The Secret Sauce to Become a Healthy Rancher
Shaye Koester 00:05
Hey hey, it's Shaye Koester and I'm your host and the founder of Casual Cattle Conversations. A global rancher education company that strives to bring honest thoughts in conversations from ranchers and leaders to other ranchers. Be sure to follow @cattleconvos on social media to have more in depth conversations around the ranching business and lifestyle brought to you. If you're ready to take your operation to the next level, and improve your lifestyle to send me a message about my RancherMind group. Rancherminds are monthly roundtable discussions for ranchers to learn from peers and experts and leave a call with actionable advice to make changes on their own operations. With that, let's see who our guest is today, and what experience and advice they have to offer you to improve your own operation. Alright. Well, Andrea, thank you for joining me on the show today. It's exciting to visit with you one-on-one because you've been a part of the ranchermind calls and I've been following you quite a bit on social media for a few years now. So it's great to have you on here. And I'm excited for you to share your story with my audience.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 01:14
Yeah, I'm excited. Thanks for having me.
Shaye Koester 01:16
So to kind of jump right in, I mean, we will be talking about you know, mental and physical health, because May is Mental Health Month, in addition to beef month. So, you know, it really ties together in a lot of ways. But to start off, do you just want to describe your background and involvement in the beef industry, and really what that journey has looked like up to this point?
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 01:41
Absolutely. So I'm a fifth generation farmer in southwest Minnesota. So I just find it kind of funny. We call things differently here. Like if we call ourselves ranchers in my area, it's very strange for us, but other places, it's a rancher anot not a farmer. So I'm a farmer is what we call ourselves in this area, we have crops as well as the cow-calf herd and a feedlot. So we are a part of the entire beef process. And you know, we are calving right now we're finishing up a little bit, we have a couple of cows left, which that went crazy fast this year. And then those calves will stay with us all the way through until they're 1800 pounds ready to go to become, you know, meat and by products for the world. So in addition to that, we have the row crop side of it. I'm not super involved in that my passion definitely sits with beef cattle, specifically anything to do with calves and the feedlot process just like lights my soul on fire. So backtracking a little bit, I grew up feeding bottle calves for a while, like back in the day, we had Holstein bottlecalves. Back when you know steers in that market was there, then we transitioned to fully beef probably when I was in like middle school, I would say if you used to have or you still have Holsteins, you'll understand exactly when that is. So we've grown the herd a little bit since I graduated college. My original plan was to become a veterinarian. So things really shifted in 2018. I've been in your shoes, where you're like graduating, and you're like, I want to do this, but then you know, you're kind of rolling with the punches, and you're going through it. My last semester of college was an adventure and a roller coaster, especially with my mental health. And we'll get there in a bit. So I got my denial letters from vet school, decided not to actually go through my application the second year and found my place in the family farm and sharing my story and doing some content creation online, which is something I never saw coming. I didn't think this would like, you know, produce anything that I could support myself and be a part of the family farm because my parents are not at the age that they're ready to, you know, switch over, they are early 50s. So the potential for me to just like take over was not there. We are expanding, we're doing some exciting things. And I have some of that coming. But my involvement with the beef industry now is being a beef producer myself all the way through my husband and I have a herd in addition to my parents. Then I'm also active sharing my story of beef online, and there's nothing that lights my soul on fire more than sharing the truth of it. And with it being beef month, I have a lot of content coming through the the funnel right now to share the truth of it. Because there's a lot of people that you know, consumers are disconnected and that's not the point of this conversation. But I've made it my mission to kind of bridge that gap and shed a light on what really happens in the beef industry and specifically what we do, because everyone does it differently, obviously, but and outside of that I just really like cows and I can talk all day about it. calving season is the best thing in the entire world. I'm a little sad, it's almost over but beef industry has my heart and will always have my heart.
Shaye Koester 04:26
Well, I appreciate you bringing up the advocacy topic because while that is not the focus of our conversation today, it is important and it is a common theme for that to get brought up in a lot of my episodes and to talk about and that's something I like to talk about too. So, you know, you touched on, you know, you've gone on your own mental health journey. And I know from following your social media, I mean, your social media handle, is @thatfitadvocate, correct?
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 04:53
Yes.
Shaye Koester 04:54
So you're also physically active and physically healthy, so would you kind of open up and share your story a little bit on that realm.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 05:03
Absolutely. So I was actually talking to somebody about this last night and this morning with different people. I was never really that kid in high school that played sports. So I was a figure skater in Minnesota we do those things, but it didn't involve like actually going to practices where you had to like be active. So I was the girl that would make every single appointment for like the doctor, the orthodontist, you know, eye doctor during gym class, so I could skip it. So Andrea now likes working out a lot. Andrea, back then it was pure punishment, it was not a way that I ever enjoyed, like benefiting myself in that aspect. So to see me now, like at 25, working out at least five days a week, doing what I do, like, Baby Andrea would be like, "What, no way that's not ever gonna happen, right?" But I think a lot of it came down to figuring out it did benefit my mental health and that I was not doing the right types of fitness that I actually enjoyed. So I went to SDSU and my first semester I wanted to be that girl that was active and had an outlet for stress. Because I was pre-vet I was taking 21 credit hours because I, you know, thought it was a great idea back then. They were all science classes and I was stressed out. So I started going to the gym a little bit. Back then. This was like 2015, way back in the day, not that long ago but it feels forever ago. I was only doing like cardio, and I didn't feel like it was serving me in any way other than, you know, I thought I was losing weight and feeling good and trying to be skinny because as a female, if you understand that you understand it. And I realized that I was not doing any of this healthy living thing in any healthy way. I was cutting out red meat because I thought these influencers on social media, that's what they were saying you had to do. And I cut out dairy and I wasn't having cheese and I was eating like chicken and vegetables. And that's it and rice and I was seeing results. But I was also only eating 1000 calories. So my mental health tanked. I thought I looked good, but I felt like absolute garbage inside. And I guess instead of like, you know, figuring it out and going back to the healthy outlets, I just completely stopped working out. And I took a 180 and the opposite direction and went into partying and drinking and not taking care of myself because I didn't think I needed to and I didn't know how to do it in a healthy balanced way. It was all here or all over there. There was no middle for me. So first year college I lost myself a lot. I was like eating cookie dough out of the bag at like 2 am doing studying for exams and stuff. And I found myself at the end of my first year in a not great mental health space. And I have anxiety very bad. My depression also creeps in when my anxiety gets out of control. So I was in a very dark place after my first year and I was the person that wouldn't reach out for help. I didn't want someone's help to guide me on a health and fitness journey. But I didn't know what that looked like in a way that was actually sustainable for me because there are so many diets out there. There's always quick fixes and I thought cardio was the only answer. But like newsflash, I hate cardio. I don't want to do cardio. I didn't want to run even though I thought that's what you had to do and I didn't want to give up beef because as a beef producer, and someone who also was involved in the dairy industry growing up, like I look back at myself and just want to smack myself in the head a few times for giving that up for a month and a half. It wasn't healthy, it wasn't sustainable and I hated my life during it. So I started at home workouts and found my love for it. I started with like a dancing program. It was to country music, it was really lame back then but it held me accountable because it was fun. And throughout that adventure of doing at home workouts and having a community to lean into. I found my love of lifting really heavy weights. I do this in my basement, it's kind of sketchy in an old farmhouse and it has served my mental health in so many ways with hard rock music, it's really weird and cringy. But lifting weights helps me feel better no matter what usually is going on. If I'm stressed out, if I'm anxious and I found the correlation between not only the fitness piece, but also some of the other journaling things which we can talk about. And my mental health if I would, you know, go a couple of days without doing it. And in a high stress season, I'd noticed that I would snap a little bit quicker. My anxiety was on edge, I'd have a little panic attacks, all of that fun stuff. So I figured out this little correlation of I don't hate lifting weights, it helps me feel better. And also like, it makes me feel really good as well. So it was kind of a roundabout way but it wasn't like a smooth transition. I had a lot of bumps in the road to figure out what I enjoyed and how it benefited me because I always like saw people saying oh to help you mental health. Cardio wasn't because I dreaded doing it. But then I found like lifting heavy weights and that cures my everything almost.
Shaye Koester 09:44
Well, that's awesome and thank you for really opening up and sharing that. So you brought a lot to light there that we can kind of go on different avenues about and we probably don't have a lot of time to hit all of that today. But one of the points I want to bring up and that you talked about was like, well, cardio helped other people's mental health, but it didn't help yours. Or you said, you know, I tried this, but it wasn't sustainable for me. So what are some ways people can kind of play around and figure out what they like? What is sustainable for them in that space? Because, physical health and mental health are tied together in a lot of different ways. So how can people kind of explore and figure out what is going to be a good option for them.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 10:29
So I think one thing that I wish I would have known back then, and I think it's a lot more of like out in the air now is that movement is good for the soul, no matter what it is and that our bodies are made to move, which as farmers and ranchers, we all understand that, like we move a lot, we are pretty active as well. But that doesn't mean that like, you also shouldn't take care of yourself, if you live an active busy lifestyle, because trust me, I get it. Especially like, with my parents, we have this conversation a lot. But knowing that, like any sort of movement is good for you, it doesn't have to be an hour long workout at the gym, it could be dancing in your tiny little apartment in college, if you really want to, maybe it's lifting heavy weights, and maybe it's going for walks. Those little changes that you actually enjoy and can hold yourself accountable to, even if you have to have an accountability partner is huge. But it doesn't have to be these drastic changes. Slow and steady wins the race, you're not going to see results as fast as you want to if you actually like want to see physical results. And doing two workouts or going for two walks in a row is not going to automatically change your mental health or any of your physical health. It's constant effort that is going to get you to your goals, whether that is physical or mental health-wise. And I think a lot of the time like back then I thought it was going to be like, Oh, I'll do it for a week and everything will be cured. No, it takes a lot of time. But it doesn't have to be like a perfect journey whatsoever. Because I have not been perfect whatsoever. I live life a lot.
Shaye Koester 11:56
Well, thank you for sharing that. And, you know, I really appreciate your point about that last point, really, it doesn't have to be perfect because we're human. And it's life. Life isn't perfect. You can't plan life out perfectly. But it's still being intentional, at least from my perspective. So being intentional about your health.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 12:14
Absolutely, and you have to enjoy it. And you can't make yourself do something every single day. Like if you don't love working out, go do it three, four days a week or go for a walk whatever works for you. And it looks different for everyone. It really depends on your personality type too, because I really used to be a perfectionist. And I kind of have gravitated and grown to figure out that didn't matter to me, really, I was just trying to put that out there that I was like crushing it all the time when really I am a hot mess behind the scenes. So I've had that, you know that balance of knowing your personality type and knowing what's actually serving you.
Shaye Koester 12:49
That's awesome. So you brought up another good point about how farmers and ranch ranchers and agriculturist are busy are out moving. But is that necessarily always enough on the physical health side? Like how have you seen like being more intentional about your physical health impacting you when you work on your operation? How have those two worked together?
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 13:13
I mean it depends like so my husband is a farrier, and he does not work out. I think men versus females are a little bit different. Obviously, like muscle structure and hormones and such but knowing like that I work out now. One I used to have a lot of like knee issues and shoulder issues and back issues. So like lifting feedbags above my head or lifting something over a gate, calves over a gate or over the bunk was absolutely impossible for me back then. Versus now like, I don't know if I'm just like quick and, and I'm probably in shape, obviously compared to what I used to be. But climbing gates is a lot easier if I need to get away from a crazy mama or doing anything that I do just seem so much easier than I remember it being even when I was in high school, which is almost kind of sad to think about because I was like 16 or 17 and now I'm like 25 but just the daily things are unloading like 200 square bales used to be the death of me on a hot day. And now it's like, it sucks. Trust me it sucks. But it's just another day. So the physical piece of it has been huge, but also just how I respond to stressful situations, which is probably my favorite piece I used to have a temper we'll put it that way. I get it from my dad but little little things that go wrong and I would just like freak out. And now I have this like coping mechanism whether it's taught me to just take a breather before I react. That piece has been huge in addition to not only the physical piece of it.
Shaye Koester 14:41
So let's let's dive into that a little more of that coping mechanism. Because in the ag lifestyle, so many things can feel like they're going wrong so quickly and it's constant problem solving. So what is you know, maybe your coping mechanism and what are maybe some other outlets people can use to adjust their mindset or just take a breath before reacting.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 15:06
I think a lot of it comes with time, just like your fitness journey. I didn't just like instantly wake up and become a calmer person, it definitely has been years of work and I still have those moments, obviously. But for me lifting really heavy weights in my basement with hard rock music is the number one thing that I do, it helps me alleviate a lot of stress, anxiety, and I try to do at least four or five days a week. I also have kind of a morning routine or routine that I do, even if it doesn't happen in the morning sometimes is I journal my feelings. It might sound super cliche, but I put it all on paper, if there is something that is bothering me or my husband annoyed me in the middle of the night or you know, my dad said this or working cattle was an adventure, I would put it on paper. Because sometimes when you actually get those thoughts out of your head that are bothering you, and you put them on paper, you kind of release them in a sense. And then I kind of go back once in a while, I flip back to exactly a year ago, kind of like Timehop or like Facebook memories. And I look at where I was at last year. And those things that were really bothering me a year ago now don't seem so big or even a week ago. So that has been huge. And then I also this is also really cliche, but I listened to a lot of podcasts about like, mindset and read personal development books that helped me have different mechanisms to deal with things like that. And I was like non believer in personal development. I thought it was cliche and dumb, because I was always reading like the fluffy things like all affirmation based and that's just not who I am. Like, I need the swear words and some of them basically, like call me out on my crap. So that has served me a little bit. But the journaling, the fitness, taking time to unplug from social media and like have me time outside of like working out has been huge. And then the personal development altogether has been the magic sauce for me.
Shaye Koester 16:57
So is gratitude a part of like your morning routine or daily routine? Is that something that's been effective for you?
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 17:03
Yeah, I had to, I always said like the simple like affirmations and then I realized that I needed more of like a goal based gratitude type of affirmation for me. So it had like intention behind it. So, you know, affirmation-wise, because I fill up my cup every single day, I'm a calmer person to work with my family. That's a really simple one that works for me, it puts action into it. And then I also list five to 10 things I'm grateful for every single day, whether it is a warm bed in the middle of January and negative 40 degree weather, or you know, a mama cow deciding not to try to take me out that day, whatever it is, it's also fun to go back and look at those things. Because it doesn't have to be giant things you're grateful for. Everyone's grateful for their family and their friends. But those little moments also help you realize how truly blessed you are every single day and those little big things that happen that just drive me nuts, they seem to get a little bit smaller when you truly appreciate what good things are going on.
Shaye Koester 18:02
Well, that's awesome. And thanks for sharing that I know as far as gratitude goes. I started where like I had like a planner and like, you know, every morning or you had to write three things you are grateful for. It's something that when my temper creeps in, I start writing down some gratitudes and affirmations as well and it does make a difference. And yes, it is a little thing. Sometimes it's just the sun shining, or the rain if you need that.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 18:26
Right, like the sun would be like 60 degree weather when it's been like 40 and cold. And yeah, that just the little things help you realize how truly amazing it is to do what we do.
Shaye Koester 18:38
Shifting gears a little bit, and you've touched on this, here and there. I just kind of want to wrap it up into maybe one question or one summary. But when we look at maybe an I don't like saying typical farmer or rancher because we're all so different and unique. But I just have this image of, you know, my father or grandfather out there working or my mother or sister, you know, in these busy lifestyles, what are some of those first steps that may be easier to implement on the mental and physical health side, when we look at actions that can be taken that you know, aren't gonna feel like they're taking too much time out of their day, because sometimes it is the simple things that make a difference.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 19:19
Right. I think a little bit of it that I always try to remind like when I talk to the neighbors about this, or my parents or family and you know, close people, I always suggest one water intake. I know it sounds super cliche as well, but it does a lot for you, and it'll help you feel better, your energy will also improve, you'll get more steps in because you have to go to the bathroom more often as well, which is never going to hurt anybody. And then in regards to nutrition, just a little hit on this. If you just incorporate some vegetables in your meals I know in the Midwest like my parents are very like steak and potatoes and that's what we would have. We also include some vegetables in that I promise you'll feel a little better and it'll you know, start a little process and it's not anything crazy simple stuff. But even if it's, you know, going for an evening walk, I know we're all tired. It doesn't sound like it's a lot of fun. But it can also be time you can spend with your spouse or with a relative that you have, maybe it's 20 minutes, little things like that can really compound. And if you want to go into like a full on workout program, or something that's totally up to you, but little changes can truly make the difference. So you can start there, as well as like that gratitude piece, it sounds super cliche, I know. But when you take a step back and truly realize, like, this is all I have going on, and these things are amazing. Your mindset will slowly shift with time, it's not going to happen overnight, it's gonna take weeks months of doing it, and you're gonna feel silly, I promise, I feel silly. Sometimes, too. I'm like, I'm so grateful for this, when you take a step back, your mindset is going to automatically shift more and more to being a little more positive, instead of focusing on the negative things that are really bothering you that really aren't usually that big of a deal. And we live a very high stress life. So there's any way that you can reduce a little bit of stress, I promise, it'll be better in the end, even if it's a little bit of action to get there.
Shaye Koester 21:11
Well, I think that's great, and especially how you brought up that those small habits can make big changes overall in your lifestyle in the end.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 21:21
Right, I\it doesn't take the crazy things.
Shaye Koester 21:26
So how have you stayed accountable on your health journey, because it can be very up and down. You've mentioned you're not perfect, but ultimately, how do you stay accountable so that you can go to bed at night and say, well, in the big picture, I'm still taking care of myself.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 21:42
So I have an online community that I do check into with. I was a fitness coach for a while. I still have some clients in there and such that I lean into because they're there with me, they're in the trenches. And then I am actually creating a free community as well to have anyone in there that is on a health and fitness journey, whether that is just moving, you know, trying to hit 10,000 steps a day, or you're doing you're going to the gym, and you're doing you know, 75 hard whatever it is, because sometimes we all need just a little bit of a community to check into. I also have some really good friends that are on that journey with me. So sometimes we get on Zoom together, and we do our workouts together or we do a little Saturday morning chat for 30 minutes while we drink our pre workout or eat breakfast or whatever it is and then go sweat. That has been huge, but also making my goals attainable in a way that brings me joy has made sticking, you know, staying accountable to everything so much easier, because I enjoy my workouts. I know they're helping my mental health. And then I also share it on social media because I know sometimes it took me watching XYZ person go get their workout in to go get my workout in or to go for a walk, right? Those little things that are like a little bit of peer pressure kind of benefited me back in the day. So I share that journey. But I mean, I'm six years in now. So for me showing up daily, it's a habit, it's not easy. Usually, sometimes I'm not motivated at all, but it's a habit that I've built. So if you can, you know, set a goal to crush five workouts a week for 21 days. And then you do that and then you go for six weeks, and then you go for 10 weeks or whatever it is, and give yourself grace along the way. That will hold you accountable.
Shaye Koester 23:21
Well, that's awesome. So shifting to the mental health side, how has that impacted how you're able to work better and communicate with your family because communicating with family presents its challenges. It can straight up suck. I'm not gonna lie. I'm sure my parents will say the same about communicating with me a lot of days.
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 23:41
Oh, yeah. So I've noticed like, I get on edge if I have not filled my cup that day, whether that is you know, my workout or just finding me time during certain seasons. So like calving season gets a little more high strung. I always just make sure I take a step back before I kind of say things because I used to be the sharp person that would just let everything fall out of her mouth. So for some reason, having a piece of my fitness journey that I could control has helped me put all these emotions into a workout. There's a lot of times that I get mad I like drop all kinds of angry words during my workouts I cry sometimes because I just have to let my emotions out in that time. To the point that I'm usually okay when I'm at the farm. But I'm not afraid to tell someone like I need to take a second to just like gather my thoughts or like stop a situation before it happens because prevention is key for me and a lot of things so if you know cattle are getting wound up, usually I'd be like, Hey, we just take a chance to just everyone chill out. And nobody, you know, blows up at them. But usually if I am on top of taking care of myself and filling up my own cup, I don't have those outbursts as long as I'm also getting enough sleep which can be a challenge in some seasons but they're still not my own cup mainly and and reminding myself to breathe has been benefical more than anything.
Shaye Koester 25:05
Outstanding. I really appreciate how vulnerable you've been and honest in sharing your journey and your advice. As we wrap up, do you have any last comments or thoughts you'd like to share with my audience,
Andrea Severtson-Flemming 25:19
I just want to say one thing is, if you feel like you need to make some sort of change, start small and start with what works for you and your lifestyle. It doesn't have to be what I do or what some fancy fitness influencer does or what you see anyone else do. Whatever you feel like you can stick to and build those habits that you can stack on to whether it is you know, maybe going for walks for a while. And then next month, you want to try lifting weights or doing something else. If you start building the foundation with things that are super simple, and then build from there, your journey is going to be a lot more fun. And it doesn't have to go XYZ you don't have to lift weights, you don't have to do crazy things. Just start somewhere and make sure it's sustainable for you long term. Because you don't want to get two months in and say, Hey, I can't do this anymore at all. And then you're back to ground zero. I think a lot of people do that to themselves. And it's hard to figure that out. But find something that works for you, and have some sort of system that holds you accountable, whether it is a best friend or a co worker or your family, maybe not your family if you work with your family because that gets to be a little much. But find someone or something that holds you accountable and you find joy in the journey because that's really the secret sauce.
Shaye Koester 26:31
Well, thank you very much. And that's a wrap on that one. Be sure to let me know your thoughts on the episode and if you have any further questions around the topic, take care and have a great day.
