Male athletes with 10,000+ calorie / day diets
Following up on last week’s post about Michael Phelps’ 12,000 calorie a day diet, here are some other male athletes who reportedly ate over 10,000 calories a day (I will try to have a post up about female athletes sometime this weekend.)
- Michigan State offensive lineman Tony Mandarich, 12000-15000 cal/day from a 1989 Sports Illustrated article, a list of Mandarich’s weekly grocery shopping is also available (Mandarich’s diet may or may not have been steroid assisted)
- Judo competitor Myles Porter, up to 12,000 cal/day, from a MSNBC article and video about Olympians diets (1984 Nathan’s champion Birgit Felden was a member of the West German judo team)
- 1976 Olympics swimmer Gordon Downie, 13,000 – 18,000 cal / day
- Icelandic strongman Jón Páll Sigmarsson (now deceased), 10,000-20,000 cal / day from a caption from a youtube documentary
- Ultramarathon swimmer Skip Storch, who attempted to swim from Albany to New York City, 17,000 cal / day from a NY Times article
- Bodybuilder Victor Richards, 30,000 calories a day, reportedly from a daily diet consisting of:
3 pounds of brown rice.
25-30 chicken breasts.
75-120 egg whites.
10-12 cans of corn.
5-6 cans of pineapple - A Sports Illustrated article from 1981 about pro wrestler “Andre the Giant” lists a daily calorie consumption of 7,000 calories a day, but that figure comes solely from alcohol and does not include food and non-alcoholic drinks. (quote is from part 6)
Like most people who drink because they enjoy it rather than because they have to, Andre isn’t bothered overmuch by the occasional dry period. Last year, for example, after an extended trip to Japan and Australia , he found that his weight had reached the unacceptably high figure of 540 pounds, whereupon he put himself on a strict diet—no alcohol, and only one meal a day. In four weeks he dropped 80 pounds, which becomes less surprising with the realization that he consumes approximately 7,000 calories in alcohol a day.
As for his efforts at table, Andre seems to eat less than might be expected, though, of course, far more than the average person. Four eggs, bacon, hash browns, four pieces of whole wheat toast, a pint of orange juice and two iced coffees suffice to break his nightly fast, and his evening meal, generally taken several hours before his match, will depend on where he is in the world, although the quantity will be about twice that consumed by your garden variety gourmand. Occasionally, however, he will hold back on the alcohol and give full play to his appetite. He recently recounted an evening spent in a small, second-rate restaurant. “I was tired, boss, and I only wanted to have a quick bite and go to bed, but this waitress, she kept pointing at me and talking about me to the other customers. Then she asked me in a loud voice if a cup of soup and a cracker would be enough. And she laughed. I told her no, that I was hungry, and wished the entire menu to be brought, one dish at a time. It took me four hours to eat it all.”
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TheIncredibleBulk said
August 22, 2008 @ 9:07 am
ok this pisses me off, i should have trade marked the name
anonymous said
August 22, 2008 @ 9:28 am
They fail to mention that most of these athletes were in their 20’s or early 30’s and their metabolism enabled them to burn off calories alot faster than much older athletes. Even Andre who was around 35 in 1981 was able to burn it off in the ring. Mandrich had no choice but to bulk up due to the nature of the sport and his position as offensive lineman
I said
August 22, 2008 @ 10:15 am
were you even born in 1989?
Carey said
August 22, 2008 @ 10:51 am
Right, and then sued a 20 year old article.
Rhonda Evans said
August 22, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
If Vic eats all that every day, how does he even have time to work out. Perhaps he eats fast enough to give speedeating a try. Evidently he’s already got the capacity dilemma solved.
TheIncredibleBulk said
August 22, 2008 @ 2:57 pm
i was just kidding… and yes i was born in 85…
Anonymous said
August 23, 2008 @ 1:42 am
Vic Richards said that he only consumed that many calories a day when he was on vacation. And the food he was eating had tons of fat in it. I think he said his daily intake was 8,000 cals a day.
Ronnie said
April 17, 2011 @ 7:11 pm
Now we are talkin’ ! Great job !
Harry Seaward said
April 17, 2011 @ 8:08 pm
Way to be current Ronnie! Maybe you can give us a comment on Jim Mullens recent victory in the first Nathans Contest?