This post brought to you by Clif Bar & Company. The content and opinions expressed below are that of 4-Hour Body Girl.

No Energy? No Time To Workout? You May Want To Read This…

Since having my baby, my body just isn’t the same. Heck, my life isn’t the same. Before I got pregnant, I was in tip-top shape. I felt so beautiful during my pregnancy too. I was really lucky and lost the baby weight right away, but then, as soon as I stopped breast feeding, things changed. I started feeling more drained, which I didn’t think was even possible. All of us (new) Moms know what I’m talking about right? I mean, we’re not sleeping properly, and, I think most of us are struggling to find time to eat nutritious meals in between everything else we’re doing. Right? How can we lose the baby weight and get back to feeling good if we have no energy? How can we have energy if we aren’t giving our bodies the proper fuel? Am I the only one feeling this way? If you too are feeling No Energy? No Time To Workout? You May Want To Read This…

Luckily, I came across a great nutritious solution. I’m sure you’ve already heard of them, but if you haven’t, CLIF BAR is crafted with nutritious ingredients. Now they’ve come up with these super handy, on-the-go, delicious oatmeal food packs! How great is that?

Whether you’re a busy Mom, or training for your next Iron Man Triathlon, or anything in between, these energy boosting packs are your answer. CLIF Organic Energy Food Pouches now come in 2 new flavors Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, which is my personal fave, and Banana Maple Oatmeal. What I also love about them is that they’re Organic, have no corn syrup, and are GMO-Free. If you’re a regular reader, you know how I feel about all that stuff! They are the perfect energy source for before beginning a workout session.

Since we are all about high protein/low carb here at 4 Hour Body Girl, I have to mention their CLIF Builder’s Bar as well. CLIF Builder’s is a great-tasting high-protein bar crafted to help provide nutrition for total body fitness, it is great to recover after a hard workout session.

Offers 20g of complete protein to help build and repair muscle
Carbohydrates to help replenish energy stores and help get you ready for your next workout
Zero grams trans-fat, does not contain partially-hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup
Sources ingredients that are not genetically engineered
Fortified with vitamins and minerals to support protein metabolism

Love, Love,Love

So now that we have the solution to get our energy up to exercise, who has time to do that? I’ve been dropping my son off at daycare and then running around the lake near my home on the way back as quickly as possible before I start work. Okay, I’m not very fast. The lake is only 1/2 a mile around, BUT I figure it’s better than nothing right?. LOL! If I run it as fast as I can, it only takes me about 5 – 10 min. I told you I’m not very fast. Anyway, I’m into these quick effective workouts these days. I’ve filled my Pinterest board with them and created a playlist on youtube as well, but I also stumbled upon Bob Seebohar. Have you heard of him?

Bob Seebohar is a Sports Nutrition Expert, who created easy everyday workout and nutrition tips that will energize your body pre, during and post-workout. A competitive athlete for more than 30 years and is one of the top sports dietitians in the country; he may know a thing or 2.

Check out the following tips that would be super easy to incorporate into everyday life…

Bob Seebohar workout tips:
- Carry a smaller-sized water bottle (20oz or less), and drink it! Every few hours when you get up to refill, do 10 squats at the water cooler, and another 10 before you sit down at your desk.
- Make a daily push up goal, and complete in blocks throughout the day. If your goal is 100 per day – do 25 when you wake up, 25 before lunch, 25 in the afternoon, and 25 before bed. Track them on a post it note or a smartphone so you have a visual of your accomplishment.
- To ensure you have the nutrition energy to workout, carry healthy snacks and a few CLIF Organic Energy Food Oatmeal (COEF) packets with you in your purse or gym bag. A COEF Oatmeal flavor provides pre-exercise energy to get you through a workout successfully.
- Two benefits to strength training: it doesn’t take long and it doesn’t require special equipment. Alternate body weight exercises for 15 minutes (walking lunges, chair dips and burpees) for a quick and effective workout.
- Reverse pyramid routines are a great way to build strength in a quick workout. Choose 1-2 upper body and 1-2 lower body moves for each exercise, starting with 10 reps on your right, then 10 on your left. Follow with 8 on each side, then 6, then 4 – no rest in-between. A Clif Builder’s Protein Bar is great after a workout like this as it gives you an optimal amount of carbohydrates and protein for effective recovery.

Here’s A Graphic To Make It Even Easier For You To Remember. You could Pin it for later…

I hope this makes it easier for you to get stay healthy and fit. Remember,

A little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing

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I always say. You may be tired, but these are easy fixes to boost your energy levels and get moving! So throw a few of these handy packs into your diaper bag wherever you go.

No Energy? No Time To Workout? No Excuses!

Heather Blaise with Builder's Bars | www.4hourbodygirl.com

Chocolate Mint is my favorite.

Have you tried any CLIF Organic Energy Food or Builder’s bars yet? Do you have any quick and easy food-on-the-go tips and quick effective workouts that you like to do? Would you agree, if we take care of ourselves and make health our first priority, it makes us better parents? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Here’s to your health, wealth, and happiness.

Easy & Tasty, High Protein Veggie Nuggets | www.4hourbodygirl.com

15 MIN TO FEEL AMAZING | www.4hourbodygirl.com

Busy? 15 Min is All You Need To Look and Feel Amazing!

Last night’s dinners was a hearty meal of grass-fed steak, broccoli, a green leafy salad, and a half glass of red wine. I posted pics of the food I eat in earlier posts if you’d like to check them out.

15 min to look and feel amazing | https://www.4hourbodygirl.com

I usually have 30grams of protein within 30 min. of waking (this is what Tim Ferriss recommends in the 4-Hour BODY) but every once in a while after a long, good sleep, I’ll only have a piece of fruit.

Last night I slept 9 hours. I went for a little walk in the sun for about 10 minutes to get some fresh air and Vitamin D, and to get my neurotransmitters firing, before sitting down to my laptop with a big jug of ice water and a steaming cup of hot matcha green tea, plus as always, my Athletic Greens.

I have been cutting down my intake of caffeine steadily the last week, with a big cup of green tea being the stand in for coffee this morning. I am not against coffee, ok ok, I love

coffee, but at the same time, I am well aware of how much better I start to feel and the impact on my sleep quality when I get my caffeine intake right down every day, and get it in early. I’ll be doing a future post about having more energy without caffeine.

One and a half liters of water (a few trips to the bathroom) and two excellent blocks of work later… it was getting close to food time.

I decided to exercise briefly before eating for a host of reasons, but I wanted it to be short, fast, and not too stressful, plus I was running out of time to get the workout in, my lunch in, then continue with my day’s work.

Enter a Minimum Effective Dose Workout

2 minutes of foam roller (self myofascial release) with 30 seconds on each of quad/hip flexor, and IT band). Grrrrr this one is so painful sometimes.

Goal: Remove Restrictions, Improve Mobility, Improve Tissue Quality

3 minutes of activation/mobility/dynamic warm up

Goal: Use some of that improved tissue work to immediately perform a series of activation and mobility exercises to improve movement patterns.

Glute Bridges x 10 with adduction (5 second squeeze at the top) I clamped the foam roller between my knees for the adduction part to save time.

Reverse lunges with rotation (arms overhead) x 6 each side – one of the BEST hip flexor

mobilizers on the planet.

Hand walks x 6 (also called Inch Worms) out as far as sore shoulder was happy

Inch worm from skinny mom| www.4hourbodygirl.com

Image from skinny mom.com

Walking quad stretch x 6 each leg with glute squeeze for 2 seconds

Best-Quad-Stretches | www.4hourbodygirl.com

3 minutes of neural activation and full body warm up

Goal: ahhh, neural activation and full body warm up

For this today I skipped rope, 30 seconds flat out, 30 seconds very slow, for 3 “rounds”, totaling 3 minutes. (This is soon hard to do after having kids! I make sure my bladder is empty before doing these! TMI? Sorry….

30 seconds fast I tried to move my feet and the rope as fast as I could. I included shuffles, butt kicks and for the last 5 seconds, & high knees.

30 seconds slow, I keep the rope moving at a steady pace, but wasn’t cranking it, the goal is to keep moving and have an active recovery.

3 minutes (and 19 seconds) of Kettlebell swings

Goal: The “work” part of the workout – metabolic conditioning and

100 x two handed swings with a 70lb bell without stopping.

Why 3 minutes and 19 seconds? Just before I grabbed the bell I hit play on my chosen workout song of the day, which happened to be 2 minutes and 49 seconds, and thought I would cruise to complete this in time…. Almost didn’t make it.

3 minutes of medium paced skipping without stopping

Goal: extend the “work” part of the workout with further metabolic conditioning, while forcing active recovery.

This one was the most elective of all of them, and would be the first to go if I wanted to shorten it further, but I wasn’t happy with my swings performance, so decided to add this in.

1 minute for 100 reps of band “pull aparts” with arms straight and done out in front of chest.

Start with arms straight out in front of you, gripping your band (they vary greatly in strength/tension) about should width apart with an overhand grip.

Starting the movement by pulling your shoulder blades together, finish the movement by pulling your arms away from each other. Your arms will end up out to the sides then slightly behind you, the band will hit your chest. That is 1 rep.

You can maintain tension on your shoulder blades by never returning the bands all the

way in, or you can go all the way in all the way out, play with it.

Goal: try and counter the day’s sitting by working some volume in to my upper back, specifically aiming at rear delts and mid trap.

You can mix up the focus of this and add in other muscles by adjusting hand position and arm angle, but assuming you are doing these with your arms straight out in front of you, this is what is going to be getting the bulk of the loading.

As I am recovering from a shoulder injury, these were done with the little pink band. Since we tend to sit a lot during the day in a shoulders rounded position, this causes what is called stretch-weakness in the scapular retractors (and frequently external rotator) muscles. Add to this that most people have vastly stronger internal rotators of the shoulder than the internal rotators, and we have a need for corrective exercise. (You could also try NEVER SITTING, always walking with good posture and doing three or four pulling reps for your upper back for every one you do for your chest).

This is a phenomenally useful exercise and I highly recommend you start asap. They can be done throughout the day or at the end of workouts, and intensity can be modified by adjusting your hand position on the band and the band tension.

Great for posture.

I got my bands at Elite FTS, but you can also get them at amazon.com or any local sporting goods store.

So there you have it! 15 Min is All You Need To Look and Feel Amazing! Do you have 15 min.? Do you have a quick go to 15 min routine? I would love to here about it in the comment below.

Here’s to your health, wealth and happiness!

Originally Published on: Aug 21, 2011 @ 11:04