If Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte isn't eating, "something is wrong."
The body of a 32-year-old, 11-time Olympic medalist doesn't run on rabbit food, after all. Lochte gets at least 7,000 calories a day, according to Bon Appetit.
Each morning, the swimmer wakes up to a breakfast cooked by his personal chef Glenn Lyman, who used to feed Lebron James.
It's a simple and wholesome meal, and by simple and wholesome I mean it's a feast of five to six eggs with spinach, tomatoes and ham. And also hash browns, pancakes and French vanilla coffee with sugar and cold milk. And for good measure, oatmeal and fruit.
It's a step up from the swimmer's former days of chowing down on peanut butter and jelly sammies. His diet has evolved, and so has his body.
"I was just constantly eating, and I was getting tired of eating," he said. "My jaw was getting sore. But I guess I’ve been [competitively swimming] for so long -- I’ve been doing it for 12 years -- that it’s eerie now."
Eerie if he's not consuming food at any given moment.
His menu gets extra fun the week before a competition, when he carbo-loads. Think spaghetti and fettuccine Alfredo with dainty sides like steak and chicken.
A couple of hours before a race, he's at it again. He washes his full meal down with a caffeine pill, which keeps his soda weakness at bay. In his bag is a peanut butter Kind bar in case he gets hungry between events.
Lochte's eating habits don't seem too sophisticated on the surface, but the athlete can get behind health trends. He's tried spiralized cucumber pasta, despite thinking he was "probably going to vomit" from it, and he'd do it again as long as he had a big ol' steak on the side.
He's also jumped on the avocado-toast trend. He enjoys his with spinach, egg, hot sauce and tofu sausage.
"Anything tofu I'm just, I'm loving it," he said.
There are few things the man won't eat, besides beans, which he really does not like.
Lochte, a man of tradition, said he's only missed his Friday cheat dinner six times in his life. It's a refined spread of Mountain Dew, pizza and wings with blue cheese dressing.
But after something huge, like an Olympics swimming race or something, Lochte's eating starts getting real.
"I’m going to a steakhouse and I’m getting a big, fat steak."
He likes a filet, but as long as it's big, anything goes. After all, "It's going down one tube."
His meat is kept company by fries and veggies like sweet potatoes and broccoli. And don't skimp on the Duckhorn Cab, his tried-and-true red wine of choice.
As for dessert? Nada. The swimmer doesn't sport a sweet tooth.
“I don’t really do desserts,” he said. “If I did it would have to be mint chocolate chip ice cream, the green kind, not the white kind.”
Aside from his post-race feast, Lochte prefers to stay away from rituals and go with the flow.
"...I always thought if people that have rituals, say, something happens where your phone dies and you can’t call your mom or something, and something gets out of place where it’s not what you’re used to, you’re going to get discouraged. You’re going to start freaking out."
That's energy Lochte prefers not to waste.