I don’t think Michael Phelps is the first Olympian whose diet has made us all gasp in awe. But he’s the most recent, and his 10,000-calories-a-day regimen is pretty impressive. According to the BBC News, Phelps takes in:

Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee

Lunch: Half-kilogramme (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks

Dinner: Half-kilogramme of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; energy drinks

Yesterday, I took in 1,370 calories. Which is, admittedly, far more than I ought to have. It’s no secret around here that I need to lose some weight, and 1,370 calories isn’t going to cut it on that front. I was doing fine until the 670-calorie Butterfinger Blast from Sonic. Maybe I should look into the numbers before I say, “Hey Rockford! Go fetch me some ice cream!”

Anyway, the BBC story goes on to say that Phelps “spends a solid five hours of each day burning off those calories.” If he can burn off 10,000 calories with just five hours of exercise every day, surely I ought to be able to make some dieting progress with, say, an hour of exercise daily. Right? Well, it isn’t working. Do you suppose Phelps might be doing more than playing Wii tennis? I’d like to see his full workout plan. Maybe I should look into getting an Olympics-style trainer.

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