Michael Phelps has figured out his gold standard for staying healthy.
The Olympian shared how his eating habits have changed since retiring from competitive swimming, which required he keep a diet that consisted of 10,000 calories per day.
"I probably eat cleaner now than I used to," Michael exclusively told E! News at the June 26 premiere of his docuseries Fueled By, "and that's just because I'm not eating as much as I used to."
In order to hit his calorie goal when he trained for the Olympics, the 38-year-old confessed that he often resorted to consuming junk food in the past.
"There's no way you can just eat clean and get all those calories," Michael explained. "So, I was trying to cram ice cream and whatever I could into my system."
Now, the gold medalist has the freedom to be "more picky" about his diet. As he put it, "Eating was a full-time job for so long, so now I kind of just eat what I need and what I want to—not just pretty much devouring everything in my sight."
That's not the only way Michael's lifestyle has evolved since leaving professional swimming behind. These days, the athlete—who took home a record 28 medals before retiring from his sport in 2016—spends a lot of his time making sure his four kids Boomer, 8, Beckett, 6, Maverick, 4, and Nico, 6 months, with wife Nicole Johnson stay active and healthy. It's a mission that also extends to his beloved pup.
That's why he was excited to team up with Purina Pro Plan for Fueled By, a docuseries that explores the commitment of athletes to their respective sports and the vital role nutrition plays in driving their active lifestyle with their dogs.
"If I was just eating junk food all the time, then I wouldn't be able to push my body to go the speeds that I was going," Michael said. "And it's the same thing for a dog. So for me, making sure that I'm getting the right nutrients, it's the same thing for her."
Noting that "dogs are just like humans" when it comes to healthy eating, he added, "She's my best friend so [I'm] making sure she has the right things to be able to fuel her throughout the day, give her the right energy throughout the day, but also build the muscles that she needs."
- Reporting by Nikaline McCarley
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