Michael Phelps devotes several pages of his 2004 autobiography, Michael Phelps: Beneath the Surface, to his eating exploits, which can be read online on Google Books. After mentioning his typical breakfast at Pete’s Grille: three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions and mayonnaise, an omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast with powdered sugar and three chocolate chip pancakes, Phelps describes his competitive eating history, which includes living food items:

My friends and I used to make bets about eating food. At an all-you-can-eat buffet one day, we decided to eat all we could. Our table tried to eat the place out of everything, and we nearly did. Of all my friends, Matt is the one who is usually up for a good eating challenge. And when teenage guys get together, some of the challenges can be kind of . . . teenage. Matt made $30 from me once by mixing wasabi paste with soy sauce and inhaling it through his nose. He won a DVD from me one night after we ate dinner and then went for burgers. There was no way we were ready for more food, but at the drop of a challenge, Matt added a quarter pound burger for dessert. Three years ago, we were at my old girlfriend’s house, watching a guy on TV trying to swallow some small fish whole. He couldn’t so Matt and I figured we could. Swimming really came in handy, because I was able to hold my breath during the full swallow. Goldfish aren’t that big, but they start flopping around in there and they can gross you out. The money is never an issue during these challenges. If you win a penny, you feel you’ve accomplished something, though I’m not really sure what it is. I only won a dollar for downing my 50th chicken wing at Bill Bateman’s in Towson, but just think, with that dollar, I could buy another chicken wing. Believe it or not, there is really something I don’t like to eat: angel hair pasta. I don’t like the texture of it.

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