Podcasts · Kids & Family · Health & Fitness
Armed to the Heart - Military Women, Work-life Balance, Female Veterans, Christian Moms, Pregnancy and Postpartum
Megan Gephart | Christian Life Coach | Military Mom Advocate | Catholic Working Mom | Pregnancy and Postpartum Coach
119 episodes
*Top 2% globally-ranked podcast. Currently on pause, but enjoy all past episodes! Live out God’s calling in work & family life, within and beyond the uniform — Are you feeling alone as a woman of Christian faith in the military or another male-dominated environment? Are you driven to make a big impact, but wish you could be more present, and give more time to your family? Are you working to lead change, struggling to find your voice or courage as you swim against the current? Are you a high-achiever pouring yourself out for everyone else but burnt out, stressed, and struggling to find time for your own physical & mental health because there’s always so much that needs to be done? Does your harsh inner critic make you feel like no matter how much you do, it’s never enough? You know you’re called to be a leader and change-maker, but it’s hard to find others like you who also share your faith & values. Maybe you’re feeling forced to choose between. Every day is a battle, trying to give 100% in all the hats you wear. You’re performing well but your load is heavy, you’re weighed down by guilt, and exhausted from pushing through but never having a moment to rest. It’s hard to know what to say yes to, and scary considering a different course than the traditional path of success everyone is pushing you toward, or what you’ve always known. Maybe you’ve recently made the transition or are thinking about leaving the military. You don’t want your work to come at the expense of your family; they come first. Amidst it all, you just want to do God’s will. I see you sister. I’m on this journey with you. In this Podcast, you’ll find heart to heart conversations about motherhood and military life, work-life balance and leadership, all grounded in Biblical truths, my education & experience as a professionally-trained Catholic Mindset Coach, certified Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism Coach, and lessons I’ve learned the hard way in the last 5 years of high level advocacy work fighting for mothers, families, and life in the military. I believe strongly that no one should have to choose between their family and their call to serve. That motherhood should never be the death of our dreams. That motherhood is not a limiting factor in what a woman can achieve, but lack of support can be. I started Armed to the Heart to be who I needed when I was in the trenches, overwhelmed by motherhood in the military, struggling in my mental health & postpartum recovery, drowning in my home, carrying so much guilt for the time I had to spend away from my baby, feeling so much pressure to prove myself in a combat arms unit and feeling like a failure in all of it. My family was getting the leftovers of me. I felt stifled in my faith. Trapped in the military. It felt impossible to actually live out my priorities. I felt so far from the superwoman others saw in me. As a dual military, active duty Army officer raising 2 sweet (and wild!) boys in the Catholic faith, a fierce advocate for…
Episodes page 1 of 3
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114. Trusting God in Uncertainty, Transitions, Leaving the Military, Pregnancy, Entrepreneurship
Hey friend. Today I'm sharing an update on where the Lord has been leading me, what I’ve been “giving birth to” and the humbling growth journey I've been on in this season. We're talking about big life transitions,…
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113. Feeling Pressure to Finish Lent Strong & Prepare More for Easter? 3 Tips to Reduce Overwhelm, Release Pressure & Find Rest
I felt called to speak to the pressure many of us feel at this time of the year to finish Lent strong and prepare for Easter. Today we'll dive into 3 tips and invitations if you're feeling like you're just trying to…
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112. Let Me Be With You: How to Let Jesus Into the Joys and Struggles of Everyday Life
Today I'm sharing vulnerably what Jesus has been reinforcing to me this week. A simple, but profound invitation of "let me be with you." It's so easy to compartmentalize our faith, to keep pushing through and doing…
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111. Never Enough? A Loving Invitation to Let the Lord Define Who you Are Instead of the World
This will be a polar opposite message from what you've most likely been seeing, feeling, and the pressures you've been inundated with at this time of the year about New Years' Resolutions and goals. There are so many…
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110. How’s your Mind & Heart around Exercise? Is it Serving you or Guilting you? 12 Mindset Shifts to Maintain Fitness Without all the Stress, Anxiety, Pressure or Shame
Oh sister, we’re getting vulnerable & going deep here. The tough truth is that it doesn't matter how fit we are, or how much fitness we're able to maintain, if we're imprisoned by it. For those of us who want to…
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109. The 7 Mistakes Keeping you Stuck in Guilt with Nutrition, Fitness, & your Body + How to Break Free to Reclaim the Joy around Food!
How do we keep up our healthy habits & nutrition during the Thanksgiving & Christmas celebrations? Last episode we dove into 8 simple but powerful ways to find balance in staying on track with your goals while…
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108. Breaking free from Guilt around Food: 8 Game-Changing Tips to Find Freedom & Balance in Enjoying the Holiday Meals & Treats while Staying on Track with Nutrition
How do we keep up our healthy habits & nutrition during the Thanksgiving & Christmas celebrations? This is Part 1, where we focus on 8 simple but powerful ways to find balance in staying on track with your goals while…
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107. Worried the Holidays will Derail your Health & Fitness Goals? ”Holiday-proof” your Fitness with these 15 Simple Strategies & Hacks to Stay on Track while Fully Enjoying the Season
Worried the holidays are going to derail your fitness goals, want to stay on track as much as possible so you don't feel like you have to completely reset in January after falling off the train in the coming weeks?…
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106. Jesus wants to Meet you in the Trenches: An Honest Heart to Heart about the Raw, Real, Messiness of Life and the Goodness of God
Oh my friend. I just want to invite you to imagine we're sitting across from each other on a comfy sofa with coffee today...get ready for an incredibly deep, honest, and vulnerable heart to heart. This is what my soul…
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105. Let’s Release the Unrealistic Expectations, Pressures, and Standards: A 5-Min Exercise to Let Go of all the ”Shoulds” Hanging over your Head
Do you struggle to feel like you're measuring up? Do you feel like no matter how much you do, give, and contribute, you're still not doing enough? I see you, and you're so not alone. Today I'm giving you a powerful,…
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104. Running a Million Miles an Hour and Struggling to Find Rest or Experience the Joy you Really Want to in Life? 3 Simple Steps to Start Slowing Down to Be More Present
Are you running a million miles an hour, pulled in tons of directions responding to one urgent demand after another, trying to constantly be productive with your to-do-list, and never feeling like you have a moment to…
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103. 10 Must-Answer Questions to Discover your Calling & Build a More Fulfilling Balance Between Family & Work
You're gonna want a journal and pen for this one -- you can Download and print the free PDF that goes with this episode HERE to follow along at your own pace. 10 Must-Ask Questions if you desire greater balance…
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102. Spiraling Negative Thoughts or Self-Talk? A Simple Framework to Process Tough Emotions & Build a Biblical Mindset
Do you struggle sometimes with negative self talk, and negative emotions? Today I'm giving you an easy, step-by-step framework you can use to renew your mind, and cultivate mental & emotional command as the Lord calls…
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101. 5 Ways to Stay Grounded through Change, Transitions, and Seasons of Uncertainty or Anxiety about All the Unknowns
As we resume the podcast after our summer break, we're going to have a raw, real conversation about how we can navigate seasons of transition, change, and seasons of uncertainty or unknowns. So if you're in the…
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100. Celebrating 100 Episodes with a Giveaway you Don’t Wanna Miss! Close of this Season & Prayerful Preparation for the Next
Thank you so much for being part of this growing community! As we reach the 100 episode mark, I want to take a moment to celebrate and honor this journey, share a bit more about the behind the scenes of this season,…
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99. If the Enemy Can’t Defeat You, He’ll Distract You: How to Stay Focused in a World of Constant Distractions to Be the Wife, Mom, & Leader you’re Called to Be
We live in a world of constant distractions -- noise, input, demands, notifications, all these urgent things bombarding us from every direction. This is one of the most effective tools of the enemy to lead us astray &…
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98. In a Demanding Season of Work & Family Life, or Time of Transition, Uncertainty, or Instability? 5 (Unconventional) Lessons in Work Life Balance and Living out your Faith
In this episode, I'm getting really vulnerable with you to share 5 Lessons Learned when I was away from my family the last 2 months for my Army training course. Whether you're in a crazy busy, hard season juggling…
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97. Exhausted & Running on Empty? 15 Hacks to Boost your Energy (Even when Sleep-Deprived as a Busy Mom!)
If you feel like you've gotta have your 3rd cup of coffee just to get through the day, I get it. Being pulled in so many directions every day is exhausting, and carrying everything that's on our plates can feel really…
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96. Navigating Struggles in Marriage, Mental Health, Motherhood & Military Life with Grace and How to Be More Intentional with our Time: Interview with Lissa Figgins
So honored to bring an amazing guest to you today — Lissa Figgins is a military spouse of 27 years, mom of 3 (2 boys who are now serving on active duty themselves), a leader in her community, and a Christian time…
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95. 5 Strategies to Combat Perfectionism — that Harsh Inner Critic that Says You’re Never Good Enough
Today we're gonna talk about perfectionism, and give you 5 practical strategies to combat it in daily life. Maybe you've got impossibly high standards for yourself and are very critical with your failures and…
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94. Struggling to Balance Time for Your Family with your Busy Work Schedule? 3 Simple Shifts you Can Make for More Time & Presence
When we're working full time, part time, or building a business in the margins of motherhood, as working moms we often worry about not giving our family enough. We wish we could be more present, and give more time to…
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93. Free Up More Time for What’s Most Important to You: How to Avoid these 3 Things that are Likely Wasting Way more Time than you Realize!
Grab your notebook & pen, and get ready for 3 things that are wasting your time and practical tips on what you can do about it to immediately start gaining back time that's being lost. Do you feel like there's never…
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92. How to Make an Impact, but WITHOUT Running Yourself Into the Ground: Preventing Burnout as High-Achievers with Big Hearts to Serve (Coaching Call Part 2 with Carlie)
If you're driven to make a difference & have high standards for yourself and others, if you have a strong work ethic and are a high-performer who gives so much of yourself to your work to make the organization, team,…
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91. Giving your All to Everything you Do but Can’t Find Time for Yourself? Coaching Call with Carlie on Work-Life Balance & Finding Time to Exercise (Part 1)
Bringing a special episode to you today -- a coaching call with one of my clients! In this call we help Carlie work through some guilt around taking time to exercise when there's still so much work and things that…
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90. What would a Beautiful, Perfect Mother’s Day Look & Feel Like for You? Let’s Explore your Hopes, Expectations, & Needs Before Mother’s Day so you can Feel Less Disappointment & More Joy
Take just a few minutes with me to pause and explore what your hopes, dreams, expectations, and needs are for Mother's Day. It can be really common to have high hopes for holidays like Mother's Day then feel…
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89. Tired of feeling like Work is Taking Over your Life? How to Have a Meaningful Career AND a Life, and Build a Better Work-Life Balance
Do you feel like work is taking over your life? Are you burnt out & tired of giving all you've got in your work, but feeling like it leaves just the leftovers for your family and marriage, and barely any time for the…
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88. Too Busy to Pray? Can’t Get a Moment to Yourself as a Mom? 7 Simple Ways to Find More Time to Consistently Connect with God EVEN IN your Busy Schedule
Do you feel like you're too busy to pray? Are you longing for more consistent, intentional time with the Lord? Does prayer sometimes feel like just another thing to keep up with, or another thing on the to-do-list…
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87. Painful Sex is Not Normal: 6 Simple Strategies to Reduce Pelvic Pain during Intimacy Postpartum
Hey mama. Have you experienced pain or discomfort with intimacy postpartum? I know I have, and many of the women I coach have too. It's common, but doesn't have to be your normal. No matter how long ago you had your…
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86. Feeling Pressure to be a Perfect Mom? Guilty you’re Not Giving your Family Enough? How to Break Free from the Unrealistic Expectation of Motherhood
What makes a good mom? What makes a great mom? When you think of a perfect mom, what do you think of? What makes you feel like you’re doing it all right, or makes you feel put together? What makes you feel like…
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85. Ready to Reduce Tantrums, Meltdowns & Power Struggles to Connect More with Your Kids? ALL the Tips to Make Parenting Easier & More Joyful from Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Kelly Shoup
Who's dying for some RELIEF in parenting? I see you mama. :) CAN'T WAIT to share this incredible guest interview with you today, where we dive into so many practical parenting tips that have empowered me so much…
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84. The #1 Thing that’ll help you Deal with All the Change, Instability, Uncertainty, and Transitions of Military Life and Motherhood
Are you going through some big military life transitions too? Or maybe in the trenches of all the changes & demands that come with the different seasons of motherhood? It can feel like we're constantly drowning in…
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83. The 6 Week Postpartum Clearance: All the Things your Doctor Doesn’t (or Didn’t) Tell You
Sadly, after the incredible feat of pregnancy & giving birth, the majority of us are left hanging until we get to the 6-week postpartum check-up with little to no guidance on what we can do physically, or how to start…
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82. Interview with Brianna Battles on Pregnancy & Postpartum Fitness, the Identity Shifts & Mental Health Struggles of Motherhood, and How to Make an Impact in your Community
SO honored to welcome Brianna Battles, the founder & CEO of Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism, an incredible coach, mentor, and leading expert in pre and postnatal fitness onto the Podcast! I cannot imagine a more…
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81. Your Harsh Inner Critic is Part of a Bigger Spiritual Battle: How to Hear & Know God’s Voice vs. the Enemy’s in your Life & Motherhood
Today I'm sharing something that has completely changed my life, and so many of the women I've coached -- understanding how to hear and distinguish between God's voice and the enemy's voice. Our minds are spiritual…
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80. How to Navigate Body Image Struggles in Motherhood: 6 Tips to Accept & Love your Body More, and a Vulnerable Personal Story
Today we’re having a heart to heart about body image. This can be one of the hardest things to wrestle with postpartum — I know it was for me. I’m sharing a vulnerable personal story with you, and 6 tips to help you…
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79. Healing Diastasis Recti Postpartum: How to Close your Ab Gap to Restore your Core Strength, Feel More Like Yourself in Your Body Again & Get back to Fitness after Baby
Are you dealing with Diastasis Recti or wanting to strengthen your core postpartum? You want your stomach to look and feel like it did pre-pregnancy, you want to close your ab gap, flatten your stomach & see those…
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78. Behind the Scenes: How I’m Finding Balance in a Crazy Busy Season and You Can Too (Navigating Negative Self Talk, Perfectionism, Long Distance, Military Moves)
Peeling back the curtain today for you with this totally unplanned real-time behind the scenes episode on how to find & maintain your balance and protect your time & presence for what matters most... I felt called to…
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77. Struggle to Be Present & Patient at Home with all the Directions you’re Pulled in? 15 Ways to Make the Most of the Limited Time you Have with your Babies
Today we’re talking about how to be a more present mom. Many of us struggle with this. We wanna be more present. We want to have more time with our little ones. We wanna have more time FOR our families. Working full…
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76. High Expectations of Yourself in Fitness? 3 Ways this may be Self-Sabotaging during Pregnancy & Postpartum...and How to Instead Leverage this Natural Drive FOR You & your Goals!
For many of you, like me, your natural drive to push yourself, work hard, and excel in your performance is strong. This may be the case for you in fitness, as well as every area of your life. You want to give 100% to…
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75. Drained from Work, Mom Life, and Everything on Your Plate? 5 Ways to Reduce Burnout, Stress & Guilt (Part 2)
In this 2-part episode, we're diving into what to do when we're burnt out -- 5 Tips to help you find more time to take care of yourself too, amidst all the ways you're pouring yourself out. It's easy for our own…
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74. How to Prioritize your Physical & Mental Health when Everyone Else Comes First & You’ve Got NO Time: Moving out of Burnout as a Working Mom (Part 1)
In this 2-part episode, we're diving into what to do when we're burnt out -- 5 Tips to help you find more time to take care of yourself too, amidst all the ways you're pouring yourself out. It’s so hard to find time…
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73. How Can We Live Out our Faith in Daily Life as a Military Mom? 3 Step Framework to Stay Aligned with God’s Will in your Calling for Family and Work
How can & should we live out our faith in our everyday life as military or working moms? This is something that's been on my heart through every season of motherhood. For the first couple years in the Army, I felt…
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72. Holding it All Together But Wishing it Didn’t Feel So Hard? 6 Simple Strategies to Find More Balance as a Busy Mama (Part 2)
If you feel like you're drowning just trying to keep up with everything, I see you. You are not alone. In this 2-part episode I walk you through a Blueprint to find more Balance: 6 tips & strategies that you can…
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71. Just trying to Keep Up with Everything? 6 Things you Can Do to Stop Feeling so Overwhelmed by All the Demands (Part 1)
If you feel like you're drowning just trying to keep up with everything, I see you. You are not alone. In this 2-part episode I walk you through a Blueprint to find more Balance: 6 tips & strategies that you can…
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70. Your Guide to Running while Pregnant: Is it Safe? How Long Can or Should I Run? How to Stay Fit While Protecting your Core & Pelvic Floor
Hey mama! Maybe you're wondering, is it safe to run through my whole pregnancy? How long can I, or should I keep running? Running is a big part of my lifestyle, something I love, or something I need to maintain for my…
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69. How to Overcome the Stigmas Around Pregnancy & Postpartum in the Military, to be the Mom & Leader We’re Called to Be
We're gonna have a conversation about the stigmas against motherhood in the military. I reflect on the moment when we have to transition to the maternity uniform, and all the emotions that come with this, and deep…
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68. Spread too Thin? This SINGLE Time Management Tip Will Free Up your Time & Help you Be More Present to Focus on What Matters Most
Do you get anxious thinking about your to-do-list? Do you feel like there's always an underlying stress in your mind about how you're going to get everything done, because there's never enough time? Are you exhausted…
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67. Wanna Experience More Joy EVEN IN the Hard of Motherhood? Finding your Identity, Purpose, & Dreams Again Amidst the Sacrifices
We can read all the "what to expect when you're expecting" type books, but nothing can truly prepare us for how hard motherhood is. There is SO much joy and meaning in it, but man it often feels a LOT harder than we…
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66. Not Seeing Enough Progress in Fitness Postpartum (or Anytime?) The #1 Secret to Getting More Results from your Workouts & 12 Easy Ways to Apply it
Today we're covering the #1 Secret to getting more results from your workouts. When we're not seeing the progress we want to in our fitness or those body composition changes, or getting there as fast as we want to, it…
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65. Stuck in Cycles of Stress, Exhaustion, & Guilt? The #1 Thing Stealing your Time & Energy, and the Key Steps to Break Free & Find more Balance
We're getting raw and real, with some tough love today. We're taking an honest look at the main culprit of our unmanaged stress & overwhelm. This is preventing us from finding more balance -- it's draining our time,…
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