Family Talk: Living Like Michelle Obama, Almost

My days are jam-packed, just like everyone else’s, which makes it easy for me to justify drinking as much coffee as I desire, eating out from the fastest and most easily accessible places and not getting as much sleep as I should.

In contrast, those are all areas that I pay close attention to when it comes to my kids:

—I make sure that my kids drink water or 100% juice, and soda intake is minimal.

—I also make it a priority to have fresh fruit and vegetables with meals and as snacks.

—My kids get 10.5 hours of sleep a night.

—I enroll my kids in several extracurricular activities that keep them physically active.

I can't say that I'm as disciplined when it comes to my own healthy living aspirations. I don't think I'm alone in this act of putting myself on the back burner, while making sure that my kids benefit from a healthier lifestyle.

In fact, while working on her Let's Move campaign to promote nutrition and exercise for children, First Lady Michelle Obama was called out by critics for the same thing I catch myself doing; she reportedly had a 1700 calorie meal of a burger, fries and milkshake.

Now, I'm sure if the First Lady ate that way regularly she would not look as svelt as she does. I do know that a part of healthy diet is moderation, which means that you can have some of those high calorie items once in a while. But for me, even occasional indulgence in fast food choices can be a slippery slope.

With my experience of losing 25 pounds just last year, and seeing that I have gained 16 of those pounds back, I feel defeated and notice that I work harder at teaching my kids to be healthy than I do at following my own rules.

I recently joined a Zumba class that meets twice a week and have seen that it too, lacks the same level of priority as everything else in my home and work life. I find myself either to get things done in time to go to the class, or unable to make it altogether.

You might not have personal chefs and professional help like the First Lady does. So how do you make the time to make sure that you are taking as good care of yourself as you do your kids?