If you kept up with the Rio Olympics this past summer, odds are you've heard of Katie Ledecky. At just 19-years-old, Ledecky is basically a super human swimmer. She took home four gold medals and one silver at the summer games.
Her times in events such as the women's 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle and in several women's freestyle relays make her one of the best swimmers in the world. After hearing about fellow Olympic swimmer Michael Phelp's 10,000 calorie per day diet, I wondered what Ledecky's diet is like.
According to an interview with espnW, this is what a typical day of eating includes for Ledecky.
Very Early Morning
Before her first practice of the day at around 5 am, Ledecky will typically have two pieces of toast with peanut butter and an apple or a banana.
(Still) Early Morning
Post-practice, Ledecky will have some chocolate milk and either a bacon, egg, cheese and tomato omelet with potatoes, a bagel with cream cheese and eggs, or yogurt with fruit.
Around Noon
Before heading to dry-land training, Ledecky will usually snack on an apple or pear and some yogurt, honey, berries and granola.
Early Afternoon
Post-dryland training, Ledecky will have lunch. A typical lunch for her is pasta with chicken or a Caesar salad with a double serving of chicken and an avocado.
Mid Afternoon
About an hour before leaving for her second swimming practice of the day Ledecky with snack on some more fruit.
Early Evening
Following practice (which is usually from 3:30-6 pm), Ledecky will eat a yogurt and drink some more chocolate milk.
Evening
For dinner, Ledecky typically has a protein of either chicken or steak, and either pasta or rice. Some nights though the starches are swapped for arugula with white beans, tomato and garlic.
Not surprisingly, Ledecky's diet consists of a ton of wholesome, healthy food choices. She's been clear about not eating a ton of sugar by avoiding stuff like candy, desserts and soda.
Ledecky's mom answered some of the questions about her diet in the espnW interview. She also says she doesn't know exactly what her daughter's daily caloric intake is, so I decided to do the math myself based off of what a typical day of eating seems to look like for her while training.
Using MyFitnessPal for help, I based the calculations on popular brands of the foods she supposedly eats on a training day. If Ledecky has two pieces of toast with peanut butter, three pieces of fruit throughout the day (one apple, one pears and one banana), two servings of chocolate milk, a bagel with cream cheese, yogurt with honey, berries and granola, pasta with chicken, another helping of yogurt, one serving of steak and rice, her caloric intake on a day of training for is somewhere between 3,100 and 3,500 calories.
It might not seem like a lot compared to Michael Phelps' 10,000-12,000 calorie diet, but keep in mind that during Olympic training, Ledecky's calorie intake likely skyrocketed to keep up the added intensity of competition.