Michael Phelps won a record 8 gold medals at Beijing Olympics
Have you been caught up in the Olympic games in Beijing, China this year? There have been some pretty incredible Team USA performances with individual and team women’s gymnastics featuring surprise all-around gold medal winner Nastia Liukin and early favorite Shawn Johnson winning the silver and individual and team women’s swimming with the heartwarming story of 41-year old Dara Torres capturing a silver medal in the 50M. But nothing compares to what Team USA men’s swimmer Michael Phelps has accomplished over the past week of competition on the greatest stage of his life.
Although there were a couple of very tight finishes (including a controversial 0.01 win for gold medal #7), Phelps was able to meet and surpass Mark Spitz’ record 7 gold medals set in Munich in 1972–a mark many believed would never been eclipsed. But Phelps has done it and looked to be in great physical shape for his races. The commentators on television were noticing how much more bulked up and muscular he looked in Beijing compared to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He was quite a physical specimen to behold doing what he does best.
But have you ever wondered what a world-class Olympian has to eat in order to compete at such a high level? I know that sounds a bit odd thinking about the diet of a swimmer like Phelps, but you’re gonna flip when you see this. This FOX News story states that Phelps consumed (hold on to your hat!) 12,000 calories a day during his Olympic training! Not 2,000 or 3,000 which would be enough calories for the typical active man. Try multiplying that by a factor of 4-6! Holy mackerel!!!
Here’s his typical breakfast to get his day going when he’s training and competing:
— three fried egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions, and mayo
— one five-egg omelet
— a bowl of grits
— three slices of French toast with powdered sugar
— three chocolate chip pancakes
— two cups of coffee
INCREDIBLE! Most of us couldn’t eat that much food if we tried, but the caloric needs that Phelps requires to expend the kind of energy he does is that great. And you’ll notice it’s a mix of refined carbohydrates, fat and protein that would make a low-carb dieter’s heart start to flutter! I’ve been taken to task by an Olympic-caliber decathlete that eating a low-carb diet is unfeasible for such a high level of competitive training. And perhaps Phelps is proving that to be true with his super-sized diet and spectacular results.
Of course, this also flies in the face of what we have been told about high-calorie diets from the gatekeepers of all things healthy. But they would say Michael Phelps NEEDS those carbs and calories to fuel his workouts and he burns off more than he takes in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever! I wonder what zero-carb half-marathon runner Charles Washington would have to say about Phelp’s carb-filled diet.
Here are some questions to ponder: As long as your body has a need for calories, do the quality of those calories matter? In other words, Phelps chose chocolate pancakes and French toast to eat as part of his high-calorie breakfast. Could he just as easily replaced those carb-loaded calories with more nutrient-dense high-fat, moderate protein foods instead and accomplished the same results?
Olympic athletes are in a class of their own and do not have what would be considered a “normal” lifestyle. They train with a purpose in mind of becoming the best in the world at their chosen event. For Phelps, that makes him the reigning champion of the world in men’s swimming and he has the potential to compete yet again for more medals in the 2012 Olympics in London, England. But what’s gonna happen to that svelte physique of his when he stops his training and starts living life in the real world? Can he make the transition to lowering his caloric intake to 2,500 calories or so a day and prevent himself from gaining weight if he falls back into eating his high-carb diet? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Oh, I couldn’t help but notice in that FOX News story the self-professed health “expert” they got to comment on Phelp’s diet was The F-Factor Diet author and dietitian Tanya Zuckerbrot who railed against livin’ la vida low-carb in her book. She continued spreading her hate-filled vitriol against carbohydrate restriction when she made the following statement in the story.
“The carbs is what the body uses for energy. You have to give the body glucose to fuel it. That’s why people on the Atkins diet (an all-protein diet) can’t work-out.”
Do people like Zuckerbrot actually get paid to be such bumbling idiots or what?! She’s dead wrong about needing carbs for energy which is oft repeated by all those dime a dozen lemmings in the world of health. Through a process that Zuckerbrot should be WELL aware of called gluconeogenesis, the liver processes the protein you eat into glucose for your body. So actually Phelps doesn’t need to consume ANY extra carbohydrates at all to get plenty of fuel for his body if he is eating enough protein (and from the looks of his breakfast with all those eggs, he’s DEFINITELY getting enough protein!).
As for this business about the Atkins dieters not being able to workout, what utter nonsense, Ms. Zuckerbrot! First of all, the Atkins diet is NOT high-protein, it’s high-fat. And in the absence of dietary carbohydrate, you get all the fuel and energy your body needs through dietary fat with glucose stores being replenished through gluconeogenesis as previously noted. Why do you insist on hammering against a diet you obviously know NOTHING about? It just makes you look silly!
As for the rest of Phelps’ 12,000-calorie day, he consumes lots of sugary energy drinks, a big plate of pasta, ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on some white bread, 6-8 slices of pizza, and so much more. Zuckerbrot says Phelps NEEDS to eat these kind of refined carbohydrates to give him the energy he required to become the greatest American Olympic athlete of all-time. But, of course, she poo-poos anyone else doing this diet unless they plan on competing in swim meets all day like Phelps did. So tell us how the average person SHOULD be eating, Ms. Zuckerbrot! Low-fat, high-carb, high-fiber? You are a real piece of work!
CONGRATULATIONS to U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps on his absolutely amazing Olympic accomplishment in Beijing this year. I’d love to see him go for more medals in 2012. But did he really need all of those carbs he was consuming? Share your thoughts about this in the comments section below.
8-20-08 UPDATE: Check this out–Michael Phelps turned down being on a box of Wheaties in favor of Frosted Flakes. Learn more about it by clicking here. While neither cereal is that healthy for you, I think we’d all agree Frosted Flakes isn’t the cream of the crop between the two.
