--- ---  # Michelle Obama: I Love 'Splurging'  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 21, 2014 6:34 PM UTC  U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama speaks alongside President Barack Obama and the Easter Bunny during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 2014 U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama speaks alongside President Barack Obama and the Easter Bunny during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 2014SAUL LOEB—AFP/Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 21, 2014 6:34 PM UTC Michelle Obama said Monday that “splurging is the key to life,” as long as it’s a small part of a healthy lifestyle. “How would you appreciate vegetables if you never had chocolate?” the First Lady said during the White House Easter Egg Roll. “You couldn’t live without a little chocolate, a little French fries.” The First Lady took questions from kid reporters during a question-and-answer session at the annual White House Easter event, and emphasized that occasionally splurging was O.K. as part of a balanced diet, alongside regular exercise, the Associated Press [reports.](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/michelle-obama-splurging-key-life) “I still splurge when I can, but that’s why I try to exercise almost every day,” she told the young journalists, ages 6 to 13 years old. Obama also said that her favorite sport is tennis, and she plays with her daughter Malia about once a week. She added that Malia also likes track and Sasha likes basketball and dance. \[[AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/michelle-obama-splurging-key-life)\] Michelle Obama Tells Kids She Loves 'Splurging' on French Fries ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/70616/michelle-obama-i-love-splurging/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/70616/michelle-obama-i-love-splurging/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama: I Love 'Splurging'","datePublished":"2014-04-21T18:34:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:10.409Z","description":"The First Lady said that pigging out on favorite foods was fine from time to time, just so long as kids maintain a balanced diet and do plenty of regular exercise","url":"https://time.com/70616/michelle-obama-i-love-splurging/","keywords":["Family","Living","Exercise","Obama","Michelle Obama","health","First Lady"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2aef6a593f20a3f/69868ba6e8524b793c6027e2/485911427.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2aef6a593f20a3f/69868ba6e8524b793c6027e2/485911427.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-EASTER-OBAMA","caption":"US-POLITICS-EASTER-OBAMA","creditText":"SAUL LOEB—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/family/","name":"Family"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/70616/michelle-obama-i-love-splurging/","name":"Michelle Obama: I Love 'Splurging'"}}]}] ```