8,000 calories a day?

oilphins
oilphins Posts: 240 Member
edited November 22 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone, just wondering how many of you watch the show "survivor"? I was watching last weeks episode where the contestants were complaining about how hungry they've been for the last 17 days and so forth. There is one particular contestant whose name is Cole, who is pretty ripped but looks like he's about 175 pounds soaking wet. He was one of the contestants complaining the most because he claims he normally eats 8,000 calories a day. Here we all are trying to keep our calories down to keep the weight off and exercising like crazy to stay at a certain weight. So the question is, is this guy full of crap or is it possible to ingest 8,000 calories a day and still stay as skinny as this guy is? How many calories would he have to burn to stay at his weight everyday? Would love everyone's opinion on if this is realistic or not. I could see bodybuilders maybe but not this guy.
«13

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    doubtful... unless he is an Olympic athlete....
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    highly likely full of crap - but he could easily take in 4000cal a day - many people who work with the same nutrition folks that I do (eat to perform) avg 3-4000 and are either weight stable or losing slightly (people of all shapes, sizes, gender and age)
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
    No way.
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    I read once that Michael Phelps eats around 6000 calories/day when he is training. That's Michael Phelps though...
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    edited November 2017
    deputy_randolph wrote: »
    I read once that Michael Phelps eats around 6000 calories/day when he is training. That's Michael Phelps though...

    i thought he got up to 12,000?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/2563451/Michael-Phelps-the-extraordinary-12000-calorie-diet-that-fuels-greatest-ever-Olympian-Beijing-Olympics-2008.html
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    deputy_randolph wrote: »
    I read once that Michael Phelps eats around 6000 calories/day when he is training. That's Michael Phelps though...

    i thought he got up to 12,000?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/2563451/Michael-Phelps-the-extraordinary-12000-calorie-diet-that-fuels-greatest-ever-Olympian-Beijing-Olympics-2008.html

    Maybe it's 6000 when not training! Either way, some random guy on Survivor likely isn't maintaining at 8000.
  • futuresize8
    futuresize8 Posts: 476 Member
    I wondered about that, too, and just took it as a super exaggeration. (I'm done with him, though, so any time he wants to take his 8-zillion-calorie-ingesting-self on out of the game, I'm good with that!)
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    I usually eat in the area if 8-10k a day in summer.

    I'm a athlete and very active though at 230-240lbs.

    If his job is a nurse or carpenter and he running long distances it isn't our of the question.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Also, keep in mind that one of the biggest inaccuracies for many is self-reported calorie numbers. What someone claims to be 8,000, could be pretty much anything. It could be 3,000, it could be 12,000.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    I've gotten up to 4-5,000 during insane dance travel (I'm a swing dancer-- it's basically HIITS all day). That is 4 hrs of classes followed by stretching followed by 8-12 hrs of dancing. I'm going to say you'd see him running around being active ALL DAY to come even close to 6k.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    deputy_randolph wrote: »
    I read once that Michael Phelps eats around 6000 calories/day when he is training. That's Michael Phelps though...

    i thought he got up to 12,000?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/2563451/Michael-Phelps-the-extraordinary-12000-calorie-diet-that-fuels-greatest-ever-Olympian-Beijing-Olympics-2008.html

    If your training load supports and requires that level of feeding, then it's No big deal, unless you're not getting what you need.

    If your training load doesn't support that level of feeding then you'll blow up.

    Between 18-22, I got between 4-6k calories a day, and maintained at around 150. I also walked 10-12 miles a day for transportation and worked 6-10 hours a night on my feet at a fast food restaurant.

    When I transitioned to a more sedentary lifestyle(car/desk job) around 25, I started getting bigger fairly quickly and had to cut back on my eating.
  • Iwannabfit76
    Iwannabfit76 Posts: 101 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I usually eat in the area if 8-10k a day in summer.

    I'm a athlete and very active though at 230-240lbs.

    If his job is a nurse or carpenter and he running long distances it isn't our of the question.

    can i look in your diary.... that's like some serious food porn... :laugh:

    That made me laugh and yes I wanna creep too!
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    Is it this guy: http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/215719/

    Considering his hobbies and history of big climbs, I can believe it. I doubt he means he eats 8k calories every day of his life but when he's his most active, yes. It's like if you race and finish a mile in 6:30 but normally on an everyday run use a pace of 7:30. You're going to say that you run a 6:30 mile, not a 7:30 mile. At least I would :wink:

    Yeah, depending on context. If you're talking about training plans, you might say "I bench 250x5" But if talking about total strength you might mention your most recent PR and say I can bench 315
  • oilphins
    oilphins Posts: 240 Member
    edited November 2017
    jemhh wrote: »
    Is it this guy: http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/215719/

    Considering his hobbies and history of big climbs, I can believe it. I doubt he means he eats 8k calories every day of his life but when he's his most active, yes. It's like if you race and finish a mile in 6:30 but normally on an everyday run use a pace of 7:30. You're going to say that you run a 6:30 mile, not a 7:30 mile. At least I would :wink:

    Yes that's him. I found it hard to believe but seeing some of the responses, maybe it's possible? It just seemed unrealistic. Didn't really look into his past history of workouts.
  • Quasita
    Quasita Posts: 1,530 Member
    When I first lost weight, I ate between 4-6k a day and lost 3-6lbs a week because of my body structure and caloric burns. It's certainly an exception and it's not that hard to do really.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    If you see it on a "reality" show, it's pretty much guaranteed to not be real.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited November 2017
    Technically possible but much much more likely he is full of crap. Occam's razor and all.

    If you are a big dude and your job is to physically train all day long (ie you are a body builder or an olympian or a movie star training to change their body) then yeah I think that is possible.

    I am not a big dude. I'm 6' tall but not that muscular. I am not a super athlete either. I have had days where my TDEE got up to 6000 when I was doing physical work pretty much all day long (backpacking). I would imagine if I was a larger guy and maybe I pushed it even harder than I was 8000 would be technically possible. If this guy is 175 pounds though he isn't all that large.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    deputy_randolph wrote: »
    I read once that Michael Phelps eats around 6000 calories/day when he is training. That's Michael Phelps though...

    i thought he got up to 12,000?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/2563451/Michael-Phelps-the-extraordinary-12000-calorie-diet-that-fuels-greatest-ever-Olympian-Beijing-Olympics-2008.html

    Before the Beijing Games, Phelps said he was chowing down on an insane 12,000 calories a day, or 4,000 calories per meal. (He later said this could have been a bit of an exaggeration, but he was still eating quite a lot.)

    http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-phelps-diet-for-the-rio-olympics-2016-8
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited November 2017
    Quasita wrote: »
    When I first lost weight, I ate between 4-6k a day and lost 3-6lbs a week because of my body structure and caloric burns. It's certainly an exception and it's not that hard to do really.
    Meaning you ate 4-6K when you were overweight and losing?
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I usually eat in the area if 8-10k a day in summer.

    I'm a athlete and very active though at 230-240lbs.

    If his job is a nurse or carpenter and he running long distances it isn't our of the question.

    can i look in your diary.... that's like some serious food porn... :laugh:

    Ohhh it is. Homeade pasteries are a staple ;).

    You could, but I don't find the need to log when I'm eating that much since my macros are filled in sometime around noon.
  • oilphins
    oilphins Posts: 240 Member
    edited November 2017
    Quasita wrote: »
    When I first lost weight, I ate between 4-6k a day and lost 3-6lbs a week because of my body structure and caloric burns. It's certainly an exception and it's not that hard to do really.

    Any chance to give me an example of what your food journal was? I eat 2000 calories a day and run 10k almost everyday to stay at 175 pounds. If I could do what you're doing and lose 3-6 pounds a week, that would be great for myself. What did you do to burn off 4-6000 calories a day to lose 3-6 pounds a week? You really have my curiosity.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    oilphins wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    Is it this guy: http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/215719/

    Considering his hobbies and history of big climbs, I can believe it. I doubt he means he eats 8k calories every day of his life but when he's his most active, yes. It's like if you race and finish a mile in 6:30 but normally on an everyday run use a pace of 7:30. You're going to say that you run a 6:30 mile, not a 7:30 mile. At least I would :wink:

    Yes that's him. I found it hard to believe but seeing some of the responses, maybe it's possible? It just seemed unrealistic. Didn't really look into his past history of workouts.

    It's possible, but likely somewhat of an exaggeration.
    oilphins wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    Is it this guy: http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/215719/

    Considering his hobbies and history of big climbs, I can believe it. I doubt he means he eats 8k calories every day of his life but when he's his most active, yes. It's like if you race and finish a mile in 6:30 but normally on an everyday run use a pace of 7:30. You're going to say that you run a 6:30 mile, not a 7:30 mile. At least I would :wink:

    Yes that's him. I found it hard to believe but seeing some of the responses, maybe it's possible? It just seemed unrealistic. Didn't really look into his past history of workouts.

    It could be somewhat of an exaggeration, but given his occupation and his hobbies, he's going to eat a ton of calories.

    I mean, I have a desk job and when I'm just doing my normal workouts which consist of about a total of 5-6 hours of exercise per week, I maintain on 2800-3000...when I'm training for a cycling event I can do about 3,500 calories on most days...and I have a desk job...so I could see someone with an active occupation and active hobbies needing somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,000-8,000 depending on the day.
  • peckchris3267
    peckchris3267 Posts: 368 Member
    When I was training for an ironman triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run) I was eating more than that.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    peckchris3267 wrote: »
    When I was training for an ironman triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run) I was eating more than that.

    8000 a day while training? i call shenanigans - i'm an ironman and even on race day (15hrs) - my calorie burn was 9000 - my longest training day was probably close to 6000 and i didn't eat that many
This discussion has been closed.

Categories