Calorie Envy

I learned last night when watching the olympics that Michael Phelps eats 8000-10,000 cals a day!  and have you seen him?  Apparently I need to start swimming 5 hours a day.

his typical breakfast?  something like 8 fried egg sandwiches, a bowl of grits, three chocolate chip pancakes with syrup, and some other stuff. 

I don't think I could pack all that in my belly three meals a day!  but it would be nice to eat whatever I wanted.  

That's absolutely not fair!  It IS incentive to exercise more, though.  I must admit that many times I've gone running just so I could have a bowl of ice cream without it being detrimental to my backside.

I had a friend that was a national swimmer, and she would have to get up in the middle of the night to eat.  She would be so hungry that the hunger would wake her.  Talk about your body being a machine!  I am sure that to them, eating is more of a chore than anything else.  To have to eat that much is CRAZY!!! I don't think I have ever eaten even half of that in a day, and I can EAT!!! 

When I was still a swimmer we would all have our boxes of cereal while we stretched before am practice.  I'd have a cereal bar or fruit or something between every class. Lunch would be a sandwich, carrots, apple, piece of pizza, giant cookie and some chips. Afternoon practice.  Get home and eat whatever my family was having for dinner.  Do homework while munching on something. Sleep, and wake up at 4:30 am to do it all again.

Granted, we were swimming 5-6 hours a day 6 days a week.  All I did was sleep, eat and swim.

Original Post by twinmama:

I must admit that many times I've gone running just so I could have a bowl of ice cream without it being detrimental to my backside.

 I have done this several times this summer for ice cream and regularly when I'm going to eat out.

Heehee...I should carry a sign that says:

WILL WORKOUT FOR FOOD

WILL WORKOUT FOR FOOD

Put this on a tshirt and you can make a lot of $$$  I'd buy a couple especially when I go work out LOL

Original Post by valsgoal:

Heehee...I should carry a sign that says:

WILL WORKOUT FOR FOOD

SERIOUSLY! and I agree with dbackerfan, I would so buy that tee-shirt.

MMmmmm, 200 calories of ice-cream = 30 minutes of elliptical.

Dammit.

I also heard 12,000 calories, and he said in the past that he has a hard time keeping weight on.

I can understand that a TON of physical activity like 6 hours of swimming would burn a ton of calories, BUT, given that he's been doing it for years and years and years, wouldn't your body get used to it and adapt?  It just seems so strange that he has to eat so much.  How can his stomach physically handle all that food?  An entire pizza for lunch?  I'd be in pain.  He even downs 1000 calorie energy drinks, a couple a day.

A sample breakfast I heard of his was: ham and cheese omelette, pancakes with sugar or syrup, raisin bran with milk, 3 bagels with cream cheese, and raisin bran with milk. Oh, and a glass of orange juice. :)

If I were competing against him, I'd be scared--he can swim really fast and eat you like a shark. He's probably hungry enough.