Michael Phelps: 12,000-calorie diet was a myth

NEW YORK-The days of Michael Phelps wolfing down food to keep up with his rigorous swimming training are gone.

But he still wants to clear up something about his diet. During a Q&A session at an event for Krave Jerky at Manhattan's Chelsea Piers, Phelps talked about his eating habits and mentioned the legendary "12,000-calorie diet" in scare quotes before going into what he meant:

"Don't believe everything you read. The stories were just ridiculous. I was probably eating anywhere between like 8 to 10 [thousand] probably at my peak where I was really growing. Still, it became a job."

This is a fantastic quote for a lot of reasons. First, it was myth-busting that he ate up to 12,000 calories a day.

But second, and it's hilarious, he was still eating anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 calories anyway!!!!!

That's still SO. MUCH. FOOD.

I did a little searching and found this breakdown on Active.com of what cyclists eat to ingest 8,000 calories. It included what that many calories looks like in a hypothetical diet:

22 eggs for breakfast

3 cereal bars

14 20 oz. bottles of sports drink

4 cups of rice

2 cups of granola with fruit

8 chicken breasts

4 bananas

That's how much you'd have to eat to get to 8,000. So although it turns out that Phelps didn't house 12,000 a day, he was still scarfing down tons.