Pizza, Eggs and Mayo: A Look at Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps' 12,000-Calorie Diet

Michael Phelps, 23 year-old Olympic gold medalist that has broken records with 11 medals, tells the media of his secret to staying fit and trim. His 12,000 calorie, high carb diet and his five hours a day, six days a week training schedule.

Carbohydrates (Carbs) are known as fuel for the body. It helps a person's metabolism kick in and keeps energy levels high. In the day and age where there are a ton of fad diets, many of which include a low-carb intake, it would be considered amazing by some to see what Michael Phelps, the swimmer that has won a record breaking, 11 gold medals for swimming at the Summer Olympics, eats on a daily basis. The 23 year-old Phelps starts his morning off, at 5am, with a little snack before breakfast which includes three fried-egg sandwiches with cheese, fried onions, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise. His body then primed, he drinks a couple cups of coffee and starts on breakfast which consists of a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, some coarsely ground corn, three slices of French toast with powdered sugar on top and three chocolate chip pancakes. By lunch his appetite is in high gear so he treats himself to a pound of pasta, two ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread with mayonnaise and 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks. Time to prepare the body for the next day's training session by loading up on some more carbs, so Phelps treats himself to another whole pound of pasta followed by an entire pizza (no size of pizza given) and he helps wash that down with another 1,000 calories of high energy drinks. Phelps says, "Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do." Using a calorie counter, which calculates daily calorie needs, and Michael Phelps website for his size and weight, which is 6'4 and 195 pounds and works out 5 times a week, it shows that for a average 23 year-old male of his size, the daily calorie needs are said to be 2900 Calories/day (Maintenance)