I wanted to kick-off the first episode of this podcast by talking about the difference between trying to find the time versus making the time for our workout routines.&nbsp; There’s a big difference between these two phrases and rephrasing this can really help in elevating where this stands on our priority list.&nbsp; As a Coach, I hear clients say all the time how they are struggling to find the time to workout or fit it into their busy schedules.&nbsp; But the truth is, this is always going to be a problem if you’re always looking for the best time to fit it in.&nbsp; If you’re always searching for that big, open block of time in your schedules where you can easily fit in a workout. When we constantly use the word “find” unfortunately, what we’re really telling ourselves is that it really isn’t that big of a priority for us. It subconsciously pushes those workouts to the bottom of our long to-do list, making it the very last thing you will get to if and when a moment presents itself.&nbsp; And I know that’s not what we really want.&nbsp;&nbsp; So how do you transition from trying to find the time to MAKING the time?  Determine that this IS in fact a priority to you. Start looking at your schedule realistically: how many times you can commit to working out and how long those workouts can realistically be...60min, 30min, 15min?&nbsp; Try to avoid getting hung up on the idea that every workout needs to be the same length of time.&nbsp; It’s more than ok to vary the length of time and intensity of a workout in order to accommodate your busy schedule. Ask for help! Reach out to the people in your village and network and be sure to communicate to them that this is important to you and you may need their help to accomplish it.&nbsp; For example, asking for help with the logistics of getting the kids from place to place.&nbsp; Or maybe talking to your boss about your work schedule in order to accommodate a midday workout, etc.&nbsp; Last but not least, plug it in and commit to it! Whether you’re working out at home, at a gym or in a studio, be sure to plug that time into your calendar just as you would any other important appointment in your life.  Most importantly start re-phrasing the way you talk about your workouts in order to help mentally bump it up on your priority list. Because in the end if you keep looking for that free time, you will never find it.&nbsp; There will always be something else to do. There will always be competing priorities. So stop looking and start creating that time for yourself because you deserve it.&nbsp; With Much love,Nina P.S. If you want to connect further I would love to catch up with you on ,&nbsp;or you can join the Making FIT Work private community on .

Making Time vs Finding Time

Getting Motivated & Staying Consistent with Tracie Calabrese

How To Make Diets Work For You

Juggling Work, Family & Fitness with Devin Cordeiro

Welcome to Making FIT Work, hosted by Nina McGoff, certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach and busy mom of two. Every Monday on Making FIT Work, we'll be addressing the everyday obstacles that most of us face regarding health and fitness...motivation, mindset, nutrition habits, and more.&nbsp; We regularly interview other busy parents and professionals who will be sharing their best practices and tips that have helped them stay committed to their goals even when life gets crazy. Here you're always going to get real honest talk with actionable advice that I hope will inspire you on your journey to strong, healthy and happy.&nbsp; You can find Making FIT Work on any platform where you listen to podcasts. Be sure to hang out with me on Facebook and Instagram @fitwith_nina.&nbsp; Have an idea for the show? Or have a specific topic you'd like me to cover? Drop me a DM or join my private Facebook community Making FIT Work and let me know! I can't wait to hear from you! Thanks for listening in.

Making FIT Work with Nina McGoff

Mindless snacking. &nbsp;You know you’re not hungry, yet here you are anyway...snacking away! &nbsp;You know this is the thing holding you back from feeling the way you want to feel but it just keeps happening, so how do you stop it? &nbsp;This topic suggestion came from a member of our Making FIT Community. &nbsp; &nbsp;  Here are some questions I would recommend asking yourself….  What did you have for dinner? &nbsp;  Were you satisfied with that meal? &nbsp;  Was it protein-packed? &nbsp; &nbsp;  Protein plays a huge part in feeling satiated. So you may be full but if you are not satisfied you might find yourself still raiding the pantry afterward for no good reason other than you are looking for something else to hit the spot for you. &nbsp;  Instead of trying to figure out how to stop mindless snacking, try to look at what is happening prior to snacking. &nbsp;Is this mindless snacking happening every night? &nbsp;Or perhaps just on the nights that your dinner is lacking a substantial amount of protein. &nbsp;  If so, then try supplementing by drinking a protein shake to get your mind off of snacking. &nbsp;If a lack of protein is not the reason, then you may want to ask yourself if you are just feeling stressed or tired? &nbsp;  If you’re feeling tired/low energy then the easiest solution is….go to bed &amp; get more sleep! We could all use more sleep. :) &nbsp;Try to avoid using snacking as a way to keep you up so that you can stay up later.   If you think the answer is stress-related then stay tuned as well be un-packing the depths of stress eating on this podcast soon! &nbsp;Until next time friends, much love! &nbsp;  P.S. I would love to connect with you on IG or TikTok at @fitwtih_nina or you can request to join our . I would love to hear any of your topic suggestions.&nbsp;

How To Stop Mindless Snacking

Structure, Preparation &amp; Mom-Guilt Today on Making FIT Work, I chat with Laurie Dionisio, who works full-time as a Speech-Language Pathologist, has two kids at two different schools, is an avid CrossFitter and mind/body blogger. Laurie loves structure and routine and attributes being consistent with her health and fitness to building a set routine for herself throughout the years. Although she was never an athlete growing up, that didn’t stop her from dabbling around at the gym in college. And as she has evolved and grown, so has her love and overall knowledge about health and fitness, helping her create a routine that feels good for her. What I love is that Laurie talks about how even though she would prefer to stick to a very set schedule week in and week out, she also realizes that life happens, and to live a strong, healthy life consistently...you need to be able to roll with the punches and be a little flexible. And this is something that is not intuitive and definitely takes reminding. So here’s your friendly reminder to be good to yourself! ;) From Wii Fit to building an at-home gym, her workouts looked and felt like they surely changed over time. It wasn’t until about 5 years ago, when she was introduced to CrossFit that she could take her workouts to the next level. But before we unpack that, I loved and really connected with the fact that she mentioned getting a trial membership to the local box felt like she was being permitted to go and take time to focus on that. I think every mom can relate to that. We know it’s important to take care of ourselves and take care of ourselves, which means we have to spend some time away from our children. And that’s hard! Mom-guilt is real, and sometimes you do need your significant other to validate that for you. To remind you that you have their support to do things that make you feel good, even if it means more time away from the kids. A big thanks to Laurie for sharing that aspect of her journey! Now let’s get back to fitness….her trial membership at CrossFit Dartmouth was a humbling and eye-opening experience that allowed her to take her fitness to another level. The ability to be coached and pushed by someone else rather than relying on her own physical and mental limitations as you do when participating in group fitness classes was everything she didn’t know she needed. Since then, she has been committed to her CrossFit workouts and schedules 3x/week. She goes on to also thank her husband for understanding and being respectful of her need to move her body and allowing her the space to get out of the house for an additional 3 hours/week. Mamas! Just a reminder….you deserve that time. Take it! We shared stories on mom-guilt, what it feels like and why we hope more women will realize that although those feelings are strong and real, we need to fight the urge to let it hold us back. As we all know, fitness is only half the battle! So what’s the key to making it all work? Laurie says, “Preparation is 100% of my success.” Although Laurie spends a good amount of time meal prepping every Sunday, the amount of aggravation it saves her throughout the week makes all the difference and is totally worth it. One of her big takeaways is that all of it (health and fitness) “is a learning process, and evolves” She recommends not trying to do it all at once. Pick something that feels easy at first and focus on that….” taking small bites of the apple.” We end this episode with Laurie encouraging and reminding all of us that we get one life &amp; one body...treat it well! Although we didn’t have enough time to dive into it today, Laurie has an amazing blog that I have enjoyed reading called Chose The Light Side, which I encourage you to check out. http://choosethelightside.blogspot.com/ As always, we hope that you found this episode to be helpful and would love to connect with you further in our Making FIT Work community on Facebook or Instagram at...

Structure, Preparation & Mom-Guilt with Laurie Dionisio

Is Fruit Hindering Your Weight Loss?

What is best for weight loss? Should you do more cardio or pick up the weights.&nbsp; You can probably find an answer on the internet to honestly support whichever you’d prefer.&nbsp; And, if you’ve been following me for any amount of time online you may already know my answer.&nbsp; Personally, I love strength training.&nbsp; I love the way it makes me feel and look. But outside of my personal opinion, strength training gives clients more bang for their buck.&nbsp; No matter what any of my client’s goals are, they are always going to benefit from building strength.&nbsp; That’s the beautiful thing about strength training… it’s not one-dimensional.&nbsp;&nbsp; Want to lose weight?&nbsp; Strength training Want to tone up? Strength training Want to work on balance? Strength training Want to increase bone density?&nbsp; You got it!&nbsp; Strength training is the answer. Want to get faster, stronger, etc.?&nbsp; Pick up the weights Now the real question is, how should you strength train?&nbsp; Should you be focusing on single muscle groups, full-body circuits, high reps, low reps, etc.?&nbsp; That’s where your overall goals come into play, along with how much time you have to dedicate to each of your workout sessions. In an ideal world, we would all be strength training 3-4x/week and doing cardio 2-3x/week, but most of us just don’t have that kind of time.&nbsp; And I am by no means saying that cardio is bad for you and you should avoid it at all costs but what I am saying is that you are going to reap more benefits with strength training. What tends to happen when people focus on cardio only is that at first you do see results but over time your metabolism catches on, starts to adapt, and then suddenly you’ve hit a plateau. Suddenly you are left wondering why you still feel like you’re burning major calories with long intense cardio sessions but your overall progress has stalled. Whereas the opposite happens with strength training, you may not see immediate results with strength training 3x/week, however, it helps build a more efficient metabolism long-term which means you won’t quickly hit that frustrating plateau and will also be left with what feels like more flexible nutrition habits.&nbsp; In the long run, whether the goal is weight loss or not, you should focus on building a flexible metabolism and the only way to do that is through strength training.&nbsp;&nbsp; Also, I can’t speak enough about what strength training does for your confidence.&nbsp; I can personally attest to weighing 135lbs and feeling awesome, and weighing that same amount and feel like absolute crap. The difference is in strength training. This is another reason why I like to focus on tracking client progress through measurements and progress photos rather than just the scale.&nbsp; The scale doesn’t tell the whole story. I have seen many clients stay at the same weight while decreasing overall inches and changing their body composition. If you’re looking for the best of both worlds, I personally love what I like to call Lift &amp; HIIT.&nbsp; This is my signature online group training program and it is essentially 90% strength training and 10% HIIT intervals, giving clients a nice mix of heavy strength training to build lean muscle and cardio intervals to maximize the calorie burn in a short 30-40min session. As always I hope that you found this episode to be helpful, and would love to connect with you further in our  on Facebook, or on Instagram at  Until next time...be strong, be healthy, be happy!