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Shallow Nation

October 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pm

Barack Obama Men’s Health Magazine Cover November 2008 + Interview

Barack Obama Men's Health Magazine November 2008

Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is on the cover of Men’s Health Magazine, November 2008 issue. In the interview, Obama talks about how his pursuit of health and fitness has led to success in all areas of his life. He discusses a range of topics; workout schedule, thoughts on fatherhood, his struggle to quit smoking, etc.

November 2008 is the Men’s Health Magazine 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition and Obama is featured as one of 20 Heroes of Health and Fitness, alongside Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and others. The magazine hits newsstands on October 21, 2008.

On Why He Works Out:

“My blood pressure is pretty low, and I tend to be a healthy eater. So I probably could get away with cutting [my workouts] back a little bit. The main reason I do it is just to clear my head and relieve me of stress. It’s a great way to stay focused.”

On Staying Healthy On The Campaign Trail:

“I wish I was getting a 90-minute workout. Most of my workouts have to come before my day starts. There’s always a tradeoff between sleep and working out. Usually I get in about 45 minutes, 6 days a week. I’ll lift one day do cardio the next.”

On Trying To Quit Smoking:

“There have been a couple of times during the campaign when I fell off the wagon and bummed one, and I had to kick it again. But I figure, seeing as I’m running for president, I need to cut myself a little slack.”

“There wasn’t some dramatic moment. Michelle had been putting pressure on me for a while. I was never really a heavy smoker. Probably at my peak I was smoking seven or eight a day. More typical was three. So it wasn’t a huge challenge with huge withdrawal symptoms.”

“Eliminate certain key connections–that first cigarette in the morning, or after a meal, or with a drink. If you can eliminate those triggers, that should help.”

On What He Would Change In The White House:

“We’re going to do a thorough evaluation, but it may need an upgrade. The bowling alley, I understand, offers us some potential for expansion.”

On Managing His Time on the Campaign Trail:

“I’m part of an organization, and one of the things I really try to push in the organization is to make sure that everybody is focused on the two or three things that are really going to be game changers. I ask them
to design my schedule in a way that focuses not just on what’s coming at us, but on being active instead of reactive. I think we’ve been pretty successful. I don’t spend a lot of time returning phone calls or e-mails.
If somebody needs something, most of the time there’s somebody else who can handle it.

“Eliminating TV has been helpful– I’m still a sucker for Sports Center.”

On Being a Father and Presidential Candidate:

“The pledge is, they’ll get their dog, win or lose.”

“Their main concern was, ‘When are we going to get a dog?’ They did ask about what they called ’secret people,’ which were the Secret Service folks. ‘Are we going to have to have these people with sunglasses and
earpieces following us around all the time?’ And I told them, well, not right away. They’ve adjusted wonderfully. And I’ve tried to make sure that they haven’t had to participate too much in the political process.”

“I don’t miss the important things. I haven’t missed a dance recital. I haven’t missed a parent-teacher conference. But there are some things I do miss, and those are some of the tradeoffs you make.”

What Being A Father Means To Him:

“I would like to think that most of the issues related to my father have been resolved.” “That’s part of what writing Dreams from My Father was about: understanding him, his own personal tragedy. He wasn’t a presence in my life, he was an idea that I had to wrestle with for a long time.”

“Somebody once said that every man is either trying to live up to his dad’s expectations or make up for his dad’s mistakes. And I’m sure I was doing a little bit of both. But I feel that somewhere in my late 20s or
early 30s I sort of figured out what his absence had meant. It is part of what I think has made me a pretty good dad. I don’t think it would have too much of an impact on my decision-making as president. There’s no doubt that it has contributed to my drive. I might not be here had it not been for
that absent father prodding me early in life.”

On Not Disappointing Himself Or Those Around Him:

“I always try to make sure that my expectations are higher than those of the people around me.”

“A lot of people have a lot at stake in this election. The American people are having a tough time.”

“I never want people to feel as if I’ve overpromised to them. I try to explain in a real honest way how difficult some of the changes I’m talking about will be. But I never want the effect to be that I’m not working as
hard as I can on their behalf…that I’m not continually trying to improve. I’m actually glad for the high expectations.”

“One of the interesting things about a campaign like this is that it really does push you to the limit and then some. And it turns out that you have more in your reservoir than you expected.”