Holy Moly! Michael Phelps Diet...

[Stewie]

Swimming sensation Michael Phelps has an Olympic recipe for success - and it involves eating a staggering 12,000 calories a day.

"Eat, sleep and swim. That's all I can do," Phelps, who won two more gold medals today, told NBC when asked what he needs to win medals. "Get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can."

By comparison, the average man of the same age needs to ingest about 2,000 calories a day.

Phelps, 23, will swim 17 times over nine days of competition at the Beijing Games - meaning that he will need all the calories he can shovel in his mouth in order to keep his energy levels high.

Phelps' diet - which involves ingesting 4,000 calories every time he sits down for a meal - resembles that of a reckless overeater rather than an Olympian.

Phelps lends a new spin to the phrase "Breakfast of Champions" by starting off his day by eating three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

At lunch, Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

For dinner, Phelps really loads up on the carbs - what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen - with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza. He washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

Phelps remains on course to at least equal Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals won at the 1972 Munich Games.

At these Summer Games, a typical day for Phelps starts with a 5 a.m. wake-up call. Most of his races have taken place between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET when in China - 12 hours ahead of East Coast time.

[Demonpenz]

I am guessing that Roaf probably had to take in 20,000 cals a day to keep his weight on

[Phobia]

I used to be on that same diet. It hasn't worked out quite as well for me.

[jiveturkey]

I hope that he waits an hour or so before getting back in the pool.

[mcan]

I wish I had the balls to go out and exercize for 5 hours a day. I'd be pretty ripped pretty quickly, and be able to eat whatever I want. Sounds like a hell of a life.

[mcan]

I hope that he waits an hour or so before getting back in the pool.

I should have thought of that one. Nice. REP!

[Reerun_KC]

I wish I had the balls to go out and exercize for 5 hours a day. I'd be pretty ripped pretty quickly, and be able to eat whatever I want. Sounds like a hell of a life.
True, but some of us have jobs, kids, families, errands, bills to pay, lives to live..

I am lucky that I get 30 minutes a day to workout...

[Deberg_1990]

Phelps is no Jake Gyllenhaal

[Bowser]

Phelps is no Jake Gyllenhaal

Ha, ****er! Stole my post.

[Silock]

I wish I had the balls to go out and exercize for 5 hours a day. I'd be pretty ripped pretty quickly, and be able to eat whatever I want. Sounds like a hell of a life.

It doesn't take that much. Only about 1.5 hours per day to be able to eat whatever you want. Obviously, as your energy expenditure goes up, your caloric intake needs to increase. But there's really no "secret" to it.

[little jacob]

he's on the Mangino diet

[Deberg_1990]

he's on the Mangino diet

Do you think he spends 10 hours a day in the pool like Phelps?

[Bowser]

Do you think he spends 10 hours a day in the pool like Phelps?

Pool of his own sweat.

[blueballs]

he rates his own bathroom
on the other side the commons

[gblowfish]

Power poops!

[Bowser]

Power poops!

Yep, it's about that time.

[HypnotizedMonkey]

Michael Phelps is the new Chuck Norris.

[mcan]

It doesn't take that much. Only about 1.5 hours per day to be able to eat whatever you want. Obviously, as your energy expenditure goes up, your caloric intake needs to increase. But there's really no "secret" to it.



I get what you're saying, and yeah 1.5 hours of working out a day would do me a tremendous amount of good, but it's not going to let me eat 12,000 calories a day. (read also: as much of anything I want)

[Silock]

I get what you're saying, and yeah 1.5 hours of working out a day would do me a tremendous amount of good, but it's not going to let me eat 12,000 calories a day. (read also: as much of anything I want)

If you could physically eat more than about 5,000, I'd be surprised lol

[mcan]

If you could physically eat more than about 5,000, I'd be surprised lol



Watch me. I'm about 190, and not in any kind of shape, but I could EASILY put down that 5000. Hell, that's one large pizza, a handfull of breadsticks and a 2 liter bottle of pepsi. I could do that for dinner tonight, and still be "snacking" during the day.

Food is an addiction to me. I constantly feel like eating and see it as something to DO aside from a way to get energy. Alas, I'm too lazy to work out the 2 hours plus it would take to be able to put that kind of food away and not be a lard ass.

[DaKCMan AP]

Michael Phelps is the new Chuck Norris.

He's no Tim Tebow. :D

[Silock]

Watch me. I'm about 190, and not in any kind of shape, but I could EASILY put down that 5000. Hell, that's one large pizza, a handfull of breadsticks and a 2 liter bottle of pepsi. I could do that for dinner tonight, and still be "snacking" during the day.

Food is an addiction to me. I constantly feel like eating and see it as something to DO aside from a way to get energy. Alas, I'm too lazy to work out the 2 hours plus it would take to be able to put that kind of food away and not be a lard ass.

Let me rephrase: If you could 5,000 calories that you actually needed, I'd be shocked.

Phelps eats a ton of carbs because he burns them all off. If he didn't, he wouldn't be as hungry.

Try eating 5,000 calories of protein and fat and see how far you get :)

[mcan]

Let me rephrase: If you could 5,000 calories that you actually needed, I'd be shocked.

Phelps eats a ton of carbs because he burns them all off. If he didn't, he wouldn't be as hungry.

Try eating 5,000 calories of protein and fat and see how far you get :)



What's ironic is that I'm currently losing weight on a no-carb diet. I'm not getting anywhere near 5000, but beleive me... If I was any less interested in losing weight, I'd put your challenge to the test.

[Silock]

What's ironic is that I'm currently losing weight on a no-carb diet. I'm not getting anywhere near 5000, but beleive me... If I was any less interested in losing weight, I'd put your challenge to the test.

You should be losing weight on no-carb diets. They're the best for that.

[Chiefs Pantalones]

Swimmers train harder than NFL players. They are in top shape, I respect the heck out of them.

[mcan]

You should be losing weight on no-carb diets. They're the best for that.



My post wasn't clear at all. I meant to say that it's ironic that you mention an all fat and protein diet, because that's what I'm currently doing... I got sick of being a soft 198 pound dude with a roundish face. I'm every girls' "best friend." And I'm not some anti-social nice guy either. I'm just not in the kind of shape that attractive girls (in a college town) are looking for. And there are enough frat boys and athletes around to keep me at the bottom of the draft boards.

So, I started up the ZERO carb deal a week and a half ago. Was at 191 this morning. This is with very little actual exercise as well. Once my initial weight loss plateaus, I'll start walking and jogging. When that plateaus, I'll start lifting. My goal is to keep it up until I get down to about 165, then start training as an athlete and hopefully add about 15 pounds of muscle to put me at a ripped 180.

[Red Brooklyn]

My post wasn't clear at all. I meant to say that it's ironic that you mention an all fat and protein diet, because that's what I'm currently doing... I got sick of being a soft 198 pound dude with a roundish face. I'm every girls' "best friend." And I'm not some anti-social nice guy either. I'm just not in the kind of shape that attractive girls (in a college town) are looking for. And there are enough frat boys and athletes around to keep me at the bottom of the draft boards.

So, I started up the ZERO carb deal a week and a half ago. Was at 191 this morning. This is with very little actual exercise as well. Once my initial weight loss plateaus, I'll start walking and jogging. When that plateaus, I'll start lifting. My goal is to keep it up until I get down to about 165, then start training as an athlete and hopefully add about 15 pounds of muscle to put me at a ripped 180.

yikes... we need to talk if this is all your diet is about... your point of view is flawed and I think a quick conversation could potentially spare you the time and effort.

[Simply Red]

I guess I'm not understanding his diet.

Can't one eat `the good` carbs lean meats and veggies in large amount?

[Spicy McHaggis]

I started getting back into "season" shape about 2 weeks ago and my appetite has sky-rocketed. I'm not consuming 12,000 calories by any means but I've basically found that I'm eating small meals about every 2-3 hours just to maintain my weight.

I'm really thinking getting in the pool a couple days a week might be a great idea. You get the cardiovascular/strength benefits with almost no joint strain.

[Hammock Parties]

"Eat, sleep and swim. That's all I can do,"

Phelps ****s a lot, too, I bet.

[HC_Chief]

Swimmers train harder than NFL players. They are in top shape, I respect the heck out of them.

I never realized how people could gain so much weight as to be fat, obese, or morbidly obese when I was a competitive swimmer. My view changed when I quit swimming but kept the appetite/diet; holy hell, you gain weight FAST. :D

When I was a swimmer I could easily eat a whole large pizza + fried mojos (type of little round potato pancakes, effing good stuff!) from Shakey's Pizza and not gain an ounce. This went on through my early teens until I moved to KS, where swim teams were pretty much non-existent. It took less than a year to put on fat.

Swimming is brutal. Especially if you swim the butterfly; speaking of which, Phelps is the first person I have ever seen make that stroke look effortless. For anyone who has swam it, you know what I mean.

[beavis]

yikes... we need to talk if this is all your diet is about... your point of view is flawed and I think a quick conversation could potentially spare you the time and effort.

Yeah. All he really needs to do is buy a bike.