The Michael Phelps Diet: Why So Many Calories?

During the 2008 Summer Olympics, the stories about Michael Phelps’ diet made the rounds in many major newspapers, and for good reason: his training diet included 12,000 calories – per day.

By now, you know that the reason for this is that exercising some five hours a day, six days a week require a similarly great energy input into your body. If you’re burning that many calories, you also have to replenish them. What’s a fast way to replenish that high amount of calories? Eat pure junk.

Let’s take a look at a day Michael Phelps’s diet:

-Breakfast:

Three fried-egg sandwiches, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast, and three chocolate-chip pancakes. Sandwiches include ingredients like mayonnaise and fried onions.

-Lunch:

One pound of pasta, two large ham-and-cheese sandwiches, and energy drinks amounting to 1,000 calories.

-Dinner:

A pound of pasta, an entire pizza, and more energy drinks.

Yikes. If it’s hard imagining the work of actually eating all of that in one day, imagine the work required to burn all of it off. Even though it sounds like the most entertaining diet ever, you have to admit that the exercise required doesn’t necessarily make it the most appealing lifestyle.

One question that many people had, even while understanding the energy-in, energy-out requirements, was this: even if you stay in shape eating all of this food, is it even healthy to do so?

The Wall Street Journal consulted sports medicine Dr. Mark Klion, who said that without this kind of energy intake, Phelps’ “body won’t recover, the muscles will not recover, there will not be adequate energy stored for him to compete in his next event.” Sure, we understand that calories are necessary to maintain energy, but what about the quality of calories? Phelps is consuming a lot of butter and fat.

“I think for him, because of his caloric demands, he can probably eat whatever he wants to,” said Klion. The essential theory is that a pound of tofu isn’t exactly as easy to eat as a pound of enriched pasta. And it certainly isn’t as fun. The calories present in an entire pizza are quick and plentiful, while calories in vegetables simply aren’t there.

So, there you have it: you can eat whatever you want to, including a ridiculous amount of it, if you’re willing to work out as hard as Michael Phelps. Since that might not be a realistic option for you, at least consider that some extra exercise will help you burn off a cheat meal or two.

Photo Credits: marcopako

Originally posted 2009-04-13 05:57:19.

This post involves:

2008 summer olympics, adequate energy, calories per day, chocolate chip pancakes, day six, dr mark, egg omelet, egg sandwiches, energy drinks, energy input, energy intake, french toast, fried egg, fried onions, grits, ham and cheese sandwiches, michael phelps, sports medicine, summer olympics, wall street journal

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Health, Swimming

Posted by Bike Swim Run on November 10, 2009 in Health, Swimming. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.