In recent years, it has been mandated that nutrition labels must be on all individually sold foods. Because of this, people are much more aware of what a day’s healthy diet looks like. The daily values on a label suggest that an average person have 2,000 calories per day. This is the normal amount that a person burns in a typical day, and is a pretty good bet if you are not aiming to gain or lose any weight. There are many exceptions to this rule, though. One such exception is the diet of Michael Phelps.
Phelps, the record holder for the most medals in a single year at the Olympics (8), consumes six times the daily recommended value of 2,000, at 12,000 calories per day. This is due to his rigorous workout schedule. In order to be the great olympian that he is, Phelps must stick to this ridiculous schedule to the letter. After his intense workouts, Phelps get down to the serious part: consuming as many calories as humanly possible.
His breakfast includes: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.
His lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.
And while a normal human would be stuffed beyond belief after those two gargantuan meals, Phelps continues with a dinner of: One pound of pasta, an entire pizza and more energy drinks to round him out at 12,000 calories for the day.
Now while many may think that Phelps’ large diet is due to the “munchies,” (Phelps was taken down in a scandal which revealed a picture of him smoking marijuana) he very much needs all 12,000 calories that he consumes each day. Calories are defined as the energy required to raise one gram of water 1 degree Celsius. Because of Phelps’ incredibly intense workouts, he must replenish his body with food or else he will begin to lose muscle mass, which would be bad for his olympic career. Because he swims for five hours a dat six days a week, phelps absolutely must replenish his nutrients in order to recover. His large frame also adds to his need for obscene amounts of calories. Phelps is 6’4” and weighs 194 pounds.
Phelps’ diet each day is an incredible feat. If any normal human attempted to eat his entire menu, they’d fall on their face before they reached dinner. Personally, I eat around 2,500 calories per day, which is just over half of one of Phelps’ meals. Phelps is an American treasure not only for his Olympic prowess, but also for accomplishments in consumption.
This article was very interesting for me. I am very into fitness and working out and I can not even being to fathom the idea of eating 12,000 calories a day. But, I also am not Phelps. It really does make sense that with his high interval training that he would need to eat that much, but why wouldn’t it be healthier food? I feel that eating fried eggs, two pounds of pasta and a whole pizza a day isn’t too nutritional. I guess he makes it work.
Hey Benjamin! This was a good article to read. This one stuck out to me specifically because I’ve recently in the past year been getting super into my fitness. My trainer has taught me all about dieting so I was pleased when I could follow along with your post and make a great amount of sense out of it! I remember watching Phelps on TV and not even pondering to consider how much goes into his actual DIET. They say that you can work out all you want, but a good diet that fits your workout goals, is the key to getting the body you want. Personally, my trainer put me on a 2,500 calorie diet, so when I read your number of 12,000 my mouth absolutely dropped! I can hardly scarf down 3 eggs and an English muffin with a glass of OJ without my stomach feeling like it’ll explode. Definitely a good post with lots of good info to read. Thanks, Benjamin!
This was very interesting to read, I remember watching Michael Phelps in the Olympics and I had no idea that all that muscle came for eating all of that food! I thought for sure all of that food would slow him down, and make him gain fat, not muscle. I also noticed that his diet did not include many fruits or vegetables, although I’m sure he eat’s them every once in a while. I’m curious to know just how much he works out, and how tough is regimen is. With all of that food, he must be working out for hours a day. So just how healthy is this type of lifestyle? Is there consequences for eating that much food, especially all that pasta and pizza? Whatever he does, it seems to be working for him. Here is a video of him winning his 19th medal in the Olympics: Video
I am a swimmer, so when I read this article, I was very interested in it. I completely understand why he can and does eat as much as he does. With his workout regimen, I am sure that the calories that he eats is easily possible for him. My concern is that this is unhealthy for him in the future. If he his eating so many calories and then burning them off so quickly every day, what if that speeds up his lifetime and makes his body think that he has gone through years of food digestion and energy use when it has only been a few months. What if he is speeding up the clock on his body by doing this? Just a thought he might want to think about
I am a swimmer, so when I read this article, I was very interested in it. I completely understand why he can and does eat as much as he does. With his workout regimen, I am sure that the calories that he eats is easily possible for him. My concern is that this is unhealthy for him in the future. If he his eating so many calories and then burning them off so quickly every day, what if that speeds up his lifetime and makes his body think that he has gone through years of food digestion and energy use when it has only been a few months. What if he is speeding up the clock on his body by doing this? Just a thought he might want to think about