Michael Phelps’ Legendary 12,000 Calorie-a-Day Diet is a Myth
Remember during the 2008 Summer Olympics when the story came out about Michael Phelps 12,000 calorie-a-day diet? Well, Phelps told Ryan Seacrest that his legendary appetite was a bit exaggerated. From USA Today:
“I never ate that much,” Phelps said. “It’s all a myth. I’ve never eaten that many calories.”
Said Phelps: “I wish. It’s too much though. It’s pretty much impossible.”
Way back in 2008 the New York Post reported this absurd diet:
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.
First of all, what’s Michael Phelps’ deal? What an elitist, eating three meals a day as opposed to one day-long super-meal. It’s disgusting. If that wasn’t bad enough, Phelps also admitted to listening to Skrillex before meets. Skrillex.
Previously: Michael Phelps Breaks World Record
Previously: Michael Phelps Smoked Weed
[USA Today, h/t Spence]

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45 Responses to “Michael Phelps’ Legendary 12,000 Calorie-a-Day Diet is a Myth”
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May 11th, 2012 at 1:51 PM
if only the MLJ archives weren’t deleted…
/BLOGUIN!!!
…i’d have my vindication.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:51 PM
phelps strikes me as a person to tries to hard to fit in socially.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:55 PM
Phelps is financially set for life and gets more ass than a toilet seat. I doubt he really gives a fuck how he fits in socially.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:59 PM
where did Phelps lie? did he ever co-sign that story from the Post? Looks like he never did from that link.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:00 PM
Skrillex is awesome.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:01 PM
The NY Post making up something. Well, I never.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:03 PM
Where did anyone say he lied?
May 11th, 2012 at 2:03 PM
That’s just a low blow.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:04 PM
I was talking about this the other day with a co worker. Phelps seems incredibly awkward in a social setting. I wonder what he’ll do after he retires, as I don’t see him doing well in front of the camera.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:05 PM
before to click to read this post it says “Michael Phelps lied to us, man.”
May 11th, 2012 at 2:07 PM
to = you
May 11th, 2012 at 2:07 PM
Ah my bad. I hate how it doesn’t include the text from the main page.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:08 PM
So is the Post’s menu for the day inaccurate? Or does it not total 12k calories?
/I don’t actually care
May 11th, 2012 at 2:11 PM
So you’re telling me I’ve been eating 12,000 calories a day – for nothing!? Now I’ll never be in the Olympics are have awkward Subway commercials.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:11 PM
for some odd reason, i could have sworn there was a tv report during the olympics that showed him chowing down massive amounts of food.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:11 PM
There was.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:11 PM
This. And using a completely different picture on the main page. Especially since I hardly go to the main page during the day, and just hop around using ‘recent posts’.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:12 PM
Also I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song by Skrillex, and I want to keep it that way.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:13 PM
I have no idea what a Skrillex is
May 11th, 2012 at 2:14 PM
BANGARANG!!!!
May 11th, 2012 at 2:14 PM
He better win a lot of fucking gold this Summer. On a more important note, how about a post with pictures of any of the top notch USA female talent? Like a preview or whatever. I’ve seen a few commercials for the Olympics on NBC and all the women look pretty homely.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:15 PM
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he ate close to that though. if he trained like I would assume he did, his metabolism must be sky high. I trained for 3 months for my run and I could eat a pretty good sized meal and be hungry an hour later.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:18 PM
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LARGE THE PILE OF FOOD TO GET TO 12,000 CALORIES ACTUALLY WOULD LOOK LIKE?
not even remotely close. i bet he was around 6,000…if that.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:18 PM
i think he grabs 4 golds. 2 individual and 2 relays.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:18 PM
I’ve heard that popular song by Skrillex and I have Bangerang on my ipod playlist for when I play COD.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:18 PM
awkward in a social setting
For a guy that looks like George Muresan’s little brother in the pic above, he don’t look awkward to me. Perhaps it’s his guarded behavior in front of cameras now since he was caught smokin’ some weeeeeed…
May 11th, 2012 at 2:19 PM
the amount of time to complete eating that amount of food would leave such little time to train and sleep. he spends nearly 8 hours a day training, in the pool and dry-land exercises.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:22 PM
It’s only 17.4 double big macs.
Or 12 Jack In The Box Egg Nog Shakes (24oz)
Or 8 Carl’s Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger (whatever that is)
May 11th, 2012 at 2:23 PM
/Yolanda’d
May 11th, 2012 at 2:26 PM
Miranda Kerr looks nice.
/sfw
May 11th, 2012 at 2:26 PM
granted he was probably eating pretty healthy, but depending on what you eat, piling on calories probably isn’t as difficult as you think. take Samoas girl scout cookies. 2 fucking cookies are 140 calories and there are 7 servings per box. that’s 1,000 calories per box and you could eat that shit in 10 minutes.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:27 PM
ARKBADGER AIN’T NEVER SEEN A TITY
May 11th, 2012 at 2:29 PM
Did you know Michael Phelps sperm is actually given intravenously to hospitalized anorexics?
/True Story
May 11th, 2012 at 2:29 PM
Not sure who Shauna Sand is, but apparently she decided to fuck and suck some dude in the middle of a beach.
NSFW
May 11th, 2012 at 2:30 PM
Cute puppy alert for SG, plus a little bonus.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:31 PM
Former Playboy playmate that was married to Lorenzo Lamas….RENEGADE.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:32 PM
That pic of Upton is bad enough to be a round up photo.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:33 PM
dry-land exercises.
THIS IS DRY LAND!
/Waterworld
//awesome movie
May 11th, 2012 at 2:37 PM
I wouldn’t go as far as awesome. Watchable is about as far as I would go.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:42 PM
THIS!
May 11th, 2012 at 2:42 PM
Holy gums, Batman.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:45 PM
They weren’t hiding anything under any blanket, either. He basically takes her to pound town right out in the open. That’s good hustle.
May 11th, 2012 at 3:02 PM
Pound Town has some nice beaches.
May 11th, 2012 at 3:08 PM
Protect the denizens of the sea from evil scientists and aliens.
May 11th, 2012 at 6:26 PM
Phelps said it was closer to 10,000 cal/day , towards the middle of this interview.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-4633123.html?pageNum=3&tag=contentMain;contentBody