Inside Michael Phelps' insane 10,000 calorie diet including outrageous breakfast that fuelled Olympic success
Michael Phelps had a monster diet during his legendary swimming career that saw him win a staggering 28 Olympic medals.
Phelps enjoyed an iconic Olympic career, winning a mind-blowing 23 gold medals from four Summer Games between 2004 and 2016.
He is the most decorated Olympian in history, with a total of 28 medals.
Phelps, who earned the nickname 'The Flying Fish' due to his performances in the pool, was fuelled by an insane 10,000 calorie diet that almost had no limit.
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He consumed a staggering amount of food, totalling around 8,000-10,000 calories a day, which were divided into three big meals.
On his diet, he said: "I just sort of try to cram whatever I can into my body. It’s pretty much whatever I feel like eating, I’m going to eat."
At the peak of his powers, Phelps would often pay a visit to Pete's Grille in his native Baltimore.
In his autobiography, 'Beneath the Surface', he revealed what a typical breakfast would look like.
He wrote: "Start with three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions and mayonnaise; add one omelet, a bowl of grits and three slices of French toast with powdered sugar; then wash down with three chocolate chip pancakes."
Phelps would burn through so many calories that he could essentially eat what he wanted, whenever he wanted to.
"Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do," Phelps once revealed.
Phelps also didn't hold back for lunch as he would chow down half a kilogram of pasta, two large ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread drenched in mayonnaise. He would wash it down with a set of energy drinks.
For dinner, more pasta. About a pound of it with carbonara sauce and pizza for good measure, with more energy drinks.
In an interview with GQ, he once said: "Think about this: For 25 years, eating was a part of my job, it was a part of my profession."
We're not sure what is more impressive; Phelps' Olympic haul or his diet.
Nasir Jabbar