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AlexF

12,000 calories per day, WTF!?

Here's what I'm wondering, even though he has a great physique and is clearly burning off all those calories, what toll is this massive amount of food (most of which is carbohydrate) having on his internal organs?



http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/...-phelps-diet-dont-try-it-at-home/

Quote:
Swimming sensation Michael Phelps has an Olympic recipe for success - and it involves eating a staggering 12,000 calories a day.

"Eat, sleep and swim. That's all I can do," Phelps, who won two more gold medals today, told NBC when asked what he needs to win medals. "Get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can."


By comparison, the average man of the same age needs to ingest about 2,000 calories a day.

Phelps, 23, will swim 17 times over nine days of competition at the Beijing Games - meaning that he will need all the calories he can shovel in his mouth in order to keep his energy levels high.

Phelps' diet - which involves ingesting 4,000 calories every time he sits down for a meal - resembles that of a reckless overeater rather than an Olympian.

Phelps lends a new spin to the phrase "Breakfast of Champions" by starting off his day by eating three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

At lunch, Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

For dinner, Phelps really loads up on the carbs - what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen - with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza.

He washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

Phelps remains on course to at least equal Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals won at the 1972 Munich Games.

At these Summer Games, a typical day for Phelps starts with a 5 a.m. wake-up call. Most of his races have taken place between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET when in China - 12 hours ahead of East Coast time.
Jessica

wow, that diet is not natural, and his training is not natural either. The human body is not meant to withstand that constant, day in, day out, type of exercise/training.

Diabetes, anyone.... :P

Jessica
jeff

It will be interesting to see what kind of health he has in 20 or 30 years.
Moon

Holy toledo!  Though, gotta say...a teensy little fraction of me is jealous, lol. He obviously won't be able to keep up that regimine forever, though.  

I like how the article is esp. annoying where it's all "the meat and eggs and cheese are the bad part of what he's eating! Feed the man more tofu!!"  

Pfft, whatEVer.



(even though I do like tofu.  It's shame soy is so bad for you.)
AlexF

So what do you guys think, is this evidence that you can eat whatever you want, and not gain weight.......provided you exercise like a madman?

It seems his diet is primarily carbohydrate based, even though he is burning off all those calories, his insulin levels must be through the roof.
Moon

Well, it's that whole Calories Out > Calories In thing, right?  I mean, obviously people do lose weight by counting calories and making sure their output exceeds input (which is how I lost a lot of weight, by marathoning & counting calories - and was starving all the time. Though I still definitely didn't eat whatever I wanted, I was just eating veggie-based Paleo).  But as I understand it (Science-y people, back me up please!), a non-carb-based diet of fat/protein has the whole metabolic advantage thing working for it where the body involuntarily (meaning on its own, without having to actually make a specific concentrated effort) burns more calories.  

Someone like MP just happens to fall more into the first category of having a dietary composition of whatever and making voluntary, superhuman efforts to have his calorie output meet/exceed calorie input.
Kristelle

He may be thin but all this carb is certainly doing harm to his body.

Calories don't matter. When you eat high-carb, some (or most) of the calories in stay trapped (fat) such that you are eating in excess of what you really need and end up having more calories in than calories out (or burnt). When you eat low-carb or even zero-carb, protein does NOT get stored or converted to fat, fat does not get stored and the little carb you eat is unlikely to store as fat such that no matter how much protein or fat you eat, no weight will be gained. The excess will simply be excreted. Because more energy is available, calories in will be less but at least calories out will now match.

Exercise does not increase fat loss because
1) it takes alot to burn a little
2) strenuous exercise will accordinly increase your appetite, in other words, more calories out, more calories in required UNLESS you voluntarily restrict your calories.
Heather L

I have to say that even with all that, he will probably be better off than the average doughnut eating, and soda swilling couch potato.  I am sure the mega carbs and hard training may be rough on his body... but not as bad as what most Americans are doing to themselves.  Just my opinion, of course.

I had to laugh because a friend of mine was talking the other day about how she gained 50 pounds with her first pregnancy, and (GET THIS) thinks it was because of all the protein her doctor had her eating.  Oh, yeah, it wasn't all the carbs and calories, or lack of exercise.... it must have been all that protein.  It's amazing what the average person thinks about nutrition.   Roll Eyes
Heather

Heather L wrote:
It's amazing what the average person thinks about nutrition.   Roll Eyes

ROTFL No kidding eh?

One time I was at a funeral with my sister, eating sandwiches, I was peeling off the bread, so was my Mom and my sister remarks that we are being so unhealthy.... And she's in nursing school... And she is bigger than me and my Mom both....
Heather L

Heather-  I am not surprised that her nursing training makes her think VLC/ carnivore eating is unhealthy.  I am surprised, though, that your transformation of your body hasn't made her think differently.  I would think it would be hard not to admit that it works very well for you. Hmm.
Heather

Denial maybe?

I lived in denial about my weight for years.
kateryna

Some people can get away with what he is doing due to age and activity.

I remained trim, fairly active and healthy eating whatever I wanted until I hit my 40's. Then I hit a brick wall (my body shut down). By the time I was 46 I was fat, arthritic, got a stroke, depressed, insulin resistant and wondering what the hell happened. Took me until I was 50 to discover low carb and then things started improving but I've still not repaired all the damage that was done.

I look at those athletes today and I feel sorry for all of them. They are destroying themselves because of the poor nutritional advice they are getting. That's why athletic injuries are on the rise.

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