To be a world-class swimmer, one must follow proper diets and rigorous training regimes. Speaking of which, Michael Phelps had some of the most legendary workout sessions ever. For that, he consumed around 8000-10000 calories in a day. But despite how impressive that sounds, the reality of the matter was that he did not like to eat that much.

In a recent interview with Chris Paul, Phelps opened up on having to intake food when he didn’t like to. As a result of losing weight during training sessions, he was forced to consume enough calories, which meant he could maintain his body weight.

Michael Phelps did not love eating food

Training six hours for 365 days, his food intake provided significant calories for him to burn. He stuck to this diet to reduce the intake of carbohydrates and focused on gaining the maximum amount of energy. But he never loved how much food he took for his system and spoke about it recently during an interview.

“So I was eating 8 to 10000 calories every day because when we’re swimming, I can fluctuate between five and ten pounds in a week. And when we’re trying to be at our best, we want to be at race weight at all times. So, I’m forcing myself to eat. I don’t like to eat now. Like, I can’t stand to eat. I eat what I need to give my body what it needs,” said Phelps.

Having people ‘behind his shoulder’, forcing him to eat, making him feel like a machine was a hard one to take for Phelps.

READ MORE- Stats Show Insane World Record Progression of Katie Ledecky’s Signature Event From 2014

“I think the reason why I didn’t like to eat is that there were always people over my shoulder being like, ‘You’re not eating enough like you gotta put food in your system,'” he said, as Paul stated, ” Like you’re a machine!”

His legendary diet

For all the calories needed to train, Phelps had fried egg sandwiches, with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, fried onions, and mayonnaise, followed by three chocolate-chip pancakes. After that breakfast, he ate a five-egg omelet, three sugar-coated slices of French toast, a bowl of grits, and two cups of coffee to follow. For lunch, he loved to eat pasta and other condiments with it.

For dinner, he had pasta again, pizza, and some other energy drinks. Truly, his dedication to his craft was incredible. As a result of all his hard work, he dominated the swimming competitions throughout his career.

WATCH THIS STORY- 2022 RBC Heritage: Prize Money Breakdown and Winner’s Payout