Posted on December 23, 2011

Michelle Obama: "Practical" To Put Myself Highest On My Priority List

First lady Michelle Obama tells Barbara Walters in a 20/20 special that it is "practical" for her to put her self highest on her priority list.



Obama says she found her self slipping "pretty low" on her own priority list because she was "so busy caring for everyone else."



Michelle Obama says she spends time with girlfriends and going out in her attempt to put herself higher on her priority list. Transcript below.



Barbara Walters, ABC News: "Mrs. Obama, you've recently said something that I thought was very interesting for other women to hear. You said 'you put your own self highest on your priority list.' That sounds selfish?"



Michelle Obama: "No, no, it's practical. It's something that I found I needed to do for quite some time, even before the presidency. And I found it other women, in similar situated balancing career family, trying to do it all and a lot of times we just slip pretty low on our own priority list because we're so busy caring for everyone else. And one of the things that I want to model for my girls is investing in themselves as much as they invest in others."



Walters: "So what do you do?"



Obama: "Make sure I get my exercise in so I work out as much as he works out."



Walters: "I hear more."



Obama: "I do now. He's been busier. Spending time with girlfriends. Going out. You know, pulling in people in my life who give me strength and joy."



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