Michael Phelps was already a star back in the heady days of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, having won six golds and two bronze in the previous Athens Olympics — the second-best performance ever at a single Olympics. So, of course, people were interested in seeing what made this power athlete so different from everyone else. And nothing made us mere mortals tremble more than his gargantuan diet of 12,000 calories, which included…
2008
Breakfast:
3 fried egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayo
2 cups of coffee
1 five-egg omelette
1 bowl of grits
3 slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar
3 chocolate chip pancakesLunch:
1 pound of enriched pasta
2 large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread
1,000 calories in energy drinksDinner:
1 pound of pasta
1 entire pizza
More energy drinks
Eight years and 12 gold medals later, Phelps’ diet leading up to the Rio Olympics is way less insane than it used to be. Nearly 9,000 calories have been cut from his daily intake.
2016
3,529 calories per day
1 large bowl of oatmeal
1 large omelette with ham and cheese
Fresh fruit
Coffee
1 foot-long meatball marinara sub from Subway
2 plates filled with whole grains
Lean meats
Fresh vegetables
Let that be a lesson to us all: no one can continue to throw down pizza and pancakes like we used to in our youths. Even Michael Phelps, who continues to train two to four hours a day, is on the oatmeal for breakfast train (a sad train to Flavor Town, indeed). Now the most exciting thing in his diet is his footlong meatball sub from Subway, which I’m sure is a totally real daily meal and not just included as part of his sponsorship deal.