Michelle Obama, 61, is aging with grace, so much so that she has become an advocate for the sexagenarian “clan.”
During an interview with PEOPLE ahead of the November 4 release of her new style book, The Look, the former first lady touched on how her life has evolved after she entered her sixties.
“I tell people, ‘The sixties? Oh, a wonderful time. It’s a wonderful time,'” Michelle said. “I feel like this is the first time in my life that when I say and do something, here in this interview, writing this book, rolling it out in this way, these are my choices.”
Michelle also revealed what she does to slow down her aging process. “I’m coloring that gray hair,” she stated. “I’m not wincing [when I see one] but I’m not leaving it there long.”
The former first lady inherited her hair dyeing ritual from her late mother, Marian Robinson. “My mother was the same way,” she revealed.
“My mother dyed her hair until the day she died. She had a beautiful sandy color blonde that mixed in well with the gray. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be doing that too.'”
Besides that, Michelle said she lets things flow naturally. “That’s just the thing, I really don’t do much else. I think, fortunately, Black don’t crack, so I’m doing all right,” she said. “But yeah, I will be dyeing my hair until there is no dye in the land.”
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Michelle also touched on how she prioritizes her health. “My health has always been paramount. What I eat, working out, I go to regular doctor’s visits,” she revealed.
“I do not miss a mammogram. I do all the things that I’m supposed to do, because I value my health and that also allows me to enjoy this time, because I’m not achy, I’m not sore, I’m not sick. I’m as vibrant as I’ve ever been.”
On her well-being, Michelle said: “This is the first time in my life when every decision I make is for me.”
She added: “As mothers, as women, as wives, a lot of times we spend our lives making decisions, [like] ‘Well, I’m doing this because of my kids, and I changed my job to accommodate my this,’ or ‘I’m supporting my husband in that.’ And, ‘No, I’m not going to take this job,’ or, ‘I’m not going to try this thing.'”
The 61-year-old also provided an update on her family. “Now my kids [Sasha, 24 and Malia, 27] are grown, they are launched. They are healthy and happy. My husband [Barack Obama, 64] is doing just fine. We are the former president and first lady. It’ll be 10 years, almost, that we have not been in that job. Okay? We are formers,” she said, adding that being formers “is freeing.”
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