The Food That Fuels Phelps

Star swimmer Michael Phelps has had a productive Olympics, adding new medals to those he won in the Beijing four years ago.  A champion athlete has to monitor his diet closely, but Phelps’ eating habits were not so strict during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.  Although he built his diet around pizza and pasta, Phelps managed to win six gold medals.

After Phelps made history at the 2008 Olympics, a British newspaper reported that the “secret” to the swimmer’s success was his 12,000-calorie-a-day diet.  But Phelps called that calorie count an exaggeration, saying that he consumed between 8,000 to 10,000 calories each day — a range that’s still about four times the caloric intake recommended for a typical adult male.

Why Is This Man Frowning?

Because his diet is not fit for a doctor.  Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of pop singing star Michael Jackson, is subsisting on a strange diet while serving his four-year prison sentence.  According to News One, Dr. Murray has complained about prison conditions, including the food.  Instead of eating the prison's standard fare, the physician is purchasing what he calls "cat food" from the prison's commissary — canned tuna, salmon flakes and canned mackerel.

When a Sex Symbol Slips Up

Raquel Welch turns 70 today. Her book “Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage” offers healthy lifestyle advice without getting preachy. Diet discipline is important, she writes, but “if you should sneak in a ‘side’ of fries, or maybe a piece of chocolate cake, don’t beat yourself up over it.” She also admits: “I’ve been known to eat an entire homemade apple pie at a single sitting.”