Michael Phelps' Diet - Don't Try This at Home

Like everyone else, I've been in awe of Michael Phelps' accomplishments at the Beijing Olympics with his unprecedented eight gold medals at a single olympic game. Certainly, it doesn't hurt that he appears to be a team player, grounded, as well as being hypercompetitive.

What is more fascinating is the amount of calories he ingests daily to keep up with his training regimen. If anyone of us tried to eat the same amount he does, we would gain about 3 pounds per day and definitely would not have his sculpted physique!

He has 12,000 calories per day. A typical American is supposed to have 2,000 calories per day. Given the increasing numbers of obese children and adults it would be safe to assume many of us are exceeding that suggestion.

For breakfast he has:

• three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.
• two cups of coffee
• a five-egg omelet
• a bowl of grits
• three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar
• three chocolate-chip pancakes

And that's just breakfast!

As a quick reminder, it takes about 3500 calories to equal a pound. So for those of us who are inspired to lose weight, a brisk 30 minute walk uses about 200 calories. Therefore, if one walks this amount three times a week for a total of 600 calories, it would take six weeks to lose one pound! It's no wonder weight loss is so difficult.

Of course, you could do what Michael Phelps does and swim his intense training schedule where he burns 4,000 calories per day!