Monday, August 18, 2008

So Tell Me... What Exactly Does Michael Phelps Eat?

Michael PhelpsThe grandest of Olympic champions, Michael Phelps, churned his way to immortality on Sunday, nailing an unprecedented eight consecutive gold after powering the United States to victory in the 4x100-meter medley relay.

I knew training as a competitive swimmer took a lot of work but what I didn't know is that it takes a whole lot of food too.

Here's what Phelps said about his eating habits: "I was told I was supposed to eat between 8,000 and 10,000 calories a day. I just sort of try to cram whatever I can into my body."

Following is a typical breakfast for Michael Phelps:

* 3 fried egg sandwiches
* 3 slices of french toast
* a bowl of grits
* a five egg omelet
* 3 chocolate chip pancakes

The diet sounds deadly but trainers say consuming that many calories isn't all that unusual for a competitive swimmer.

Beijing 2008Listen to Sports dietician Caroline Mandel explain why it's necessary for an athlete to eat so much food.

Source: here

Related Article: Dara Torres, A 41-Year-Old Olympic Champion, Poised To Make History


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10 comments:

Moonchild Dancing! said...

Sooo.. if I exercise like crazy I can eat like that too? Well.. I think it's a great tradeoff! lol :) Yum.

Anonymous said...

i'm gonna have to be an athlete then, lol.

Anonymous said...

Wow! That just goes to show us, if we exercise a lot, then we can eat a whole lot more of the foods we like.

Anonymous said...

That breakfast sounds delicious! Eating whatever I wanted was my best motivation to exercise 3-5 days a week.

Laura said...

Yeah, if we would exercise enough, we'd have some room to play with. Otherwise, the food we eat goes right to our hips. Drats!

Anonymous said...

I heard he (and the rest of the US Swim team) "won" free pizza and pasta for a year at Pizza Hut, so I'm betting that will be a good part of his diet.

Petra a.k.a The Wise (*Young*) Mommy said...

I'm sorry, but that sounds disgusting to me! I have never been a big breakfast eater though...if we find out that he has pasta alfredo, garlic bread and a bottle of red wine for dinner every night, then I am jumping in the pool and starting my Olympic training tomorrow!

Iris said...

I am a huge fan and i wonder is he a water baby or something? anyway, My ex-work mate is a fitness trainer and says that you can eat a lot when you exercise because your body needs them because you keep on moving where as if we eat lots and did not match it with activity that is the tendency of getting fat.

Anonymous said...

At one time I competed in triathlons and of course swimming is a big part! I can remember being so hungry after going out to the lake with friends for a swim. I can certainly understand how a competitive swimmer would need to eat so many calories even though I could never get away with it!

Jeff Iversen said...

I used to swim in college. I would swim 6-10 miles a day during the year. I ate whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted. I am 6'2" and I went down to 147 pounds. My ribs were popping out. This worried me so I started to eat 4-7 plate fulls of food per meal. It was very uncomfortable to eat all of that food but I needed to do it in order to keep from wasting away.

What Michael does not understand is that the french toast, grits and panccakes are poor choices that will catch up with him someday. These highly processed, high glycemic foods will contribute to increase his chances of stroke, heart attack and obesity in later life.

He needs lots of carbohydrates for energy and muscle function. He would be smarter to include carbohydrates that are more low glycemic and act more like a slow burning fuel. Other Olympic athletes know this and are preserving their future health. I have wondered whether this change would make him an even better swimmer?

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