Swimmer Phelps' secret of success: 12000 calories a day!

London, Jul 25: Renowned Swimmer Michael Phelps, who has won 16 Olympic medals so far and says the hunger for medals is more this time around and has revealed the reason behind his unprecedented success which includes a whopping 12000 calories a day.

Phelps' diet plan can be termed as a high-calorie diet which includes a vigorous breakfast, followed by a heavy lunch and dinner to add more strength to the swimmer.

His breakfast seems to be strange which includes 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).

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

If that was just a trailer, his lunch includes half a kilogram of pasta (enriched with vitamins and fibre), two large ham and cheese sandwiches covered in mayonnaise and gallons of energy drinks.

While the third meal of the day includes the remaining half a kilogram of pasta, pizza and more energy drinks which bring an end to a day's diet plan.

On the amount of calories required for a competitive male swimmer, Phelps' personal trainer Jenny Dawes said around 6000 calories would be sufficient, but Phelps consumes double the amount since he works very hard and burns all the calories right after consuming it.

"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.

Though Phelps' diet seems to be dangerous for a regular person, Dawes said the cholesterol content is very high having consumed such food, since he is constantly training, the cholesterol doesn't stick to his arteries.

"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.

Though it is just a fact that having consumed so much of calories on a daily basis, Phelps remains to be fit and probably those calories help him gain more strength and due to excessive training and work out he has achieved this feat.

With the London Olympics round the corner, Phelps' diet is sure to hit the public and put them in shock as it quite abnormal to consume 12000 calories a day!

OneIndia News