12,000 Calories a Day/Michael Phelps Diet

[maggiethecat]

Jon Henley of The Guardian tried to ingest the 12,000 calories a day swimmer Michael Phelps needs to do what he does. It's heavy on carbs and fats, light on fruits and veg.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2008/08/m...l_phelps_b.html

That's a lot of fuel! Do you know anyone except a male teenager working construction who can eat like this?

[Kerry Beal]

That's a lot of fuel! Do you know anyone except a male teenager working construction who can eat like this?

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eGullet types at the Heartland Gathering?

[annecros]

I've known male teenage construction workers, and they couldn't eat like that.

Of course, they couldn't swim like that either.

[Jon Savage]

Back when I was in shape and running a good bit (a Saturday training run was 6+ hours in the hills) I had to work to keep weight *on*. Swimming 6ish hours a day certainly is a recipe for eat all you want just to (barely) maintain weight.

[Marlene]

when I was training for the '76 Olypmics in swimming, I ate like that and more. Of course I was only sixteen at the time. I couldn't even think of eating like that now!

[heidih]

Actually his kind of eating makes sense in terms of the energy expended, his musculature and his age. The journalists have been milking this topic and seem to concur that all those carbs are needed for his level of output. Even though fruits and vegetables and whole grains make sense for the rest of it, this elite athlete needs easily accessible carbs full on......us weekend warriors can not claim any need remotely close.

[maggiethecat]

this elite athlete needs easily accessible carbs full on......us weekend warriors can not claim any need remotely close.

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There was a story about Phelps in a special New York Times section a couple of weeks ago. It said that his coach makes sure that when he's not swimming or sleeping he's eating. All the time.

[Timh]

What a dreamy customer he would be.

[tino27]

What a dreamy customer he would be.

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On so many levels.

[christine007]

People who do manual labor outside, especially in the winter, can eat like this and still have trouble maintaining enough body fat to survive. I work at a car wash in the winter, and Jon Henley is correct, salads and vegetables do you no good at all, you need carbs, protein and fat, in that order.

All that swimming, combined with the fact that he's a teenager, and trying to keep his muscles, it's no surprise he has to eat like that.

btw, eating to keep weight on is just as hard and tiresome and boring as eating to lose weight.

few people know this, but believe me, from experience I can tell you, it's a bitch and not something to feel envy about.

[CKatCook]

Considering how he trains it makes a good deal of sense, but lord have mercy! I would hate to see the grocery bill....yikes!

[shellfishfiend]

When we were first married, my husband was 21 and worked as a derrick hand for an oil drilling company. Very physical and long days. He left the house at 5:30 or 6 in the morning and returned between 7 and 9 in the evening. He worked all day, six or seven days a week in sleet and in 110 degree heat. He ate a lot of food!

It was a challenge to not only cook enough for him but also to afford enough food to feed him. I would cook him breakfast, usally three or four suasage biscuits. Then I would pack a couple of ham sandwichs for his morning snack. For lunch, he needed a protein main, two or three carby sides and bread. For supper, he would easily eat two or three full plates of food. And he would snack when he got the chance.

After a year of that full time, he only did it about 40 hours a week while he put himself through college. After he graduated, he got a nice air conditioned white collar job. He was actually very crestfallen that he could not eat like he used to be able to. He would get a little sad that he didn't have room for seconds.

Now, I don't think he ever approached 12,000 calories a day, but it wasn't for lack of trying. If we had had the money, I'm sure he could have hit that mark. He never gained a pound working in the oil field. He thinks of those as the good ol'days.

[KatieLoeb]

One of my exes in college was on the swim team and about 19 years old at the time. He could eat a pretty wide swath through any cafeteria, and would always have seconds and thirds and never gain an ounce. I was pea green with envy.

Of course as soon as the season was over he'd have to ease up. I remember his jeans getting a bit too tight and him having to start pushing the plate away. Of course if you're training like that 24/7/365 I guess you can do whatever you want to/need to.

Michael Phelps is pretty dreamy. I'd be delighted to have him as a customer, any day.

[Fresser]

Tour de France cyclists consume about 8,000 calories a day, but then they're thin as stick-figures. They have much less upper-body mass than Olympic eye-candy like Phelps--something that the women here seem to have noticed.

Lance Armstrong himself was a triathlete in his pre-Tour de France days. How many calories per day do triathletes like perennial Ironman-winner Dave Scott ingest?

[emilyr]

Considering how he trains it makes a good deal of sense, but lord have mercy! I would hate to see the grocery bill....yikes!

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I also read that he doesn't cook, so most of his meals are eaten out. I can't even imagine trying to pay for all that food out.

Here's an article about the cafe at which he usually eats breakfast in Ann Arbor.

[Poffertjes]

Considering how he trains it makes a good deal of sense, but lord have mercy! I would hate to see the grocery bill....yikes!

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I also read that he doesn't cook, so most of his meals are eaten out. I can't even imagine trying to pay for all that food out.

Here's an article about the cafe at which he usually eats breakfast in Ann Arbor.

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Speedo is going to reward him with a million dollars for winning 8 gold medals. Thats a lot of chocolate chip pancakes! (on top of all the other endorsement money, scholarship at U of M, etc)

Edited after he won the race.

Edited August 17, 2008 by Poffertjes (log)

[pax]

I have been eating with a purpose (health, weight, pregnancy, etc) for a long time. It can be a drag no matter what way you're trying to go on the scale. Eating out might be the only way he can go, that or hire a personal chef. It's the cost of training, otherwise he'd be so busy peeling spuds he wouldn't be able to get into the pool. He eats twice as much in one meal as I probaby eat in a whole day. Maybe even two days. It makes my tummy wobbly to think about trying to cram that stuff in, I'd have sausages coming out my ears.

[maggiethecat]

D'oh! I know someone who might get in Michael's lap pool, calorie-wise My son-in-law's brother Thai is bicycling across the country this summer, from Poughkeepsie to LA . l think he's in Iowa now.

Thai's blog.

He's lost over ten pounds while trying to keep the calories up and dining expenses down. Pop Tarts and Little Debbie Snack Cakes (ugh) seem to feature big in his diet. The kindness of strangers has provided many the yearned-for carb and calories laden breakfast. (He repays them by fixing their computers before he leaves.)

[Peter the eater]

when I was training for the '76 Olypmics in swimming, I ate like that and more. Of course I was only sixteen at the time.   I couldn't even think of eating like that now!

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Were you on the squad in Montreal? Any crazy food memories from that time, buckets of poutine, breakfast fondues, anything?

[KatieLoeb]

Aw heck, Maggie. I wished I'd known. I'd have happily treated Thai to a Philly Cheesesteak or Roast Pork Italiano sandwich in exchange for a housecall for my always maddening 'puter.

I wish him luck. It's a pretty long trip he's in for and a brave lad for attempting it. Very cool idea. I hope more folks show him kindness on his way. Man can not live by junk food alone...

[Peter the eater]

D'oh! I know someone who might get in Michael's lap pool, calorie-wise My son-in-law's brother Thai is bicycling across the country this summer, from Poughkeepsie to LA . l think he's in Iowa now.

Thai's blog.

He's lost over ten pounds while trying to keep the calories up and dining expenses down. Pop Tarts and Little Debbie Snack Cakes (ugh) seem to feature big in his diet. The kindness of strangers has provided many the yearned-for carb and calories laden breakfast. (He repays them by fixing their computers before he leaves.)

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Cool!

I bicycled from Boston to San Diego in 1988 - has it really been 20 years? My lembas bread was flour tortillas filled with peanut butter and honey. Stable, caloric and yummy.