Gym Rat in Chief? Obama's Fitness Regimen

Obama's Temptations Include Cigarettes

Casey, who is 48, warns that basketball is not only intense, but dangerous. When he played in an over-30 league at age 31, he broke his nose and severed his Achilles tendon. Duncan also admits to breaking his nose at a game.

"You're running in short, hard sprints and your other parts are moving laterally and jumping," he said. "When you're my age and his age, you're not supposed to be playing. You have to be careful. You're more apt to get hurt."

But both men describe Obama as "smart," playing guard and maintaining his distance.

"He's disciplined and steady," said Casey.

Obama's focus on exercise may actually bode well for the country.

"It gives you more mental endurance and more energy to think clearly," he said. "For a president, that's not a bad thing."

Even Obama's snack food is lean: Planters Trail Mix (nuts, seeds and raisins), MET-Rx chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and Black Forest Berry Honest Tea, an organic brew that's hard to find.

He does, however, have his temptations: smoked sea-salt caramels in milk chocolate. And there is also the much-reported on-and-off battle with cigarettes.

"I was never really a heavy smoker," Obama told Men's Health in November. "Probably at my peak I was smoking seven or eight a day. More typical was three. So it wasn't a huge challenge with huge withdrawal symptoms.

"There have been a couple of times during the campaign when I fell off the wagon and bummed one, and I had to kick it again," he said. "But I figure, seeing as I'm running for president, I need to cut myself a little slack."

In his interview with Walters last month, Obama talked about his continuing effort to quit the smoking habit.

"Part of what I think comes with this role as president is not that you're perfect, but hopefully you're trying to set a good example for people and that starts with my two kids," he told Walters.

"So I've been trying to stay healthy. I've been getting workouts regularly. I've been eating reasonably well I've got to say... You know, I've been trying to stay fit."

Obama joked regularly on the campaign trail that he's "skinny but tough."

On a swing through Louisiana, Obama was offered more food by a woman who said that he needed to "put a little more meat on his bones." And at a Wisconsin fish fry restaurant, patrons said he needed to eat more.

Still, one psychologist said one shouldn't draw "pathological interpretations" from Obama's health regimen.

"Unlike the rest of us, he doesn't have to work at it at all," said Dr. Michael Lowe, professor of psychology at Drexel University, whose specialty is eating disorders and obesity. "And maybe he wouldn't gain much weight if he didn't watch his weight and exercise a lot.