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Michelle Obama Talks Good Health

In an interview with Prevention magazine, First Lady Michelle Obama gave some tips on how to lead a happy and healthy life. Here are some excerpts:

The First Lady’s number one health rule: Give yourself permission to be happy. Here she shares the eating habits, fitness routine, and secrets for inner confidence that she hopes to pass on to her daughters and the nation.

Prioritize Fitness Like He Does
My “aha” moment came when our first daughter, Malia, was 4 months old. My husband’s exercise routine hadn’t changed a bit; he was still getting his workouts in, and I was getting irritated (laughs). Then I realized he was just prioritizing it differently.
So I said, “If I get up and out before the first feeding, I will work out.” That will engage my husband to do that first feeding with the baby. So I started getting up at 4:30 in the morning and going to the gym. With exercising, the more you do it, the more you get into it. And the more you see results, the more you’re pushing for the next level. That’s when it just clicked for me.

Find Balance as a Mother
I think my mother taught me what not to do. She put us first, always, sometimes to the detriment of herself. She encouraged me not to do that. She’d say being a good mother isn’t all about sacrificing; it’s really investing and putting yourself higher on your priority list. You can be a good mom and still work out, get your rest, have a career—or not. She encouraged me to find that balance.

Allow Yourself to Be Happy
[Good health is] multi-faceted—it’s physical, it’s internal, it’s my diet, and my emotional state. It’s all tied together. Throughout my life, I’ve learned to make choices that make me happy and make sense for me. Even my husband is happier when I’m happy. He has always said, “You figure out what you want to do,” because he’s discovered that personal happiness is connected to everything.

Make Yourself a Priority
I have freed myself to put me on the priority list and say, yes, I can make choices that make me happy, and it will ripple and benefit my kids, my husband, and my physical health. That’s hard for women to own; we’re not taught to do that. It’s a lesson that I want to teach my girls so they don’t wait for their “aha” moment until they’re in their 30s like I was (laughs). Maybe they can experience it a little earlier.

Reach Out for Support
When I’m unhappy with something, people know, because I don’t want to hold on to it. I’d rather deal immediately with the stuff that bothers me, so using my network—my girlfriends, my husband, my mom—I talk a lot, I vent. Even if there are no answers, sharing the emotions helps keep me stable. It’s good that I have my mom [here]. I can go up to her little suite of rooms and just say, “So, what’s going on, Mom?” And then I’ll start. Eventually we talk our way into a place of comfort.

To read the rest of the interview click here.

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