You Won’t Believe What Michael Phelps Eats Everyday
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Kitchen Sink, Olympics
Personally, I’m not that shocked, because if you’re working out 5 hours a day, 6 days a week, you’re need the energy.
Still, this isn’t exactly the healthiest regiment…
- 4,000 calories per meal…
- Breakfast: 3 fried-egg sandwiches w/ cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.
- Brunch: 3 slices of french toast w/ powered sugar, a 5 egg omelet, 3 chocolate chip pancakes, a heaping bowl of grits, and 2 cups of coffee to wash it all down.
- Lunch: 1 pound of pasta, 2 large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered (with mayo…of course!) and 1,000 calories of energy drinks to choke it down.
- Dinner: Another pound of pasta and a whole pizza!
- And of course he needs another 1,000 calories in energy drinks to hit the grand total of…drum roll please…12,000 CALORIES!!!
I mean, that’s impressive, no matter how you look at it. Just the cost alone of all that food is intimidating.
And yet, he’s gone gold 5 for 5 so far and has won more Olympic medals than any other American in history.
Keep eating Michael!
BEST COMMENT EVER:
From Jimmy the Dhimmi:
Never mind the calories, whats fascinating to me is how he can perform so well with all that poop inside him. I wonder if he times his meals so he can schedule a massive dump before he swims – hitting the pool before he hits the pool, so to speak.
Something tells me that Phelps has his pooping schedule timed down to a hundredth of a second. He’s THAT good! :-)
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 and is filed under Kitchen Sink, Olympics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:45 am
OK Everybody let’s all join together and assume that the indomitable Phelps is achieving all of this in spite of the quality of his diet.
Let’s all miss the obvious point that Phelps needs lots of protein to build muscle and lots and lots and lots of simple carbs to stoke the furnace for all those workouts.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:58 am
I was a distance runner in college, and while I was never on a 12,000 calorie diet, I was on a 7,500-8,000 calorie diet. Its really not that rare, and frankly, when you’re working out THAT much, it ceases to matter what you eat. Your body just burns through everything.
August 13th, 2008 at 10:55 am
This is complete BS. It is not rare for athletes to have high caloric intakes but this article is untrue.
August 13th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Yeah athletes at that level need a ton of calories, so if you like to eat just start working out a ton, then it won’t matter what you eat.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Never mind the calories, whats fascinating to me is how he can perform so well with all that poop inside him. I wonder if he times his meals so he can schedule a massive dump before he swims – hitting the pool before he hits the pool, so to speak.
August 13th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I remember when Brian Bosworth, Linebacker for Oklahoma in the late 80′s, was in Sports Illustrated, It had a kitchen table food of groceries, and said this is what Brian Bosworth eats eavery day…and amazingly it was way more than this.
August 13th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
He actually works out 7 days a week, every week. According to this article he practiced every day for 317 days straight before Beijing, and he only missed five days in the 7 years before the 2004 games.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
In regard to the poop factor, I believe it’s the exact opposite of the earlier statement that he goes right before he enters a bout. I say that part of the reason he’s so good is because he’s got to go so bad that he haul’s butt in the swim so he can get out faster to hit the can. lol match under his butt so to speak.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Matt;
Every athlete takes days off. I’m sure he doesn’t hop in the pool EVERY day, his body would break down if it did. But his off-days are probably spent in the gym or with a trainer working the muscles. But the concept that he swam (at training levels) for 317 straight days is absurd.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Wait. You mean to tell me he doesn’t eat plankton?
August 13th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
We all know he has pores in his neck so he can eat and breathe at the same time.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
I just assumed he ate other smaller, slower swimmers.
August 13th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Respectfully, the word is ‘regimen’, not ‘regiment’.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regimen
August 14th, 2008 at 3:15 am
I’m not overly surprised at how much he eats, soldiers often eat 8000 calories+ a day, though it is still a mind boggling concept for me that were I to go over 2500 a day I would soon be a beached whale with heart problems.
What I don’t get though, is where does Phelps get his vitamins and stuff from? Everyone needs to protect themeselves against cancer by eating broccoli and tomatoes right? How does he get away with it?
By God those egg sandwiches look good though…. sigh…..
August 14th, 2008 at 7:28 am
you dont win the olympics with salad
August 14th, 2008 at 9:05 am
It’s not the amount of food in this diet. It’s the poor quality. So many saturated and trans fats. Anyone eating this is going to have health issues at some point in their life.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Soldier’s diets in the USA are precisely 2,500 calories. Not 8K. Get a life.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:31 am
quote:# duderman Says:
August 14th, 2008 at 7:28 am
you dont win the olympics with salad
not so, actually. Carl Lewis attributes his athletic success to his vegan diet. more than salad, but certainly a lot healthier than Phelps’!!!
August 16th, 2008 at 5:32 am
“Every athlete takes days off. I’m sure he doesn’t hop in the pool EVERY day, his body would break down if it did. But his off-days are probably spent in the gym or with a trainer working the muscles. But the concept that he swam (at training levels) for 317 straight days is absurd.”
according to this interview (http://au.sports.ign.com/articles/627/627665p1.html)
IGN Sports: You’re 6′ 4″, about 200 pounds. Is your physique all from swimming, or do you hit the weights?
Michael Phelps: I’ve never lifted a single weight in my life. It’s all from training in the water, period. That’s not to say I wouldn’t lift in the future, but now, no.
August 16th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
[...] You Won’t Believe What Michael Phelps Eats Everyday [nw] :: Donklephant – so you want to be like Michael Phelps huh – well you could maybe start by eating what he does. [...]
August 17th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
All those gold medals wont mean shit when his heart explodes mid stroke. i’m your typical lazy over fed american and i won’t even go near half the sh-t in his daily diet.
August 17th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
@ the person who doubted he could swim every day for 317 days, it’s totally possible…swimming is different from other forms of exertion, there’s no impact pressure on the joints and the cold-ish water helps flush out lactic acid. i was on a swim team and there were guys at that pool who had been swimming every day for years. they had their charts up on the wall.
August 17th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
“Soldier’s diets in the USA are precisely 2,500 calories. Not 8K. Get a life.” BS
August 17th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
If you believe this post, you’re and idiot ;-).
August 18th, 2008 at 12:49 am
you people act like he literally eats these foods, and only these foods, every single day. unnnnlikely.
August 18th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Simon, actually, according to NBC, his coach has recently had him lifting weights to increase his musculature. That interview might be outdated. In addition, I agree with Nate. My joints are extremely fragile, and I had problems in almost any sport I have tried. However, I can swim for as long as I want and feel great afterward, not achy or with joint pain.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
well, being a soldier in the military i can say that 2500 calories a day is not sufficient. it is recommend for a full grown, moderatly active male to eat 3500 a day. I work out 6 days a week, mostly lifting weights and running, and i eat about 5000 a day. i cant imagine swimming for 5 hours a day! 12000 calories seems about right. the reason fat nasty people get fat and nasty is because they eat that AND sit on the couch all day.
i actually have a friend who is a body builder and he eats near 12000 a day. and really all the food he eats is not that unhealthy, each part serves a purpose: sugar for high intesity, short lasting energy bursts; pasta for long term energy, proteins for muscle growth and endurance, and fats for stored energy and joint health. read up about nutrition a bit and maybe try swimming laps for half an hour. you may be surprised…
August 28th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
As an athlete his caloric intake does not shock me. The part that scares me is all of the cholesterol and saturated fat he is consuming.