Michelle Obama Interview With SIRIUS XM Talk Show Host Joe Madison

Excerpt from the transcript...
In an interview that will air on Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama discusses the Let's Move! campaign with SIRIUS XM subscription radio talk show host Joe Madison. She also discusses her personal fitness regime, a topic she's recently spent a lot of time performing on TV and pledges to continue her childhood obesity work after she leaves the White House. The interview is one of a series Mrs. Obama did while on the road for the three-day Let's Move! anniversary tour. (Above: A White House photo of Mrs. Obama and Madison, taken during the interview)

"I am committed to continuing to focus on this issue, to shine a light on it, to lift it up because it’s not going to go away with just a few tours...and…a couple of years in office," Mrs. Obama said about her childhood obesity efforts.

The interview came after Mrs. Obama's Feb. 11 keynote speech for the tour, delivered to an audience of about 3,000 at Northland, a Church Distributed, located in Longwood, Florida. It will air between 6-10 AM ET on Wednesday, with an encore at 8:00 PM ET on Madison's The Joe Madison Show on "The Power" channel (Sirius and XM channel 128). In addition to her media outings during the tour, Mrs. Obama had four events in Florida, two in Texas, and one each in Iowa and Arkansas during her three days on the road.

A partial transcript:

Joe Madison: “Talk about how the Obamas live what they preach when it comes to…[the ‘Let’s Move’ initiative]….how do you work out when you are on the road?”

Mrs. Obama: “….I brought a jump rope and in my hotel room, I got up this morning and I jump roped. I did seven sets of 500, so by the time I finished I had done about 3500 jumps…I had my cardio in, took a shower, got ready, got dressed and I’m here.

Even before coming to the White House, we were always physically active….I would get up in the morning, my mom would come over if Barack was traveling and he wasn’t home so that I could get up. I got up at 4:30 am in the morning to go the gym and get that done before the girls got up so by the time I got back they were just getting up to get ready for school. But I prioritized that. I…said I would sleep a little bit less [and] go to bed early, but if I don’t get that done in the beginning of the day, the day just gets away….you go to work and work takes over. Then you are tired, you come home…then you stop prioritizing yourself. So I thought, I’ve got to get up and prioritize my own health before I do anything else—work, [or] taking care of my kids….

The President is the same way…he works out every single day, even on his busiest days, even when he’s on the road he goes down to the gym. There’s got to be a treadmill, there’s a treadmill on Air Force One…if he’s got a long distance flight….because he needs that now….that’s the way he burns off a lot of stress. So it’s critical.”

Madison: …“After your years in the White House and I hope it’s no time soon [that you leave], is this something that Michelle Obama [as] former first lady will continue beyond her years in the White House?”

Mrs. Obama: “Absolutely…this is a cause that can’t be solved in a few years. It’ll take generations for us to change the way our children see food and how they raise their kids and how communities…[will be]… structured…I’m writing a book that is going to focus on the White House kitchen garden and the proceeds of that are going to be used to deal with this issue, to look at community gardens, and I’m already looking for ways to keep the conversation going long after I’m out of this position So, yes, I am committed to continuing to focus on this issue, to shine a light on it, to lift it up because it’s not going to go away with just a few tours and….a couple of years in office.”

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Madison's bio from SIRIUS XM: "Joe Madison, AKA “The Black Eagle”, is a human and civil rights activist, abolitionist against slavery in Southern Sudan, television commentator, columnist, lecturer, labor and corporate spokesman, musician and athlete. He is the former executive director of the Detroit NAACP and was later named director of the national NAACP political action department."

*Photo by Chuck Kennedy/White House