Today Michael Phelps consumed 12,000 calories. Compared to the 2,000 calories a day the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends for men depending on age and activity level, "The Phelps Diet" seems unhealthly.

But lets do the Mike's "Personal Fitness Math":

Total Average Daily Training Hours: 6

Total Average Caloires Burned Per Training Hour: 1,500

Total Calories Burned in Daily Training: 9,000

Total Calories Mike Needs a Day AT REST to Maintain his current body weight (His BMR): 2,800

The Phelps Formula:

TOTAL DAILY CALORIES CONSUMED: 12,000

TOTAL ESTIMATED DAILY CALORIES BURNED: 9,000 + 2,800 = (11,800)

ESIMATED NET CALORIES TO BE USED FOR DAILY ENERGY: 200 (about 1 Blueberry Pop Tart)

This is why Mike looks as lean and strong as a Roman statue even after eating a F-250 pick up bed full of food every day!

Conclusion:

If you are going to eat 12,000 caliories a day and don't want to become the size of an F-250 pick up truck, then burn 9,000 calories in the same day.

The Take Away: Diet (-) Exercise = Results

In doing this math for you, it became clear to me that I need to restate the mantra,"Weight Loss is a combination of Diet and Exercise" into a more accurate one: "Your Weight Loss = Your Diet - Your Exercise".  

Tip: You can check your BMR and caloire content in over 50,000 food items at my website; www.iron90.com.

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About the Author: James "J.R." Rosania, BS, Exercise Science, CSCS, Is the Co-Founder of Iron90.com and has more than 23 years of fitness training experience and is one of the nation's top performance enhancement coaches. He was selected as one of AMERICA'S TOP TRAINERS by Men’s Journal and Vogue magazines. J.R.'s former client's include Olympic, professional and elite athletes. He is the Strength and Conditioning Consultant to the Yale, Notre Dame and Stanford University swim teams. He is a contributing editor to Swimming World Magazine and also serves as the publication's Swim Strength Development Expert. J.R. is the former full time Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. An accomplished athlete, J.R. has competed in more than 130 triathlons, including 18 Ironman Triathlons. He earned the distinction of being named an Ironman Triathlon All-American after winning his race division. J.R.'s expertise incorporates his proprietary blend of resistance exercises and conditioning activities to rapidly improve the body's ability to perform at peak levels at any age. The author is pictured above burning calories on his bike.