What Does Michael Phelps Eat for Breakfast? More Stuff Than You Eat All Day
How 'bout that Michael Phelps last night? Wondering what he eats to fuel the kind of performance we've been witnessing? Well, on Monday night NBC's Bob Costas reported a tidbit of jaw-dropping info: Michael Phelps recommended calorie intake is 8,000 to 10,000 calories.
Costas read Phelps' typical breakfast order from Pete's Grille in Baltimore, Maryland, as is recounted in Phelps' autobiography Beneath the Surface:
Start with three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions, and mayonnaise; add one omelet, a bowl of grits, and three slices of French toast with powdered sugar; then wash down with three chocolate chip pancakes.
The kicker: This was his typical meal as a teenager. Now he trains in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where local restaurant owners are giddy with excitement describing how good he has been for business. We found a video where they do just that. Watch it, after the jump.
Serious eaters have also been talking about the record-breaking intake here.
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29 Comments:
yuck, just reading that gave me heartburn.
Southern_bella at 9:55AM on 08/13/08
That would be fun for exactly one day then I think I would start to dread those CC pancakes! :D
SugarNSpice at 10:00AM on 08/13/08
i would have three helpings of huevos rancheros. yum.
mlo at 11:11AM on 08/13/08
That's more breakfast than I eat in a month!
Kelly H at 11:45AM on 08/13/08
i would love to be able to do this.
www.gastrogirls.com
GastroGirls at 11:50AM on 08/13/08
So cute!
melodylio at 12:11PM on 08/13/08
This isn't too surprising, the announcers were saying that the women's gymnastics team (who are 5-foot nothing, and a lot lighter frame than Phelps) eat around 8,000 calories a day, and even then they're at an almost unhealthy low level of body fat.
I do have to say, that much breakfast is just plain beautiful.
pcrackenhead at 12:15PM on 08/13/08
Now I know what to tell people when I eat a huge breakfast and get funny looks.
It's ok everyone, I'm training for the Olympics!
FastFoodCritic at 2:27PM on 08/13/08
It's more on par with 80% of Houston's (or any other leading fat US city) food eaters who I think might not be as svelte as Phelps, but they are much more "comfortable with themselves".
Pointy at 2:40PM on 08/13/08
Does anyone else find it strange how unhealthy these foods Phelps eats are? Yes I realize he is human and craves comfort foods like the rest of us, but when I read he eats 8-10,000 calories a day, I assumed they were high protein, high complex carb, low fat calories. Not empty calories such as those found in chocolate chip pancakes. Maybe that's his secret to his speed? Pancakes.
ag3208 at 5:15PM on 08/13/08
Why would you assume low fat? Still stuck in the 1980's way of thinking?
Last I looked, Mayo is made from veg oil.
peekpoke at 7:16PM on 08/13/08
I lived in Ann Arbor for several years during college and beyond. A couple of the restaurants where he ate were old haunts of mine. The story showed him walking in to Benny's, which was the Greek diner closest to my college house. It was our favorite hangover breakfast. I love me some greasy diner hashbrowns.
But seriously, even 2,000 calories worth of take-out or restaurant food everyday, every meal sounds like punishment. I would hate it.
blackolive at 11:52PM on 08/13/08
I play tennis for 2 hours every day, and I just cannot comprehend how Phelps manages to train on a tummyfull of all that stuff. Personally, I have a very small breakfast consisting of either a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich or granola and coffee. As I play tennis from 8 to 10pm in the summer, I abstain from eating anything after 1pm. My lunch consists of either fruit or salad. If I eat anything heavier or later than that time, then I feel quite ill on the court and cannot play. So how does Phelps do it?
mayoubtn at 7:15AM on 08/14/08
As a former swimmer myself I can attest to his diet - what you have to understand is that he is training for at least 6-hours a day (probably swimming in excess of 8 miles/day) and is burning every single one of the calories he takes in. He is eating these meals between practice sessions so he will have reserves for energy and muscle development (and so he doesn't have a lump of food in his gut while in the pool).
We used to freak people out when we went to Micky-D's after practice and eat 4-5 big macs 2 large fries and a couple apple pies for lunch (this was of course back in the day when Micky-D's was still good for you - ). And don't even get me started on the pasta dinners we would have the night before swim meets...
covenofovens at 9:17AM on 08/14/08
No offense, but playing tennis, stopping and starting for 2 hours a day is not equal to 6 hours of extremely intense continuous exercise. Swimmers train super-hard and long, and as a runner, I have to say, often swimmers train even longer than most runners (except for ultramarathoners) because it's a non-impact, non-weight bearing exercise. Running for 6 hrs a day would lead to injuries because of the pounding (with a few superhuman exceptions) but swimmers are in the pool from dawn to dusk. Even most of us who have competed at athletics can't compare to Michael because the harder you work out the more calories you burn and he's working at an intensity most people can't manage.
HeartofGlass at 9:31AM on 08/14/08
When anyone on here wins a gold medal in ANYTHING, aside from bitching and moaning about how unhealthy things are, then you can judge what this dude consumes in a day.
OBVIOUSLY he is doing something right.
ChelleyD01 at 12:39PM on 08/14/08
It's too bad that there is no Hash House A-Go-Go near him...he could easily meet his daily caloric intake at that restaurant. Try Sage Fried Chicken w/ maple reduction, 2 eggs, bacon mashed potatoes & a biscuit (which is the size of both of my fists balled together.
Tasty Morsel at 6:04PM on 08/14/08
Sigh. I miss training for competitive swimming.
@covenofovens: I remember those pasta suppers. And the swim team devouring boxes of donuts and loaves of French bread. Mmm carbs. :)
BrooklynBrownie at 11:48PM on 08/14/08
I saw a video talking about one of the female swimmer's diets - she eats a lot, but her coach insists on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and "pure foods." So I think Phelps needs a lot of calories, but they don't really need to come from junk.
KarynMC at 8:53AM on 08/15/08
I have been working as a bike courier for the summer and I was previously convinced that the amount of junk food (i.e. Donuts, Muffins and other pastries) other couriers and I consumed was purely unhealthy. Now I know we are just elite athletes...
dennisharvey at 9:21AM on 08/15/08
@BrooklynBrownie: I couldn't agree more - life would be sweet (no pun intended) if I could eat like he does. Unfortunately the 5 kilos of bacon grease sitting around my mid-section dictates a life of moderation...
covenofovens at 9:40AM on 08/15/08
I used to ride bikes and taking in sufficient calories is a problem, you really have to plan it out ahead. You really have to work at it.
I liked the energy dense drinks but in a crunch gobbling down some snickers bars will work.
When your body fat is really low, running on fat isn't the way to go.
redfish at 4:20PM on 08/15/08
I used to work as bike courier too...I survived on pastry and really messed up my health, but I didn't get fat. It can be hard to get enough calories when you're doing lots of exercise, especially if you want to eat healthy food (lean meat, vegies, whole grains) which takes a lot more time to eat for a given caloric amount.
silverbirch at 9:06AM on 08/16/08
I just think that super cute Phelps was going to be born a fish ...then at the end of the way... by mistake became human. :)
cocobypr at 3:18AM on 08/17/08
Someone left a comment regarding the "empty calories" in the things Mr. Phelps was eating. Although the things he eats are not viewed as health food by the health gestapo they are far from empty calories. Just look at the results Mike is getting, he is a champion. Do a little more research next time.
Right Nutrition at 1:51PM on 08/17/08
But from now on it is going to be Wheaties!!!
Stushi at 1:01PM on 08/18/08
Oh yeah and Phelps at 6'4", wearing size 14 shoes (also used in the single kayak races later on) seems to use his calories efficiently, don't we think? as Right N points out, look at the results. And look at the man's body. Do you see an unhealthy man? He's not skinny, but he is stream-lined. He's able to swim 8 races in, what, 6 days? Breaking records (some of which he set) in every single race (one was only an olympic record, the other 7 were world records) some won thanks to 3 teammates. It does seem like lots of sugar and carbohydrates, but it clearly fuels his engine.
None of us can compare what we do and how we eat to the regimen of an elite athlete, no matter how active we are, can we? It's just flat out different for them.
Fluffnik at 2:26PM on 08/18/08
Certainly Mr. Phelps should cause those in the nutrition left to think critically about their eat healthy be healthy mantra. There are many in the 20 something age group who eat whatever whenever without any discernable health malady. Sure Olympic atheletes are more active than the average person but are they super healthier? Do they live longer? Are they 100% disease free? Are there 200 year old former atheletes hanging out that I am unaware of?
The nutrition fact that is often missed is that all foods fit into a "healthy" diet, even chocolate chips pancakes and ham sandwiches on white. Those who villify certain foods labeling them as "junk" are fishing in an empty pond and are never able to reel in real evidence.
My nutrition advice to Mike, stick to the diet you are on for it is the "Right Nutrition".
Right Nutrition at 10:30PM on 08/18/08
Come on people, the reason 'empty calories' and 'junk food' are normally a bad thing is that, when you eat them, you're not usefully contributing to the key elements of a balanced diet, so you will end up needing to consume more food in order to get the recommended daily allowances to keep your body running in good condition.
If you live in a third world country such as India, much of your diet consists of the empty calories in white rice, and you'll probably end up with the diseases and early deaths that malnutrition brings. At the other extreme, the likely result in a Westerner is that you'll be eating more calories than you're burning, so you'll put on weight.
Once in shape, swimmers generally don't have a huge mass of muscle to build or maintain, so their requirements for proteins, vitamins, and so on are only 1-2 times those of 'normal' people [ref]. But they have a massively larger need for calories (i.e. 4-5 times), and of course the easiest way to get that massive dose of additional calories is through 'empty calories' - lots of fats and sugars.
If he were to keep the same diet once he stops swimming competitively he'd be breaking scales not records!
Chumbley at 9:08AM on 08/21/08