When he's training, he's burning all those calories before they turn bad for his health. - imabonehead

So the body doesn't metabolize fat into cholesterol at all when you are working out? Sure about that? Never mind the 1200 calories worth of energy drinks a day. The amount of added sugars and caffeine can't be good for anyone. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

It seems to work for him. I think he's poster boy for "everyone's metabolism and dietary needs are different." - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo

I dare say he doesn't have a lot of visceral fat (the fat the liver turns into cholesterol). - Johnny

I'm not arguing whether or not he needs 12,000 calories a day while training, as it's pretty obvious that he does, since he's not alone in that caloric intake amongst pro athletes. I'm just wondering what the long term health affects are of the particular ways that he's chosen to get 12,000 calories into his body. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

I also wonder how much age is a factor in being able to properly metabolize all of that. I know that even if I was working out as much as he does while training, I wouldn't be able to eat a lot of what he eats because my intolerance to foods has gotten a lot worse in recent years. Eggs and red meat, for example. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

You would have to assume that's not an "every-day" diet. Just as the Tour de France riders build up their caloric intake, so would Phelps. In off seasons or rest days, he would tone down the intake. IFrom what I've read since 2008, he's diet is tightly controlled. His diet is loaded with such foods to aid muscle recovery and carbohydrates so while the number 12,000 may be scary, it's not just pointless sugar. He doesn't eat any more than he has to and can scale it down. The question is his metabolism, not his intake. How will that recover. I have a friend who was the reserve 50 and 100m butterfly swimmer for Australia in the 1996 Olympics. He similar quantities (about 8000-9000 a day) during comps. We use to go out to pizza and he would have 2 whole ones to my 1/2. The mexican restaurant down the road loved us cause we had a table for 4 but it was just me, him and his girlfriend but the table was full of food. His body has shown no ill effects 12 years later. His metabolism is still quick but he controls his intake more closely now. - Johnny

The assumption that it's not an every day diet is in the phrase "training diet", but thanks for the informative answer. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

Photo of Victor at my wedding (second from right) http://www.facebook.com/photo... I say every day diet cause Victor's every day diet was still uber-large, up around the 3000-4000 calories. - Johnny

(ignore the fat tubby guy on the left) - Johnny

The link doesn't work from me...and that's not fat, that's awesomeness. Now that you've shrunk it down a bit you are almost like a blackhole of awesomeness. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

it's still gotta be a lot of mileage on his teeth and stomach... - Andrew C (✓) from Android