Milspouse Matters Episode 58 with Ashley Keller
Let’s talk about facing military life with focus, grace, and strength!
On this episode, I’m joined by Ashley Keller of GlowBodyPT. She’s a veteran, a professional triathlete, a military spouse, mom of 3 young children, and a prenatal/postnatal exercise specialist and certified personal trainer.
I first connected with Ashley on Instagram and just love her posts and her positive attitude, as well as her realistic, practical take on military spouse life.
We’re discussing a range of topics—including tips on getting through deployment (her husband recently returned from his 9th deployment!) and letting go of “Mom guilt.” Ashley also talks about the importance of making time to take care of yourself, becoming a stay-at-home mom when that’s not what you’d planned, balancing work and kids, and so much more! Ashley has so much good to share with you. Her tips on keeping your focus vs. worrying about a ‘schedule’ is worth pure gold.
Here’s a little more about Ashley:
She says of herself, “I usually have a kid on me.” She’s a professional triathlete for Team USA turned mom of 3 who now has a fraction of the time to work out.
Ashley started GlowBodyPT while she was an officer in the US Army. Over lunch breaks, she’d change out of her army combat uniform and into workout clothes to record quick prenatal routines with a cheap camera propped on index cards on her kitchen counter. She was frustrated by the lack of challenging (yet safe) prenatal workouts on YouTube (or anywhere??), so she became a prenatal/postnatal exercise specialist and certified personal trainer, did all kinds of research and even evaluated a test group of 50 women. Her hope was that maybe there’d be a few like-minded women somewhere in the world who could benefit and save themselves time.
About her husband’s 9th deployment, Ashley says,
“To those who say, ‘I am sure it’s easy for you now!’, it doesn’t get easier. I sometimes feel like I am floundering to keep each kid’s bucket (mostly) filled. To responsibly weigh pandemic risks with going places/school/sports/church. Resentment creeps in the cracks while doing the repetitive, thankless parenting chores alone, to the tune of kids arguing or a whining toddler. Guilty at 5 pm on a week night when I am wishing away the hours for it to be the kids’ bedtime. Pangs of jealousy on Saturday nights when my friends have their spouses home to chill on the couch with them. With all of that, my heart is truly heavy for Luke who is missing all of us and I would never be strong enough to flip flop with him.”
She adds, “I am usually in workout clothes, the kids are always barefoot, I don’t have it all together, but I will point you to Jesus.”
Connect with Ashley on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and get more positive, helpful tips for facing military life and all its challenges.
Want to kickstart your fitness? Take advantage of this SPECIAL OFFER! Take 10% off of the 10 Minute Plan or the 12 Week Post Pregnancy Plan with the code MILSPOUSE10. Simply plug in the code at checkout at GlowBodyPT
Mentioned on this episode: GraceLaced
More resources for your military life:
- Connect with Milspouse Matters on Instagram
- Christian Military Spouse Facebook Group
- Find the complete Milspouse Matters show archive and listen to every episode
Get Jen’s book, You Are Not Alone: Encouragement for the Heart of a Military Spouse.
Have a topic idea for the Milspouse Matters podcast or know someone who’d be a great guest? Send me a note or fill out our guest application.
