No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.

We have to design policies that have meaningful impacts on the quality of life of women and families. And that's something that I know I can speak passionately about because whether I'm in the White House as First Lady, as long as I have kids and I'm trying to have a life, I'm gonna be trying to make this balance work...

Not everybody is going to run a marathon or do a triathlon. It's not necessary to do that to be in good health.

It's all about patience and persistence - you often have to expose a child to a new food numerous times before he or she will begin to like it. So keep trying!

I have a very eclectic iPod. So I've got my cardio people - so it's anything from Beyonce to some Jay-Z to Janelle Monae, her song 'Tightrope,' that's a good cardio song. And then I've got Sting. I've got Mary J. Blige. I've got The Beatles. I've got Michael Jackson. I try to pick the songs that I personally love.

What I know for sure is that all the sacrifice and challenges we face are worth it if we're creating a better future for our kids. I just think if the adults are always thinking about the world we want to leave for our kids, we're going to make the right choices every single time.

My view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House. Can't do it.