Phelps Reveals Olympics Training Included Daily Diet of 12,000 Calories

While the rest of the world count the calories when they eat, American swimmer Michael Phelps revealed that his preparations for the 2012 London Olympics consisted of a daily diet of mind boggling 12,000 calories per day. Phelps starts the day with a vigorous breakfast consisting of three fried-egg sandwiches, three chocolate chip pancakes, a five-egg omelette, three sugarcoated slices of French toast, and a bowl of grits (maize porridge).

Phelps' lunch doesn't get much smaller as he devours half a kilogram of pasta (enriched with vitamins and fibre) over lunch, two large ham and cheese sandwiches covered in mayonnaise and gallons of energy drinks.

For his final meal of the day, he finishes off the remaining kilogram of pasta, followed by pizza and more energy drinks.

"After morning practise I have a big breakfast: pancakes, waffles, cereal, bagels, eggs, everything," The Daily Mail quoted Phelps, as saying.

Phelps' personal trainer, nutritionist and weight management expert Jenny Dawes believes that, although Phelps' diet would be dangerous for a regular person, he needs that amount of energy for training.

"I would recommend that a regular competitive male swimmer would need around 6,000 calories a day but because Michael is at Olympic level will be training so hard that he will be burning it straight off," Dawes said.

"His cholesterol intake is very high but by constantly swimming, there is no time for the cholesterol to stick to his arteries. His cholesterol levels do need to be checked regularly to ensure he is not putting his body at risk for future cardiovascular disease," she added.

Source-ANI