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NYT News Service
PHILADELPHIA
Does President Barack Obama really eat only seven almonds at night? As people watched Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, many took to Twitter to offer a thought: That he did such a good job, he deserved to let himself eat more than seven almonds that night.
"Tonight, Obama's going to eat seven chocolate-covered almonds," Matthew Yglesias, a journalist at Vox.com posted on Twitter during the speech.
The observations were referring to a story written this month about how Obama spends his time in the evenings, reading briefing papers and watching sports in the Treaty Room, often into the early hours of the morning.
Among the details in the story, from his personal chef and close friend, Sam Kass, was the fact that Obama was disciplined about not snacking on junk food or drinking soda.
His snack of choice, Kass said at the time, was seven almonds."Michelle and I would always joke: not six, not eight," Kass said."Always seven almonds."
But in an interview that aired Thursday, NBC's Savannah Guthrie put the question directly to Obama, who seemed eager to set the record straight.
"This is an example of the weird way that the press works," Obama said, chuckling.
"Michelle and Sam Kass, who was our chef here, one night they were talking about me and teasing me about how disciplined I was, that I didn't have potato chips or I didn't have a piece of cake. And this is when Michelle said, 'Yes, and he just has seven almonds. That's it.' To really drive home the point that I needed to loosen up a little bit. And Sam relayed this joke to The New York Times in the article and somehow it was relayed as if I was counting out the seven almonds."
In the interview with Guthrie, Obama acknowledged the point that Kass made during the interview: that what impressed him about the president's nighttime habits was the discipline he has in getting through hours of difficult work without unhealthy snacks.
But Obama insisted that he's not quite so disciplined that he counts out seven almonds every time.
"All my friends were calling up and they're saying, 'You know, this seems a little anal. This is kind of weird,'" Obama told Guthrie."And I had to explain to them, no, this was a joke."
Asked whether he would allow himself to eat 10 or 11 almonds once he has left the White House, Obama said,"Absolutely."
As the interview ended, he added with a smile:"I am so glad I had this opportunity. Because, this has been really weighing on me."
He did offer an endorsement for almonds, generally, noting that 'you know, almonds are a good snack; I strongly recommend them.'
