The insane junk-food diets of high-endurance Olympians
dendurgal
Posts: 60
Pizza, beer, and ice cream are actually staples for some elite athletes, who gorge themselves on mountains of unhealthy food to meet 6,000-calorie daily quotients.
Most of us have to carefully count calories and convince ourselves that salad is rewarding if we want to avoid obesity. Not so for Olympic-level endurance athletes like distance runners, cyclists, triathletes, and swimmers, who burn through calories so fast they have to consume piles of junk food to ensure they have enough fuel in the tank. So instrumental is food to an Olympian's success that many Muslim participants are planning to postpone their annual Ramadan fasts when the games begin. Here, a guide to the "insane" diets of Olympic athletes:
How fast do athletes-in-training burn through calories? Lickety-split. Normal people are told to consume roughly 2,000 calories or less a day. But elite athletes can burn through 15 to 20 calories in a single minute, Dr. Michael Joyner tells The New York Times. At the peak of their training, athletes work out for four or five hours every day, which means they'll have to replenish some 4,000 to 6,000 calories if they want to "train again the next day."
What are they eating? In 2008, gold-medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps made headlines when details of his 4,000-calorie breakfast were made public: Three fried-egg sandwiches, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast, and three pancakes with chocolate chips. Indeed, a typical meal for endurance athletes can resemble an episode of Man v. Food, says Gretchen Reynolds at the Times. An athlete might sit down for dinner and inhale a pound of pasta cooked with olive oil (800 calories), a dozen eggs (840 calories), an entire cheese pizza (2,000 calories), a pint of Ben & Jerry's cheesecake-brownie ice cream (1,000 calories), and beer (about 150 calories per bottle).
Why not eat healthy food? "You can only eat so much oatmeal and tofu," says Dr. Joyner. And the calories don't add up. A bowl of oatmeal gives you just 150 calories, while a cup of tofu only boasts 175. But processed junk foods — candy bars, cookies, Pop-Tarts — provide more energy-replenishing calories per gram. Even when restricting their diet to pizza and ice cream, some athletes still shed weight. Of course, not everyone agrees with Dr. Joyner. Here's an example of a healthy 6,000 calorie diet for high-endurance Olympic athletes that relies on lean meats, whole grains, and low-fat dairy. Of course, it requires athletes to eat six times a day.
Could I eat like this, too? If you work out like crazy, then why not? "The overwhelming body of science" about weight loss and food "continues to show that any diet will succeed if you take in fewer total calories than you burn," says Dr. Dena Bravata, a food researcher from Stanford. "Large quantities of pizza? Ice cream? Beer?" says Dom Consentino at Deadspin. "That settles it. My own quest for the 2016 Olympics begins tonight."
Most of us have to carefully count calories and convince ourselves that salad is rewarding if we want to avoid obesity. Not so for Olympic-level endurance athletes like distance runners, cyclists, triathletes, and swimmers, who burn through calories so fast they have to consume piles of junk food to ensure they have enough fuel in the tank. So instrumental is food to an Olympian's success that many Muslim participants are planning to postpone their annual Ramadan fasts when the games begin. Here, a guide to the "insane" diets of Olympic athletes:
How fast do athletes-in-training burn through calories? Lickety-split. Normal people are told to consume roughly 2,000 calories or less a day. But elite athletes can burn through 15 to 20 calories in a single minute, Dr. Michael Joyner tells The New York Times. At the peak of their training, athletes work out for four or five hours every day, which means they'll have to replenish some 4,000 to 6,000 calories if they want to "train again the next day."
What are they eating? In 2008, gold-medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps made headlines when details of his 4,000-calorie breakfast were made public: Three fried-egg sandwiches, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast, and three pancakes with chocolate chips. Indeed, a typical meal for endurance athletes can resemble an episode of Man v. Food, says Gretchen Reynolds at the Times. An athlete might sit down for dinner and inhale a pound of pasta cooked with olive oil (800 calories), a dozen eggs (840 calories), an entire cheese pizza (2,000 calories), a pint of Ben & Jerry's cheesecake-brownie ice cream (1,000 calories), and beer (about 150 calories per bottle).
Why not eat healthy food? "You can only eat so much oatmeal and tofu," says Dr. Joyner. And the calories don't add up. A bowl of oatmeal gives you just 150 calories, while a cup of tofu only boasts 175. But processed junk foods — candy bars, cookies, Pop-Tarts — provide more energy-replenishing calories per gram. Even when restricting their diet to pizza and ice cream, some athletes still shed weight. Of course, not everyone agrees with Dr. Joyner. Here's an example of a healthy 6,000 calorie diet for high-endurance Olympic athletes that relies on lean meats, whole grains, and low-fat dairy. Of course, it requires athletes to eat six times a day.
Could I eat like this, too? If you work out like crazy, then why not? "The overwhelming body of science" about weight loss and food "continues to show that any diet will succeed if you take in fewer total calories than you burn," says Dr. Dena Bravata, a food researcher from Stanford. "Large quantities of pizza? Ice cream? Beer?" says Dom Consentino at Deadspin. "That settles it. My own quest for the 2016 Olympics begins tonight."
0
Replies
-
Yeah but did you read about the American swimmer who discovered she was gluten and egg intolerant? She would get sick from the large amounts of gluten containing foods and egg to the point where training and performing were impaired.
Once she cut those foods out she was back to competing and felt better than ever.
It's not just how much or how little we put in our bodies, it's the quality of the food we feed ourselves. I know many here disagree but that's my story and I'm sticking to it :laugh:0 -
It is a gross misconception (thanks to the media) that athletes who compete and succeed in the Olympics actually eat what Michael Phelps did after we won his, what, like 19th gold medal?
They do not eat like that on a regular basis. They'd be fat and lazy like the rest of us. However, their caloric needs are far different from the average fitness enthusiast. Take Lance Armstrong, for example. He's competed and won 7 consecutive Tour de France victories, where they bike ALL DAY LONG. The amount of energy expended by his body is gargantuan. Imagine how hard it is to eat *clean* and eat at least 12,000 calories a day?? Not an easy feat.
If they eat crap, they will perform like crap and they know that. Hence, why I have no qualms with them treating themselves (and subsequently regretting their decision to gorge themselves... did you read about THAT?) after they've worked their a$$es off to win an Olympic gold medal. Who gives a flying you-know-what what they eat???0 -
21 Medals!!!0
-
It is a gross misconception (thanks to the media) that athletes who compete and succeed in the Olympics actually eat what Michael Phelps did after we won his, what, like 19th gold medal?
They do not eat like that on a regular basis. They'd be fat and lazy like the rest of us. However, their caloric needs are far different from the average fitness enthusiast. Take Lance Armstrong, for example. He's competed and won 7 consecutive Tour de France victories, where they bike ALL DAY LONG. The amount of energy expended by his body is gargantuan. Imagine how hard it is to eat *clean* and eat at least 12,000 calories a day?? Not an easy feat.
If they eat crap, they will perform like crap and they know that. Hence, why I have no qualms with them treating themselves (and subsequently regretting their decision to gorge themselves... did you read about THAT?) after they've worked their a$$es off to win an Olympic gold medal. Who gives a flying you-know-what what they eat???0 -
Don't forget POT smoking athletes. Michael Phelps is a pot smoker. WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! For pot smokers!!!!!!!!!!!!!0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 424 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions