Staff Writer
What if I told you that you could have a body like Michael Phelps? Now, what if I told you that you could do it by eating 12,000 calories per day? Seriously.
Recently, Phelps outlined his daily diet -- his total caloric intake is an astounding
12,000 calories. Before you start gorging yourself to get that sleek swimmer's body, you'll also have to carve out about five hours a day for intense swimming. You didn't think you could get the body of an Olympian simply by stuffing your face, did you?During his intense training schedule, he struggles to consume enough carbohydrates to fuel the gold medal machine that is Michael Phelps. He's consuming nearly five times what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends for an active, young man, but how is he even doing it? How can you cram that many calories into a single day?
Here's a sample of his regular daily menu:
Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches, two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three pieces of French toast and three chocolate chip pancakes.
Lunch: Two ham and cheese sandwiches, a pound of pasta and an energy drink.
Dinner: A large pizza, a pound of pasta and an energy drink.
Watch eDiets food and fitness experts weigh in on these massive meals.
It hardly seems human. His peculiar diet lends weight to my theory that he’s a robot sent from the future to consume mass quantities of carbs and crush all human opposition in the swimming pool -- The Liquidator. I really need to stop staying up so late watching the Olympics.
After winning eight gold medals, what did Phelps want?
"A big, fat cheeseburger," he said during one interview. Maybe he's human after all.
What do you think about the 12,000 calorie diet? Do you think Phelps is human? Let us know by commenting below.
Labels: calories, diet, health, michael, olympics, phelps, swimming
Comment: August 20, 2008 12:38 AM - 
said...
Ok this guy is an athlete of the highest quality and talent. He eats that much becasue he is so active and trains so hard. A normal human could not do that becasue they do not have that lifestyle so the article is a bit misleading. A normal man cannot eat that many calories and not suffer!
Comment: August 20, 2008 2:11 AM - said...
Where are the vitamins in his diet?
Sorely lacking (for optimum health) in that diet: A, C, E, K
Where are the Omega 3's? They appear to be non-existant!
Where is the potassium? It also appears to be non-existant!
Comment: August 20, 2008 3:37 AM - 
Cherokee said...
Wow, that's a lot of food, but I guess when you swim five and six hours a day, you need a lot of food to keep you going. I just hope it's not affecting his heart, or won't in the long run. Michael Phelps is awesome!!!
Comment: August 20, 2008 3:57 AM - said...
If you consider his age, his extreme expediture of energy and his muscles, he need to eat a hi-carb and hi-protein died. Oviously he burns every calorie he ingests, he needs all that food to fuel his [high metabolism and to keep his body running a an optimum level.With eight gold medals I suppose His died works for him. God Bless him. I think he is a fine young man. Lucillee
Comment: August 20, 2008 6:13 AM - Glenda said...
I think fuel in, fuel out seems to working for his amount of exercise. To put that in perspective if an average male about his size were to exercise 1 hour instead of 5 he should consume about 1/5 of those 12,000 calories- about 2,400 which is about right. Makes perfect sense to me! You've got to have the necessary nutrition to fuel your workouts.
Comment: August 20, 2008 6:50 AM - said...
Phelps is headed for disaster in 10-15 years or even less, if he continues to eat like this, no matter how many calories he spends. Needs to follow moderation in life after the current Olympics. Good health is much more than garbage in calories out.
Comment: August 20, 2008 7:36 AM - said...
Michael's diet is atrocious! He could consume a much healthier combination of 12,000 calories and, while youth is on his side right now, we don't know what his present diet is doing to him internally!! His liver and kidneys must be working overtime (maybe along with all the other unusual traits, he sports extra of those, too!)!! Good luck to him.
Comment: August 20, 2008 9:06 AM - browneyes said...
I wonder how difficult it will be to cut back now that the intensity of the practice is over. One's body gets used to eatting a certain quanitity of food. It will be difficult, but knowing swim coaches as I do (I'm a swim team mom) his will get him back on track. Remember those who criticized what he was eatting, the list was just an example. Fresh fruits and veggies, as well as low fat dairy, are also high on the list of recommended foods to include in a swimmer's diet. The intensity of his practices, athletes of his level perform, need all the fats and carbs that they consume and they are then depleted from his body. If he were to continue to eat like this when not in training, then it could lead to future problems. Right now, there isn't anything left of those foods in his system at the end of the day.
Comment: August 20, 2008 9:27 AM - said...
Obviously a "normal" human could not eat this much! He eats like this for competition purposes - fuel. He also takes loads of vitamin supplements, and eats a healthy diet outside of competition. Try not to focus on one particular point in this amazing man's life.
My overweight son needs lots of exercise - and he has been watching Phelps and trying to mimic him in the pool. I think he's a great role model.
Comment: August 20, 2008 9:31 AM - said...
I would like to know exactly what his daily exercise routine consists of? Of course there is a lot of swimming and weights, but how much of each and for how long?
Anonymous...
Comment: August 20, 2008 9:45 AM - said...
He obviously needs this many calories and needs a high protein/high carb diet. He could eat 12,000 healthier calories--more fruits, vegetables, grass fed beef, whole grains, etc. Also, mentioned before, what other supplements, vitamins, does he take?
Comment: August 20, 2008 10:17 AM - said...
Sure hope he takes a daily all-encompassing vitamin tablet!
Comment: August 20, 2008 10:30 AM - said...
although this diet seems to do the
trick for michael one has to wonder
in the long term what damage as far
as cholesterol and all that STRENUOUS TRAINING will have on him
in the end.
he is truly a great athlete but i dont think his caloric intake is necessarily healthy.
Comment: August 20, 2008 10:38 AM - said...
Fine to consume 12,000 calories a day and expend it as he does. BUT it cant be doing him good internally. There is definantly a healthier way to go. Heart attack waiting to happen if you ask me!
Comment: August 20, 2008 10:38 AM - said...
Fine to consume 12,000 calories a day and expend it as he does. BUT it cant be doing him good internally. There is definantly a healthier way to go. Heart attack waiting to happen if you ask me!
Comment: August 20, 2008 10:45 AM - said...
I also think that it is really unlikely he's chowing down on the "fast food" varieties of items listed... Athletes like him treat their bodies like temples- I'm sure his meals are made of high quality, nutrient-rich ingredients.
Comment: August 20, 2008 11:16 AM - Melinda Costa said...
I dont think you need to worry about Michael Phelps's diet....as for vitamins...come one....give me a break....he a stinkin' 8 time winner of the gold..do you really think his body is suffering. Or that he doesnt know how to take care of himself? I imagine there arent many people on the planet more heathly..including yourself, even with all your vitamins.
Comment: August 20, 2008 11:21 AM - forbestr25 said...
One major common misconception that young people and alot of other people as well have in this country, is that they can burn off anything that they eat. WRONG! WRONG! Consuming tons of calories to keep your fuel supply up is a necessity for athletes, especially Phelps. But why do we continue to think that any fuel is okay? Pizza, eggs, processed food (which by the way does not digest in our stomachs very easily), bread, and pasta. They are full of lots of "empty" calories, that don't serve your body much at all. Our stomach and intestines are not made to be garbage disposals. Phelps can "get away" with this diet only because he is young. People, along with Phelps, who eat these foods consistently even at much smaller volumes will develop major health problems in the long run. On another note, I love what he has accomplished at the Olympics. I am very proud! Just please stop eating all of those bad foods.
Comment: August 20, 2008 11:23 AM - said...
Wow...we have a lot of nutritionist and experts posting on here. Unless you are a certified dietician or are Phelps' trainer, what real hard core knowledge do you have of what he should or should not eat.
You are free to comment, but is your thinking flawed, or based on facts and knowledge, instead of mere opinion.
Comment: August 20, 2008 12:18 PM - said...
I loved the article. I agree with a few if the comments here but on overall, I beleive that the diet of Michael Phelps that is posted is a training diet. Mostly carbs and that would make sense. Most of you have it right - he's young, he's a super athlete and he'll "get back to a normal diet" when things settle down. Good for Michael Phelps!!!! Oh - and this is a no brainer: Don't try this at home! (Unless you are an Olympic athlete!!!)
Comment: August 20, 2008 12:37 PM - said...
I feel the people who are knocking him are extremely jealous of him. calories are units of energy they go in they go out if used correctly. his body internally is in much better shape then 99% of the people out there. RELAX he's an extreme athlete not some guy behind a desk!
Comment: August 20, 2008 12:44 PM - said...
His "Gold Medal Diet" is seriously lacking fruits and vegetables. There is also a huge lack of calcium from dairy products that could improve his bone and muscle tone.
Comment: August 20, 2008 2:11 PM - said...
Hopfully he will slowly cut back....or...he wil be ONE BIG FISH
Comment: August 20, 2008 2:47 PM - said...
I think you mean DIET and not died which is after someone or something is dead... LOL
August 20, 2008 3:57 AM
If you consider his age, his extreme expediture of energy and his muscles, he need to eat a hi-carb and hi-protein died. Oviously he burns every calorie he ingests, he needs all that food to fuel his [high metabolism and to keep his body running a an optimum level.With eight gold medals I suppose His died works for him. God Bless him. I think he is a fine young man. Lucillee
Comment: August 20, 2008 7:05 PM - said...
Michael Phelps is undeniably an awesome athlete and makes the US proud. With the amount of calories he expends, he needs to take in that many to fuel his activities. I doubt that he's eating that exact combination of foods everyday. That would be pretty boring, for one thing, but also, when you don't have a variety of foods, you tend to have nutrient deficiencies. If we look at the food pyramid, he is missing out on quite a few things. I'm not a nutrition expert, but I used to be a distance runner. To keep my weight down I ate mostly veggies and protein - very little of anything else. I developed some very signigicant nutrient deficiencies because the strenuous activity depletes a lot of the minerals and vitamins in the body. This led to anemia and low white blood cell counts. Even supplements cannot replace everything. I hope he's getting some red, green, orange, yellow & purple foods, as those have important nutrients as well as antioxidants to prevent illness. The omega's (good fats) are important as well to counteract those yummy fried eggs, greasy pizza and things that can cause cholesterol problems.
Comment: August 21, 2008 2:32 AM - said...
And the fruit? Where is the fruit in his diet? This is so wrong my gosh!
Comment: August 21, 2008 9:40 AM - said...
To all of you geniuses out there who think he should be eating "healthier" foods, I have a few facts for you. As a world class athlete, his resting BMR is probably over 5000 calories a day. Add to that all his swimming, at more than 1000 calories burned per hour, and he needs a LOT of fuel. I personally eat 1700 calories a day, and could do a couple hundred more, but I am maintaining a caloric deficit to burn off fat. He has no fat, and so he needs no such deficit. I eat mostly "healthy" minimally processed foods, and it's a lot of food just to get to 1700- about 4-5 plates full. When you take out garbage, it actually requires a higher volume of food to reach the same calorie count. To consume 12,000 calories worth of the foods you all would deem "healthy" he would need about 30 plates of food a day! He could not possibly eat that volume of food, so he eats foods that are calorically VERY DENSE. Fat is densest in calories per gram, as you all should know, so that's why he consumes a lot of fats. Starchy carbs are just easier to consume a large quantity of calories with, rather than watery fruits and vegetables. If he ate a lot of meat he wouldn't be able to finish all the rest of the calories he needs just to get through the day. I'm sure he eats healthier when he's not in Olympic training, and only ONE DAY of his foods is posted. One day does not make or break a diet. To really get an idea of whether he eats a lot of junk, you would need to look at his diet for a month or so, not judge from a single day. Let him do what he needs to do, and understand the caloric needs of super-athletes are very different from what you have been taught about for your own weight-loss needs.
Comment: August 21, 2008 9:46 AM - said...
Honestly this diet - though hard to imagine - makes sense to me. I was a swimmer in high school and even at that level our coach was encouraging us to eat between 4 and 6 thousand calories a day. Why? Because swimminng is one of the most intense total body workouts and you need lots of fuel to keep you going! As far as the stupid "but where are the vitamins and omega 3's" comments - whose to say that he isn't getting those foods in? Maybe he's eating vegetables with his pasta - or on his pizza - or in his omelette. Don't assume that pizza and pasta mean white flour and red sauce with cheese and maybe sausage as the only toppings. Any one who thinks this amount of food is unnecessary, I challenge you to go swim balls out for 5 hours - for even one day - and see how hungry you are or how fast you pass out and drown because you were too stupid to eat more than a yogurt and a slice of toast for breakfast!
Comment: August 21, 2008 1:02 PM - said...
I have friends who swim and each meal they have during swimming season is about 3/4 carbs. But as soon as the season is over they go back to eating healthy. Those people that are saying his diet is lacking in vitamins and nutrients haven't noticed that menu didn't elaborate on anything. They said "large pizza" instead of possibly "large pizza with skim mozzarella, spinach..."; you fill in the rest. If you guys trained and swam half as much as he did (fyi: he trains all the years in between Olympics) you probably have a heart attack when you were done. He's been swimming nearly all his life but only eats like that for the Olympics; I'm pretty sure his mom didn't let him eat like that when he was in grade school. You have to realize that the standards that the American Association sets up are for average people of average weight, height and lifestyle. Let's face it: is anyone in whole wide world "average"? No! Especially not Michael Phelps who just set a world record for getting 11 gold medals and already winning 8 gold medals at this years Olympics. Michael Phelps is extraordinary; and it's extraordinary that you people might put him down because of what he eats. His diet is not what makes him.
Comment: August 21, 2008 2:11 PM - said...
I love the way that people are saying that this intake is wrong for him. He is an Olympic athlete with, most likely, a team of nutritionists devising the best diet possible to maximise his performance. It is a calorie dense diet. If he were to structure his meals around the traditional healthy half veg, quarter protein, quarter carb he would be eating all day with no time left for training!!!
Comment: August 21, 2008 5:19 PM - said...
Yay!! The next time I eat until I about pass out, instead of saying "Man, I ate like a pig!", I can say "Man, I ate like an Olympic champion!"
Comment: August 21, 2008 6:39 PM - said...
He can eat as much as he wants as long as he trains long enough to burn it off, but is he getting enough vitamins to consider his lifestyle healthy?
Comment: August 22, 2008 1:35 AM - said...
Good grief people - what comments!!! Must be alot of experts that know better than MP's trainer/coach.... Why aren't YOU his trainer? Because he has said he has the best there is. period. leave the guy alone - he has proved he is not a "normal" human - but is an extremely exceptional athelete. Get off your nutritional soap boxes and worry about your own damn vitamins.
Comment: August 27, 2008 6:54 AM - said...
Goodness, we take everything literally, right??
Of course he eats his veggies and fruits and dairy and all those things which keep worrying everyone. Plus he gets his vitamin supplements. He just needs more carbs to keep energy for trainings and competitions. There's just a whole team of nutritionists planning each person's diet.
Athletes at this level eat that much when at competition, and train even more than regular trainings. You eat a little bit differently but still a lot of carbs needed during the rest of the time and train for average 5 hrs. I know because I used to be in my uni's swimming team, and I ate like a quarter of what Phelps does (and trains).
Comment: August 27, 2008 11:55 AM - said...
I have seen on several interviews that he eats a lot of fruit. He says that fruit is mostly what he eats before he swims. I think he is an amazing man!!
Comment: August 28, 2008 4:34 PM - said...
With all that he eats and that he loves the water he's got to be the real "Aquaman" like from the comics and cartoons
Comment: September 5, 2008 12:06 AM - Raulrocks said...
He obviously exercises a LOT, however I think his age and his gender also play a role in the amount of calories he eats without gaining weight. Even with his workout schedule, I doubt he'd be able to eat that many calories if he was a 33 year old woman instead of 23 year old man.
Comment: September 7, 2008 9:59 AM - said...
As a former competative swimmer, i can agree that Michael has to eat that kind (and amount) of food. While fruits and veggies may appear to be lacking, there is just no way he could consume enough to fuel his workouts by eating any leaner. When not swimming, we would eat and sleep basically...My non swimmer friends were so incredilous of the amount of food we ate but swimming 2-4 horus a day, lifting, running etc requires a lot of fuel! As for cutting back once you stop, of course the body naturally readjusts but one has to pay more attention to what and when to eat.
Comment: September 8, 2008 12:57 PM - said...
Just saying:
It NEVER HURTS to add the magic of fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices. Our bodies maintain their abilities like eyesight, flexibility, respiration, cell repair, skin complexion, urinary function, prostate function, lung health, heart function and stability, brain function, and Antioxidation overall... using phytochemicals and micronutrients that fruits and vegetables ARE! Spices and herbs also work wonderfully for our bodies. Usually, the more alive the material is that you put in your body, the more life you GIVE your body! Versus dead hunks or very processed grains. Usually plant oils work very well for us. The thing is, our bodies NEED these. How could you turn such wonders away? Anyone who has a specific diet should also put their faith in the power of vegetation, spices and herbs. It's vital... no need to EVER hesitate. Act now : )
Comment: September 8, 2008 9:46 PM - said...
its not surprising that its pizza, pasta and fried egg sandwhiches. if you are gonna eat 10K calories a day you have to enjoy what you are eating. if it was wheat grass and tofu he wouldnt be able to do it for one day.
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