![EXCLUSIVE: Former First Lady Michelle Obama steps out with friends Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa at celebrity restaurant Polo Bar in New York City. The two families have been friends since The Boss campaigned for Barack Obama during his successful run for the White House in 2008. Michelle famously told her President husband he needed to spend more time with Springsteen. Both men have talked about their friendship — fortified in part by the bond between their wives, Michelle and Patti. In the first episode of a podcast, called Renegades, Obama, 59, said he and Springsteen, 71, "grew to trust each other" based on conversations in which they reflected on feeling "invisible" throughout their childhoods. Springsteen sang with a gospel choir at the newly elected president's inauguration in 2009 and later recalled how he thought Obama had the wrong number the first time the Chicago Democrat called him. "And I said, 'OK, let me figure this out. I am a guitar-playing high school graduate from Freehold, New Jersey. And — OK — you want me to do what?" Springsteen said. Over the years, both have realized they had more in common than they initially realized. Namely, that they both felt like outsiders. "I always kept one foot in sort of the blue collar world and one foot in the counter culture world," Springsteen said of growing up in New Jersey. "And I never truly belonged completely in either of them, you know?". 28 Sep 2022 Pictured: Michelle Obama. Photo credit: ZapatA/MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA902427_026.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/michelle-obama-nyc-mega.jpg?fit=293%2C440)
Michelle Obama may be a superwoman, but her experience with menopause weight gain is all too relatable. The former First Lady, 58, opened up about gettings older, wiser, and more comfortable in her body in an interview with People magazine, ahead of her new book The Light We Carry, on sale Nov. 15. While she said her experience has been “blessed,” the political figure admitted that the “slow creep” of extra menopause pounds is no joke.
“I never used to weigh myself,” she explained to the magazine. “I’m not trying to stick to numbers, but when you’re in menopause, you have this slow creep that you just don’t realize.”
Dressing for comfort was one reason why Michelle wasn’t quick to notice a shift. “We’re all in menopause with stretchy [waist] bands and our athleisure wear on, and you look up and you can’t fit the outfits you had last year,” she noted. “I have to be more mindful, not obsessive, but more mindful.”
Nowadays, Michelle’s health goals are more about wellness than looking good. “I am still physically active, and my goal now, instead of having ‘Michelle Obama arms,’ I just want to keep moving,” the wife of President Barack Obama smiled.
Michelle was happy to shed some light on her own menopause experience, telling People, “There’s a lot we don’t know. There is not a lot of conversation about menopause. I’m going through it, and I know all of my friends are going through it. And the information is sparse.”
The mother-of-two said she’s found support in her peers, especially when it comes to staying active. “I find that when we get together and we’re moving and we’re laughing, then we spend a little time talking about what we’re going through. ‘What’s a hot flash?’ We have girlfriends around the table who are OBGYNs, who have real information. All of that keeps us lifted up.”
While she tends to be the leader of the pack, Michelle said she’s not always the boss during the ladies workout sessions. “I’m not always leading the workout, but the workout still happens. All of my friends are healthier because we do it better when we’re doing it together.”