Not only is the next president young as far as presidents go, but he has children young enough to still be in elementary school,  and a young and an enviably fit wife.

Barack and Michele Obama work out. Somehow, with their busier-than-we-can-imagine lives, they find the time for exercise. Cardio and weight training are part of their daily routines. She works out with a friend for 90 minutes, three times a week. He fits in forty-five minutes a day, six days a week. In this article, the president elect said, “There’s always a trade-off between sleep and working out. Usually I get in about 45 minutes, six days a week. I’ll lift one day, do cardio the next.”

I workout each day with Daughter. As a home schooler, we have a fairly flexible schedule. However, we do our best to maintain a routine when it comes to exercise. Our first “class” of the day is gym. Gym class is one of several different cardio workout tapes ranging from 30 – 45 minutes. We take a water break after that, then slice an apple or pear as a snack before getting to the next class. Between subjects, we use one of our 5-minute routines for a quick jolt and wake-me-up.

It feels good to work out – AFTER we’ve worked out. Sometimes, the thought of doing it and the actual doing of it, makes me cringe. But I wonder…

Our country has a diabetes and obesity problem. Will a healthy and fit first family help change that?

Like Jackie-O inspired fashion, can Michele-O inspire fitness? Will the Obama presidency change the way people look at themselves?

I hope this is the case. I hope one of our next first-lady’s projects is physical fitness for children and adults. I know toy manufacturers have come out with products to get kids up off the couch – like interactive video games where they have to stand and move to virtually play the game rather than simply use their thumbs on a joystick. Maybe the Obama lifestyle will inspire new toys or activities for kids. Maybe the Obama lifestyle will inspire pride and determination to overcome personal obstacles – like finding time to workout, making it a priority and seeing to it that our children stay active. Maybe, just maybe, we can look at exercise and not cringe but rather see it as a challenge we want to take on.

It’s a lot to ask of a first family when their focus will be on so many other pressing issues. But if THEY can fit exercise into their busy daily lives, surely we can as well, don’t you think?