Michael Phelps’ diet for the 2016 Olympics in Rio was much different than his ridiculous 12,000 calorie diet of 2008 when he took home a record eight gold medals.
Of course, being eight years later, Phelps is now 31-years-old so naturally his diet would be different. However, the drastic difference between what he ate then versus what he puts away now is pretty amazing.
Back in 2008, Phelps’ diet was the stuff of legends. When you’re going for eight gold medals, that’s a hell of a lot of swimming so his diet was utterly insane (via Global News).
2008: 12,000 calories per day
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 pancakes
Lunch:
1 pound of enriched pasta
2 large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread
1,000 calories in energy drinks
Dinner:
1 pound of pasta
1 entire pizza
More energy drinks
Now, in 2016, swimming in a few less events and being 31, Phelps dialed it back quite a bit.
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
Phelps has also said that he trained far less strenuously for the Rio Games, going from five hours a day to two to four hours a day. So when you take all of that into consideration, plus the fact that his metabolism is probably slower now, it does make sense.
It’s still more food than the average person would ever need to consume, but it obviously worked for him at this point in his career since we still able to snag five more golds in Rio.