Michael Phelps - 12,000 calories / day

**tidalwave** · August 14th, 2008, 05:03 PM

Ok, this has been all over the news today. The king olympian has been reported to consume 12,000 calories per day as part of his training regimen. Good Morning America even showed an example of the actual foods he consumes throughout the day, e.g. lunch included 1 lbs of enriched pasta + 1 whole cheese pizza.

Here are some initial thoughts:

- The sheer number.. Assuming that swimming, for the average 150 lbs person, is around 550 cals per hour, I couldn't guess what someone at Phelps' level burns training 4 hours per day. He's approx 6'3" and a little over 200 lbs. I don't know his total distance/day. I'm not sure how one could calculate his BMR, even knowing his dimensions and bf %., since his metabolism must be like a bullet train. If he's not gaining weight @ 12,000 cals per day, he must be burning it. Conclusion: That's nuts.

- The food he was eating was not exactly 'wholesome'. The claim is that the source of his calories was relatively unimportant.

- I think he owes his toilet at least one of those medals.

What say you?

**wil** · August 14th, 2008, 06:12 PM

Here is an exerpt from the following article...

Health Blog : The Michael Phelps Diet: Don't Try It at Home

Quote:

Here’s Phelps’s typical menu. (No, he doesn’t choose among these options. He eats them all, according to the Post.)

Breakfast: 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.

Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

**lizzyb** · August 14th, 2008, 06:20 PM

OMG!! Can you imagine?! No, I just can't imagine....wow! Imagine having a metabolism that works like that.....I WISH!! That is just soooo impressive isn't it?

Oh to be an elite athlete........I sooooo love the Olympics, now if I were only 30yrs younger and doing it over.....I coulda been a contender!! JK

**Insex** · August 14th, 2008, 08:40 PM

I seriously doubt those numbers are accurate.

Maybe he eats 12,000 Calories on his Rest Days. Considering he's a swimmer, I doubt he could eat that much food and manage to allow his body enough time to digest all that food before dipping into the pool. I know the feeling of trying to swim on a full stomach, it ain't too good of a feeling.

**pliny_2001** · August 14th, 2008, 09:21 PM

That may be one of his higher daily numbers, but I completely believe it -- I swam (never like Phelps, of course, but still) and I'd pound down food. We're talking about getting Chinese takeout on the way home to dinner. For a bit, I was just drinking olive oil in an attempt to keep weight on.

I mean, when I worked on getting super-lean, I did it through added cardio (this was years after swimming, when I'd developed some appreciable muscle mass) -- and I had to bump my calories up to 5-6,000 in order to get enough food to repair myself AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT. Until people really do it, they just don't understand how much you've got to eat when you're doing that kind of work (and for the record, we're the same height, but I've got maybe ten pounds of LBM on him. Of course, he's obviously much faster).

**Italianangel** · August 18th, 2008, 12:08 AM

at his level I guess he trains hours upon hours in many modes of sport with much of it being swimming, so I can see that, have you seen his rubbery soft shapeless body? Great athlete, not tyring to dog, just being bluntly honest with my opinion....as I usually am.....he looks like gumby.
most of them do, yuk. I don't like that body type.
I rather have a guy who is chubby with abelly who has muscle and shape even if he is soft.....this guy has NO SHAPE, no tone at ALL! I guess that is what makes him so fast, not alot of muscle to weight him down, bet his fat percent is high, buoyance and just looks like that is his make up....and he is ecto so he can put it back.
Linda

**ckn** · August 20th, 2008, 12:19 PM

I missed this first time round but thanks to the (now deleted) spammer I've caught it this time

At my peak fitness I was consuming 5000+ calories a day and I thought that was an astounding level at the time. My exercise at the time was daily big road runs, daily cardio workouts, 2hr gym work per day, ju-jitsu twice a week and rugby (training and playing) twice a week. To do enough exercise to burn through 12,000 per day is astounding.

**mooshue** · August 20th, 2008, 12:36 PM

I AM MCLOVIN!!!

**Italianangel** · August 20th, 2008, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckn

I missed this first time round but thanks to the (now deleted) spammer I've caught it this time

I was just heading in to blast em.....

**Italianangel** · August 20th, 2008, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mooshue

I AM MCLOVIN!!!

omg this guy was so cute! I have seen most of the movie but not the whole thing but this guy was so farigggin hilaaariouuuus!
Linda

**wil** · August 20th, 2008, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Italianangel

I was just heading in to blast em.....

Don't mess with the ItalianAngel...

skijumpbump · August 20th, 2008, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Italianangel

this guy has NO SHAPE, no tone at ALL! I guess that is what makes him so fast, not alot of muscle

To say that he does not have muscle is false. While he does not look like a bodybuilder you see in magazines, who train specifically for the purpose of posing in trunks. He is a performance athlete and quite likely very strong for his weight. Since I am sure he is quite tall he may not have impressive lifts like shorter guys, as he is doing more work (w = Fd). Yet to me I think he is more of an athlete then any bodybuilder.

**Italianangel** · August 20th, 2008, 03:21 PM

awe I was just over exaggerating for effect.....:p

**gYmgIrL** · August 26th, 2008, 08:40 AM

wouldnt it take him hours to eat all that? when would he get time to train a bagillion hours?

still

im pretty sure, that right now, i could eat all that in a second

/me bites the internet

YouTube - Phelps Phood: Breakfast of Champions

OM NOM NOM NOM!!!

**bouncer** · August 31st, 2008, 02:05 PM

Great Vid! I always wondered why I was hungrier after swimming. It's got me thinking.....

**gYmgIrL** · August 31st, 2008, 08:24 PM

Whats this 'grits' he's eating?

**wil** · August 31st, 2008, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gYmgIrL

Whats this 'grits' he's eating?

Grits is a Native American corn-based food common in the Southern United States, consisting of coarsely ground corn. It is similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world such as polenta. It also has a lesser resemblance to farina, a thinner porridge.

from:
Grits - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**pliny_2001** · August 31st, 2008, 09:57 PM

or,

Grits are about the best tasting food in the world (when brown sugar and butter are added).