The Making An Effort Podcast with Gabby and Mel

This week we discuss our own sliding doors moments. The pivotal moments that changed the course of our lives. No biggie. There's some other nonsense in there as well about New Girl and we churn over if we should do video for the podcast or not. Weigh in, good listener!  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will off...

We've got routines, red carpets and fall fashion on the talk points this week! If you're a Patreon supporter - look out for a bonus episode on Patreon this week too!  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future episodes. Reach us on hello@makinganeffortpodcast.com! And you'd...

It's soup season, bitches! *We didn't know if we could fill a whole episode just vibing on soup chat, but here we are. And we could have gone longer.  Links to amazing soups mentioned: Rioja Stoup Spicy Lasagna Soup Pho Style Soup Traditional Irish Veg Broth As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best...

Welcome back! This week we talk about the novel idea of Garden Centres in the UK, the cost of living - especially in big cities and the absolutely mind-blowing life cycle of seeds and growing and birth.  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future episodes. Reach us on  hell...

Today we're discussing The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. We're talking villains, back story, favourite characters, theories and how it is reality TV perfection. No huge spoilers if you haven't watched, don't worry! We then pivot into a heavier conversation about violence against women and girls and the role of men in addressing this as an epidemic. TW: if this kind of thing is hard for you to list...

We're BACK! Thanks so much for giving us a Summer hiatus. But we are so happy to be back to chatting with you on the weekly.  This week we cover a lot of ground. From the sublime to the ridiculous and a heap of nonsense in between. Food and death chat feature heavily. Enjoy! As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we wil...

Gabs and Mel are back this week with deep questions, an Iris stolen wee red purse update, a grocery blunder, gym photo embarassment and the audacity of tagged pictures. As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future episodes. Reach us on hello@makinganeffortpodcast.com! And you...

Today we are joined by a super special guest - Mel's big brother, Tim! Tim is a teacher, performer and choir conductor and along with his love of the Bravo franchises, has so generously shared his story of coming out as gay in his thirties with us. Tim reflects on his journey to owning his sexuality and the impact that has had on his relationships, his sense of self, and his faith. Tim's story is...

Sorry guys, we need to offer a trigger warning here for a couple of poo related stories, right out of the gate on this episode. We're telling quite a few tales today including a poo intruder, the shocking price of fast food, our feelings about replacing underwear and some readers shooting their shot and asking a very deep question. As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life...

In this weeks episodes we put each other in the hot seat and answer your burning questions!  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future episodes. Reach us on hello@makinganeffortpodcast.com! And you'd be so welcome to support the podcast by joining our Patreon! For just £$5...

A catch up, a Bridgerton review, and most importantly a Iris storytime.  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future episodes. Reach us on  hello@makinganeffortpodcast.com! And you'd be so welcome to support the podcast by joining our Patreon! For just £$5/£4 a month you'll...

Enjoy this delirious conversation (which was our second take of the day after some technical difficulties). We discuss Taylor Swifts re-records, Gabby needing to watch Girls, and how everyone is a rat or a pig. It's ridiculous. But it also works.  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & th...

Today we talk about couples therapy in real life and on TV and Mel bangs on about the embodied leadership work she is doing with Michelle. You can find out more about their work and the workshops coming up here: https://www.embodiedleadership.org.uk/ As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice &...

What will our kids say about us in therapy? Mel is taking exams by proxy and not loving it. Gabs shares real mindset shift around fitness and we talk about narcissists. As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future episodes. Reach us on  hello@makinganeffortpodcast.com! And yo...

Gabby is worried that we don't have enough of a bedrock for our episodes but Mel is embracing of the whimsy. Very mixed messages/role reversal for us. This episode brings a middle of the night house emergency, why we love listening to regular people podcasts, our fav true crime shows or docs and Mel's deep connection to Paul Mescal via working at the Maxol filling station. As always, please feel f...

This week we are comparing and contrasting bread quality and cereal brands between the UK and the US, unused baby names, our favourite old school bloggers, and The Idea of You.  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future episodes. Reach us on  hello@makinganeffortpodcast.co...

This week Mel brings a small host of things to discuss on the podcast: toxic traits, the female gaze, grocery store ettiquette, and Andrew Garfield. Enjoy! As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future episodes. Reach us on hello@makinganeffortpodcast.com! And you'd be so welc...

Welcome to the MAE pretend music critic episode. There's loads of great female artists with new music out so we're doing a little overview of our favourites and least favourites. Yes, we cover TTPD and Mel shares a funny story of body shaming. As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & though...

Comin' in hot with some solid recommendations from Gabs that are countered by some conversation about the ways that motherhood is depicted. We also share some of the things that you told us make you feel like a grown ass adult. Hard relating.  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & though...

Gabby is in a self-enforced shopping and sugar embargo so today she tortures herself by talking about things we would like to spend our money on! We also discuss body dysmorphia during your cycle, the Quiet on Set Documentary and the personality of Dakota Johnson. Enjoy! As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will of...

Mel shares another embarrassing work-related story. We talk about if making Easter baskets for your kids is mostly an American phenomena. A listener let us in on planning their very low key wedding. Thanks for tuning in for another episode of cozy listening!

Today's episode is a catch up. We're talking Mel's visit to London, the John Mayer experience, Gabby's annoyances over the random crap that accumulates around her house, Spring intentions and some new ideas for our Patreon crew! As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best advice & thoughts in future ep...

Grab your tissues, the second part of our friendship breakup stories had us tearing up big time! In this episode we hear more from you guys about the messy, complex world of friendship. Huge love to all who sent us their stories - we are so grateful for you.  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have and we will offer our best...

We're back with an episode where we get to hear from you - our favourite! We asked you to tell us your stories of friendships lost or broken - something that we have all experienced the pain of but don't really talk about as much. Thank you to everyone who shared with us, it means a lot that you'd trust us with your stories. We had so many responses so we're making this a two parter. As always, pl...

In this episode, we're helping a listener make a dreamy wedding soundtrack, talking about highs and lows from the week (Gabby is now a non-consenting gym model) and Mel still has a freaking cough. Boooo.  As always, please feel free to get in touch with us about any life or food dilemmas, issues or questions you have INCLUDING our latest call in episode about friendship breakups and we will offer...