"MichaelPhelps" news and stories

There's so much news about Michael Phelps right now, I bet the guy could write his own ticket for the foreseeable future. When I heard a news blurb that he was going to be on a cereal box by next month I didn't think much about it.

Naturally I figured Mr. Phelps would be on the front of a Wheaties box, but apparently that's not the case. According to an article in the New York Daily News, the swimming champion will lend his image to Frosted Flakes (move over Tony). Some nutritionists are a little concerned about the message that sends to kids. While Michael Phelps can handle the excess sugar of Frosted Flakes, experts are concerned about regular cereal eaters who don't burn as many calories as he does.

I admit I was a little surprised by Michael Phelps' choice. It makes more sense when you think about how many calories he eats and burns through in one day, but you'd think the guy would be a little more interested in promoting slightly more healthy breakfast choices. Would you buy Frosted Flakes just because Mr Phelps was on the box?

One of my favorite early Saturday Night Live skits was featured John Belushi as an Olympic athlete. The scene opens with clips of Belushi doing a high jump and running around a track, then cuts to a shot of him at the breakfast table. Clutching a cigarette, Belushi looks into the camera with complete gravitas and tells about his secret to staying fit: "I downed a lot of donuts. Little chocolate donuts. They taste good and they've got the sugar I need to get me going in the morning."

The commercial played off the classic "Wheaties" ads, which featured Bruce Jenner. The prevailing wisdom in those days stated that top-class athletes had to eat extremely healthy foods, like whole grain cereal and skinless, boneless chicken. However, as I recently read about Michael Phelps' daily eating regimen, I was surprised to see that his diet is much closer to John Belushi's than to Richard Simmons. To begin with, the Olympian consumes approximately 12,000 calories a day, roughly six times the RDA for a man his age. Second, it is heavily skewed towards carbohydrates and fats, which most diets eschew. Given Phelps' amazing energy expenditure (in the average week, the guy swims five hours a day, six days a week!

At any rate, Phelps' average daily menu is after the jump...