--- --- # Pancakes, Fettuccine and Tofu: Here's Ryan Lochte's Free-for-all Daily Diet  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 4, 2016 8:13 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 4, 2016 8:13 PM UTC Ryan Lochte, the 11-time Olympic medalist, consumes almost 8,000 calories a day with a diet that’s a veritable free-for-all of calorie-rich foods. Of course, that’s because he’s burning so much as he preps for the ultimate face-off against Michael Phelps next week in Rio. Still: a lot of food. He told [_Bon Appetit_](http://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/ryan-lochte-olympics-diet) “if I’m not eating, then something is wrong.” [Eight thousand calories](http://time.com/4433184/most-calories-chain-restaurant-meal-applebees/) demands both a great deal of chewing (at one point, he said, his jaw got sore from all the consumption) and a great deal of food preparation, so luckily he has the help of a personal chef, Glenn Lyman, who previously worked for basketball champ Lebron James. Breakfast is a major undertaking, involving five to six eggs with spinach, tomatoes, and ham; hash browns or some kind of potatoes; pancakes; oatmeal; fruit; and a French vanilla coffee with sugar and milk. With his grueling training before a match, carbo-loading is important; he’ll double down on pastas like Fettuccine Alfredo and proteins like chicken and steak. A few hours before a match, he’ll chow down on another whole meal, too. There are countless other staples you might not expect from one of the world’s best athletes. Read more [here](http://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/ryan-lochte-olympics-diet). Here's What Ryan Lochte's Insane Daily Diet Consists Of ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4439596/pancakes-fettuccine-and-tofu-heres-ryan-lochtes-free-for-all-daily-diet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4439596/pancakes-fettuccine-and-tofu-heres-ryan-lochtes-free-for-all-daily-diet/"},"headline":"Pancakes, Fettuccine and Tofu: Here's Ryan Lochte's Free-for-all Daily Diet","datePublished":"2016-08-04T20:13:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:08.932Z","description":"Do not try this diet at home","url":"https://time.com/4439596/pancakes-fettuccine-and-tofu-heres-ryan-lochtes-free-for-all-daily-diet/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","Summer Olympics","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4439596/pancakes-fettuccine-and-tofu-heres-ryan-lochtes-free-for-all-daily-diet/","name":"Pancakes, Fettuccine and Tofu: Here's Ryan Lochte's Free-for-all Daily Diet"}}]}] ```