Is Michael Phelps a shark – both in the water and off it! The question stirs all in the sport circuit. Like sharks on a feeding frenzy, Phelps is regular in gobbling up almost 12,000 calories a day, a diet that is probably fit to feed a small tiger! Michael Phelps, the swimming prodigy hailing from the US, who won 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (out of the 14 golds he has had in his Olympic swimming career till date).

Here is a brief image of what Phelps’ diet look like-

In Breakfast, Phelps has three fried-egg sandwiches with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise with fried onions. This is followed by two cups of coffee, a bowl of grits and a five-egg omelet. The rest is a helping of three slices of French toast with powdered-sugar topping and three wholesome choco-chip pancakes.

In Lunch, Phelps intake comprises a pound of rich pasta, two large cheese and ham sandwiches with mayonnaise on slices of white bread. He gulps these down with energy drinks worth a whopping 1,000 calories.

In Dinner, Phelps helps himself to another pound of enriched pasta, a whole pizza along with supplementary energy drinks.

If you are still wondering how the man survives with the intake of such a huge amount of calorie-rich food, you have got to take a peek at his workout. If Phelps eats food enough to suffice the appetite of six men, his rigorous workout scheme burns off the entire intake. According to experts, while other men and athletes exercise to burn off the food they have consumed, it is the other way round for Phelps. With the amount of workout and exercise that his body has to endure, the massive diet is only necessary to replenish the energy lost!

With his strict exercising regimen as well as vigorous and punctual practice schedules, Phelps and his diet has become almost a point of reverence. Not only because of the magnitude of the diet alone, but because of the absence of a single ounce of flab on Phelps’ physique despite it.