you the whole way through. Being in the right mindset is key, make your goal a happier healthier life, and nothing more. Truly listen to your body, it's the only place you have to live, for the rest of your life. Treat it like the temple it is.
"The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison."
-Ann Wigmore
