michael phelps: how is this possible?

[julius kelp]

must be on a very temporary basis, i mean really...

FOXNews.com - Michael Phelps' 12,000 Calorie-a-Day Diet Not for Everyone - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News

[b unit]

i'd have to see it on video before i could truely believe it, could Phelps just be having fun at the media's expense?

[hardknock]

Well, it was listed at 9,000 calories a day, but with sometimes swimming for hours, upon hours, I can see how it MAY be possible; however, that would be a sh!t load of food, especially if it's all clean which Im sure it's not completely.

EDIT: a few years ago, it was listed at 9,000, then 10,000..so, dunno about this listing.

[RobInKuwait]

must be on a very temporary basis, i mean really...

FOXNews.com - Michael Phelps' 12,000 Calorie-a-Day Diet Not for Everyone - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News

He swims 5 hours a day and has godlike genetics.

Tanya Zuckerbrot is an idiot tho. She said, "obviously its working" as if Phelps crappy diet somehow elevated him to Olympian status.

[raginfcktard]

those guys eat like sh!t thats why! marathon runners do the same thing. 12,000 cals a day is not clean food!

[GreenSquats]

Swimming makes you hungry.

Just try it.

LOL. I think it's like a stimulant for hunger or something... I dunno.

[borobulker]

I had an argument with my girlfriends parents about this tonight at dinner.

They are always trying to prove that 'my nutrition thing' is wrong. The news depicts this guy eating '10,000 calories' a day and look he is lean as any one i have ever seen.

My point was, beyond all.... the effects on his body must be terrible. He is speaking of a diet consisting of

1. Fried Food
2. Trans Fats
3. Heavy Saturated Fats
4. Very little lean protein
5. Simple Sugars
6. Processed carbohydrates

Not to mention the effects of simply eating this many calories.

AND this is all at the direction of his 'nutritionist'. She was interviewed on the show we were watching and said something about 'athletes need carbs!' and then they showed him eating 6 pancakes, off of the griddle, sopped in syrup with him scooping multi-Teaspoons of butter on to it.

What is this doing to his organs? Pancreas? Heart? Circulatory sytem? I could go on.

There is a difference between eating for health and eating for performance but i think (i know i am going to get flamed for this) this is inaccurate, inefficient, incorrect and ignorant.

The guy is obviously one of the best athletes ever but i 100% disagree with his dietary habits. But, who am i?


i have an idea, "www.thephelpsdiet.com". It would sell 'like hotcakes'.

What a f_cking joke...

[Rugger]

those guys eat like sh!t thats why! marathon runners do the same thing. 12,000 cals a day is not clean food!

Troof. Extreme runners, like the 100+ mile races eat bigmacs and other food like that while they're actually running. A girl I'm friends with at school is one of these runners. She says on the day before and the day of her training runs (something like 20 hrs straight) she eats over 17k calories.

They only reason they eat like this is because it is not physically plausible for them to eat the amount of healthy foods that would equal the caloric intake of the foods that they do it.

[SpargelJanusz]

Troof. Extreme runners, like the 100+ mile races eat bigmacs and other food like that while they're actually running. A girl I'm friends with at school is one of these runners. She says on the day before and the day of her training runs (something like 20 hrs straight) she eats over 17k calories.

They only reason they eat like this is because it is not physically plausible for them to eat the amount of healthy foods that would equal the caloric intake of the foods that they do it.

Sorry, but this is complete BS, 17k calories in less than 20 hours.

Same for the 12k of Phelps. He'd be consuming more cal than your average sumo wrestler.

Chuck Liddell, MMA great and certainly someone who knows about intense training said in an interview he needs to consume 4,200 or 4,400 kcal to maintain his weight. He walks around at about 220 pounds.

So Phelps almost eats almost three times as much???

Camon, people, this is crap.

[b unit]

i honestly think phelps is just "working" the media and probably having a great laugh over how they've fallen for his B.S.

[RobInKuwait]

Sorry, but this is complete BS, 17k calories in less than 20 hours.

Same for the 12k of Phelps. He'd be consuming more cal than your average sumo wrestler.

Chuck Liddell, MMA great and certainly someone who knows about intense training said in an interview he needs to consume 4,200 or 4,400 kcal to maintain his weight. He walks around at about 220 pounds.

So Phelps almost eats almost three times as much???

Camon, people, this is crap.

Not many people do 5 hours of olympic level and intensity swimming ED, Chuck included.

[Rugger]

Sorry, but this is complete BS, 17k calories in less than 20 hours.

Same for the 12k of Phelps. He'd be consuming more cal than your average sumo wrestler.

Chuck Liddell, MMA great and certainly someone who knows about intense training said in an interview he needs to consume 4,200 or 4,400 kcal to maintain his weight. He walks around at about 220 pounds.

So Phelps almost eats almost three times as much???

Camon, people, this is crap.

You obviously have no idea how difficult and taxing swimming is. You also obviously have no idea how to read as I said my friend eats that much over 48 hour period.

[bkoguy07]

All I'm saying is he's not that impressive looks wise and prol half this site impresses me more... Hell I don't even think he's that "healthy" on the inside. All that food especially that kind can't be good.

[Rugger]

His heart pumps 8 gallons of blood a minute. Pair that with the fact that he can probably swim 30 miles in one session, I'd say he's pretty healthy.

[Deegin]

Troof. Extreme runners, like the 100+ mile races eat bigmacs and other food like that while they're actually running.

They only reason they eat like this is because it is not physically plausible for them to eat the amount of healthy foods that would equal the caloric intake of the foods that they do it.

I remember seeing a show on TV where a group of marathon bikers who were all decked out in race gear came in to a diner, sat down and ordered giant slices of apple pie with heaping scoops of ice cream on top. When asked why they were eating that they responded, "we need the calories for fuel."

[Rugger]

I suppose you naysayers also think Lance Armstrong ate 3500 calories during the Tour.

[BigCasino]

Troof. Extreme runners, like the 100+ mile races eat bigmacs and other food like that while they're actually running. A girl I'm friends with at school is one of these runners. She says on the day before and the day of her training runs (something like 20 hrs straight) she eats over 17k calories.

They only reason they eat like this is because it is not physically plausible for them to eat the amount of healthy foods that would equal the caloric intake of the foods that they do it.

Very true. My university has a D1 swim team, and I am close friends with several of the guys on it. These guys eat complete **** and are all shredded with abs jutting out. They all eat fast food like McDonalds, Burger King, etc to get in those calorie #s. Their coach encourages them to eat Kraft Mac n' Cheese, pizza, cookies, etc. Obviously this is complete crap food, but it works for them because they spend hours in the pool everyday.... often they have 2 practice sessions day, morning & night, so you figure they are burning up a massive amount of calories. Before big meets they go on a "carb up" and go as a team to some place with ****ty junk food just to load up on cals, and they do well @ their meets so it is working for them.

Phelps does have godlike swimming abilities and is a world champ, but I don't get how some of you can be THAT blown away by his body? 6'3" 190 lean ... that's pretty normal physique for D1 swimmer @ most top schools. ****, our own AM's vikinginc is that height and is like 8% 228lbs. That's impressive. I've been watching with a lot of friends lately and they are all making comments about how 'gigantic' he is, anyone with decent mass looks big @ that bf%. His body is perfectly suited for what it needs to be good @, swimming, but if someone wanted a look like that it would not be that difficult to obtain IMO.

[JaredGalloway]

this isnt impossible by any means...me and my brother have eaten over 12k calories in one day...but for me i gained fat...my brother jsut got fuller...if he doesnt time all those calories properly my brother will still lose weight (running...ALOT)...these people who burn this many calories a day need lots of food...doesnt mater what it is...just CALORIES...ive seen my brother eat an entire jar of peanut butter in one sitting because he was losing too much weight during pre-season...
and hes not even an olympic gold medalist..."a champion knows what he wants, knows what he needs to do, what it takes to get it. He wants it bad enough to work through the pain"......

[borobulker]

His heart pumps 8 gallons of blood a minute. Pair that with the fact that he can probably swim 30 miles in one session, I'd say he's pretty healthy.

Agree to disagree.

[Nabisco]

I used to be a swimmer, and I had to eat 4000+ calories to maintain a bodyweight of 150lbs at 5'11. And that was heavily loaded towards carbs. Otherwise I couldn't perform to the degree required of me.

In college my girlfriend was on our D1 swim team and she ate like absolute **** just to maintain herself at a reasonable weight. I kid you not, the guys on her team drank like fish, ate whatever they could force down their mouths, and didn't care what it was as long as it was food. And the majority of them were lean and cut. Because they were swimming two a day practices 3 times a week, and the other 3 days per week that the practiced was one pool workout and one "dry land" workout (calisthenics or weight training). They could consume upwards of 6-7k calories per day without batting an eyelash.

Swimming is an intense sport that requires a large caloric expenditure, hence their ability to eat large quantities of food and stay lean.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a healthy diet for them in any way. Because when they stop swimming they have issues adjusting to everyday life (food-wise). For instance, my ex-gf who was the D1 swimmer, put on a sizeable amount of weight after she graduated due to her eating habits that were perfectly ok when she was swimming incredible amounts.

The disbelief that he requires that many calories is ignorant, due to most of you not realizing the caloric expenditure that comes from swimming. Phelps swims 4800 meters in the morning to "warm up", thats 3 miles gents. I'm not surprised he has to eat 10k+ calories to maintain his body DURING the Olympics. I don't believe he eats like this every day. I think this is geared towards keeping him flush with energy during the multitude of events he's swimming in such a short period of time.