Michelle Obama, who’s well known for sticking to her diet and fitness goals, says it’s important for women to keep their health a high priority even in the midst of a frantic family life.

In an interview with Prevention magazine, Michelle says her mother, Marian Robinson, “Taught me what not to do. She put us first, always, sometimes to the detriment of herself. She encouraged me not to do that. She’d say being a good mother isn’t all about sacrificing; it’s really investing and putting yourself higher on your priority list.”

Michelle found herself doing that just months after the birth of the Obamas’ older daughter, Malia, in 1998. “My husband’s exercise routine hadn’t changed a bit; he was still getting his workouts in, and I was getting irritated,” she tells the magazine, laughing. “Then I realized he was just prioritizing it differently. So I said, 'If I get up and out before the first feeding, I will work out. That will engage my husband to do that first feeding with the baby.' So I started getting up at 4:30 in the morning and going to the gym.”

But for the First Lady, 45, health is more than doing a set of exercises: It affects her whole life—and her family’s as well. “[Good health is] multi-faceted,” she tells Prevention. It’s physical, it’s internal, it’s my diet, and my emotional state. It’s all tied together…I can make choices that make me happy, and it will ripple and benefit my kids, my husband, and my physical health.”