Olympic diet

It finally happened. I have officially lost my mind. Why else would I volunteer to eat 12,000 calories in a single day?

The only real reasons I have are my own personal amusement and to have an interesting feature story for the sports section.


While writing an entry on my IC blog, "All Sports Considered," about Michael Phelps, I researched the diet Phelps claimed to eat while training for the Olympics. The diet totals 12,000 calories over three meals. I initially joked about how I could easily handle the diet, then began to seriously consider doing it, and now I am mere hours away from gorging myself like never before.


There is an important distinction to make here. Phelps is an Olympic athlete, and a rare one at that. He swam over five hours per day while eating this diet. With his high muscle mass and such an intense workout, he had to eat that many calories to avoid losing weight. I am considerably smaller with much less muscle mass. On a good day, I do a much less vigorous workout for three hours.


This is not a healthy thing to do, and I have actually received a warning from a doctor against attempting it.  Unfortunately, I am far too stubborn, and once I have my mind set on something, I have to follow through. Nothing short of hospitalization will stop me, which could actually happen.


For breakfast, I'll eat three fried egg sandwiches (with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise), a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of french toast with powdered sugar and three chocolate chip pancakes and drink two cups of coffee.


For lunch, I'll eat a pound of pasta, two large ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread with mayonnaise and drink 1,000 calories worth of protein shakes.


For dinner I'll eat another pound of pasta, a large pizza and drink another 1,000 calories worth of protein shakes

The eating begins at 10:30 a.m. today at Doc Watson's at 1515 S. Byrne Road, lunch will be around 3:30 p.m., and I'll conclude with dinner around 10 p.m.


In high school, I had a reputation for being able to out-eat anybody. My family, my friends families' and the football team all thought of me as a bottomless pit.


As is the case with most college students, my metabolism has slowed considerably. Don't get me wrong, I can still eat with the best of them, but I do not even compare with my previous form.


My biggest concern for tomorrow is the breakfast. Pizza, pasta and protein shakes do not scare me. Those meals will be easy. Most of the breakfast doesn't even seem that bad, but pancakes are my kryptonite. If I survive the pancakes, victory will be mine.

Check my blog at Blogs.IndependentCollegian.com for updates throughout the day today, and look for the story in Monday's paper.



— Jason Mack is the Sports Editor and a senior majoring in communication.