Yes, It Is Important for Cowboygirls To Work Out!!!

OK guys….soooo….I fell off the wagon. Not the sobriety wagon, mind you, but the clean-eating/taking-care-of-yourself/working-out wagon.

I’ve never felt like my fitness or my body was where I wanted it to be, to be perfectly honest with you. I always felt like no matter how good of shape I was in at the time, I could be skinnier, stronger, leaner, or faster. And jumping on the scale in the morning? That quickly becomes an obsession for me and I know that that's not healthy at all.

I have a tendency to swing wildly from a serious fitness freak, to a pizza eating, couch potato. My fitness level and my body tend to swing wildly as well as a result of that. That’s just not healthy.

As cowboygirls and horsemen I think we owe it to our partners, our horses, and ourselves, to be in the best shape possible. I don’t mean that we should be skinny or a certain pant size…I mean we should be the healthiest and strongest that WE can be individually! Horses are athletes and we should adopt that mentality as well! How can we expect the best out of them if we’re not expecting it from ourselves? Riding colts and sticking with a spooky horse and working the ground is a heck of a lot easier if we’re in shape and strong.

Because of all this, and the fact that my little beer belly is uncomfortably peeking over the edge of my waistband, I’ve decided to make some changes that will be a LIFESTYLE change…not just a temporary fix.

Green smoothies are amazing! They fill you up and allow you to eat more veggies than you ever could raw!

I hope some of you gals (and guys!) join me in getting fit!

Instead of focusing on the scale, I’m going to focus on making my body the strongest, most inhospitable to disease and sickness that it can be.

Instead of focusing on size, I’m going to focus on what my body can do…how far it can run, how many pushups it can do, how many miles it can hike, how many horses it can ride, and how many burpees it can complete!

Instead of completely denying myself my favorite foods, I’m going to think of giving my body fuel, and allowing myself to eat “naughty” food in moderation.

Instead of focusing on a number, I’m going to focus on how many fun different things I can try that will push me…mentally as well as physically.

I want to be able to do this again!

So for those of you that can be a little like me, AKA…type A, “everything or nothing” personality, here’s what I’m going to do instead of adopting my usual attitude…

·      Drink more water.

·     Don’t drastically change your diet right off the bat, just focus on eating more veggies and less processed food at first.

·      Sweat. A lot.

·     Try yoga, rock climbing, hiking, kayaking, lifting weights, running on the beach…don’t become bored by your workout!

·      Set a goal that will mark your physical fitness as opposed to a number on the scale. I want to be able to do 100 pushups all in a row one day. My little goal is to be able to eek out 20 in a row by the end of the month.

As cowboygirls we have tight gates that need to be opened, hay bales that have to be moved, fence that needs to be built and horses that need to be shod…we owe it to our partners, our horses, to be in the best shape possible. If you don’t want to work out for you, do it for them.

xo xo Liz

Lizzie's Christmas Movie - A Tale Of Hope

Hello Dolls! For some reason I feel like I haven’t blogged in forever, even though it has only been a few days. I hope your Christmas was spent with loved ones and your hearts were happy and your bellies full. I ate so much the last few days that I seriously need to go on a diet ASAP…not even kidding.

Do you remember when Adrian and I posted gift ideas before Christmas, and we mentioned that we normally do homemade gifts? Well my present from Adrian meant so much to me and was so beautiful that I have to share it with you all. It is highly personal but I hope it brings those of you who are struggling some hope that you can overcome your demons like I did: with a lot of try and the right attitude! Love ya, Dolls!

I can’t believe how talented my baby sister is, seriously is there nothing the child can’t do?!?!

xo xo Elizabeth 

Keep Your Chin Up High

I think part of the reason we all of us feel so close here on Buckaroo Barbie, is because I am brutally honest with you. Whenever I sit down to write a post, I imagine drawing my chair up to yours and topping off our coffee cups. It’s as if we’re all friends, offering each other advice, encouragement or even just a shoulder to cry on. So with that in mind, I feel like we’re all friends.

If you remember the other day, I posted how a fellow Lyme warrior died. It really upset me and thanks to that and some other contributing factors like accidently eating some food with preservatives in it, I’ve been down sick on the couch the last few days.

But that’s not the part I’m crying about. Yesterday our neighbor called and said he had about 42 head to brand. I was so excited. Surely I’d be feeling better by Sunday morning! I woke up this morning and the room was spinning so wildly it put any carnival ride to shame.  My joints felt like they’d been beaten with a hammer and I was so weak that Adrian had to help me so I could just sit up in bed. Long story short, I didn’t go brand today. And I was really kind of bitter about it. I had been doing so well! Why did I have to get to feeling crappy NOW of all times????

The mums got me cozied up on the couch with my Roo dog and a cup of coffee and headed off to the neighbors to take pictures. That’s her passion and joy, just in case you were wondering. J And while she was gone I might have indulged in a few tears of feeling sorry for myself and anger and frustration in my stupid, weak body. Then, while scrolling through Facebook, a friend’s status stopped me in my tracks. It said,

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

I know my trials are nothing compared to what some people are being faced with right now, but when you’re faced with your own baggage, it can seem very big and overwhelming at times. And in all honesty, I felt very overwhelmed and sad today. I spent the day, twisted on the couch in pain while my body alternatively tried to spin me to sleep, or freeze me into submission. At one point I woke up from a nap, scrolled through my Instagram and ran across this quote from Chalene Johnson:

“The only thing we truly have control over is our attitude. Attitude is a habit. Attitude is a choice. Things could be much worse! Hey…you have so much to be grateful for! Be happy. Be optimistic. Be giving. Be kind. Be grateful. Be humble. Be thankful. Be loving. Be generous. Be patient. Be nice. Be open. Be forgiving. These things create the habit of an unshakeable optimistic, positive attitude!”

That quote was like a shock of cold water to my system. My dad has always told Adrian and me that the only thing we control is our attitude, and through experience I’ve found that to be true.

I chose to forget about that today, so when my reminder came thanks to Facebook and Instagram, I felt somewhat ashamed and thankful.

I felt ashamed that I had wasted so much time wallering around in self-pity, and thankful for the reminder that even if I can’t control how I feel, I can control how I react to my situation. And that right there, ladies and gentlemen, is true control.

So no matter what tomorrow brings me, whether it’s joint pain, whirling rooms and not being able to ride my horse, or boundless energy, cutting strings and loping circles on Albert, I’m going to be thankful and cheerful. I’m going to work my hardest with the allotted energy and resources I’ve been given so that when the end of the day draws near, I can look back and be proud of my Try and attitude.

My two favorites, my little sister and my Albert horse.

I hope this encourages you in some small way, because these reminders did my heart a whole world of good today.

xo xo Liz 

Photo Credit: Alison Brannan 

Take Charge of Your Life

Note: this post originally appeared on my blog, The Art of Living with Lyme, for people struggling with sickness or chronic pain and disease. I just felt like I should share it with you all here today at Buckaroo Barbie, because it can apply to all of us, in many different situations. Just replace the "sickness" part with whatever you're struggling with! ;) 

What keeps you going? What is your inspiration to not give in, give up, throw in the towel and just say, “This is too hard, to hell with you all!”?

The thing is, those of us with health problems are stronger than we even really know. We are tougher than the average Joe. Why? Because every day we wake up we don’t know whether it’s going to be rotten and physically, mentally and emotionally difficult, or it could be just fine. We have to have strength of will to just wake up in the morning some days.

Don’t ever loose your will to fight. Don’t passively fold your hands, sit back and wish for the long ago days when you were totally healthy. YOU have to take ownership of your health and YOU have to be willing to fight. Yes, it will be difficult and painful and full of ups and down, just like the rest of life.

But I know you can succeed.  I know, from personal experience that you can start making a difference in your lifestyle, how you can change your thinking and eventually, how you feel.

When I was at my sickest with Lyme I was not able to walk, I threw up everything I ate until all I could keep down was plain bread and 7up, and I was in so much pain that I was on Vicodin around the clock. I asked my doctor for something for relief…the pain was just too great for me to handle. I felt like I couldn’t take it any more. When the only things that were suggested to me were medical marijuana or Oxytocin, I decided to fight back.

I made the choice to not allow things to happen to me, to suffer in silence. I decided to actively WORK at getting as healthy and whole as I could be. I started small, with baby steps. When the pain got to where it was really bothering me, I would stretch. At first I was only able to stretch for a few minutes at a time, but even the few minutes offered some instant relief. I made changes to my diet by cutting out food with preservatives, processed fast food and replacing it with organic food. Within 2 months I didn’t need ONE pain pill. Not even Advil or Aleve.  And how I was doing emotionally directly affected how I felt physically. I started trying to learn how to handle stress and things that upset me. I’m still working on that…

It was, and still is, a learning process. It takes small, small steps, falling down, getting back up and trying again. It involves the help of your family and friends and it involves an indomitable will. Which, I know you have.

And if you feel like you don’t have that strength of will, you can work on acquiring it.

There are some days when pain is my companion again and I stay in bed with my hair all a mess and mascara under my eyes…but they are few and far between. The good days far outweigh the bad, and for that I am so thankful. It took the fear of medicines that I didn’t want in my body to jump kick me into actively fighting for my life….for having quality of life…to start living, not existing.

Find what inspires you, what makes you want to fight. Look at it, keep it in front of you and call up whatever it is that strengthens your will when you want to give up.

It could be the thought of the things that you could do if you had more energy, less pain and an ability to handle anxiety, a family member or all the things you want to achieve with your life.

You’re a fighter. I know you are. Don’t take nothin lying down.

And if you have any questions about making changes, or just need someone to talk to, I’m always here, from one sickie (or Buckaroo Barbie!) to another.

xo xo Liz 

Photos via Tumblr

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Truth:

One of the best things in the world is to watch someone stand up for themselves.

Be it making some noise so that your pushy Aunt Doris quits interrupting and running over the top of you during family dinners or shakily standing up to the evil actions of bad people and screaming, “I won’t be treated this way!” It’s a grand thing to stand up for YOU.

Sometimes it is easier to help the people we love to demand to be treated with respect than it is for us to expect the same thing out of ourselves.

It can be scary. By standing up for yourself in the face of evil (and I’m talking bad things here, not your mother asking you to do the dishes and her demands cutting into your Facebook time), you are making a change. You are telling yourself that you deserve just like anyone else to be cherished.

There will be people that you will encounter along your walk through life whose actions towards you will be so despicable that it shocks you to your very core. You might be so surprised by their actions that you tell yourself, “I’m probably overreacting. They probably didn’t really mean for that to happen.” If you allow that lie to take root inside your mind, you will only cause yourself more harm and pain in the long run.

Stand up for yourself and for anyone else that has been at the mercy of evil actions and stop the cycle. Tell yourself that you are loved, dearly. You know that you are loved. I am rooting for you 100%, I am your biggest cheerleader. Take strength from knowing that you are not the only one and you don’t deserve to be mistreated. The first time you say with your words or your actions, “I am worth more. I won’t stand to be talked to or treated this way,” can be absolutely terrifying! But it is SO worth it. YOU are so worth it!

For my younger female readers here, a good rule of thumb is to question, would my father do that to me? Would my dad talk that way to my mother? Or another father figure in your life that treats you like a daughter and hold the offender up to your loved one’s example. If they are acting in a way towards you that is anything less than how your daddy or your Prince Charming would treat you don’t worry, you’re not overreacting! Respect and love yourself darling girl, and go get some help. And never forget that YOU did nothing wrong, it’s all on their head.

 You, dear Buckaroo Barbie, are BEAUTIFUL and STRONG and no matter what has happened to you in your life, you DESERVE as all human beings do, to be treated with love and honor. Love and honor yourself and start by demanding that other people treat you with love and honor as well.

Truth:

I got the privilege the other day to watch a Buckaroo Barbie do this very thing. It was hard, it was scary at first but change always sets us humans off kilter. She was not being treated with respect, in fact she was being down right MISTREATED and she had the courage to say, “This is not OK. I will not be treated this way.” And I gotta tell you Dolls; it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

Never forget that you are priceless.

xo xo Liz