Michael Phelps: I Got " Fat ," Gained 25 Pounds Right after Beijing Olympics

Michael Phelps is in the greatest shape of his life, but he's not 1 to watch what he eats.

"I never count calories. Whether it's Sour Patch Youngsters or Reese's or a bag of chips, if I really feel like consuming it, I'm going to eat it," the 14-time Olympic gold medalist tells the August problem of Details .

When he's training, eating junk food isn't a dilemma for Phelps, 27. But when the swimmer decided to some take time off following his triumphant streak at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Phelps observed a transform in his look.

"It was weird going from the highest of the higher, the biggest point of your life -- winning eight gold medals -- and then saying, 'All ideal, exactly where do I go from right here ?' I was not motivated. I did nothing at all, literally practically nothing , for a prolonged time," he recalls. "I gained 25 pounds. A good friend of mine and I had been playing footb all on the seaside in Miami, and someone received a picture of us and place it all above the put. And he's like, 'Bro, you gotta start off operating out, guy. You are fat.' So I started going through the motions yet again. I would go back for a week or two and then cease. I'd show up for dry-land practice and then just sneak out the back door so nobody saw me."

"I was viewing Rocky II the other day -- the one particular exactly where he's fighting Apollo for the 2nd time and he's just going through the motions," he adds. "It reminded me of how I was."

Receiving back in form was not the only obstacle Phelps has faced given that his record-breaking overall performance in Beijing. In January 2009, pictures of Phelps smoking marijuana surfaced online. As a result, 1 of Phelps' longtime sponsors, Kellogg, made a decision not to renew his endorsement contract USA Swimming also suspended him from competing for three months.

"It was a finding out knowledge," Phelps says of the extremely -publicized incident. " I'm the kind of person who has to go by way of the mastering experiences myself. Someone could inform me, 'If you eat this significantly you are going to be fat,' and I'd be like, 'Yeah, okay, allow me try it.' Developing up, my mom taught us to make our personal choices, but also that you have to spend for the consequences of those choices. I am thankful for that. I will be the first to say I've produced thousands of blunders, but I've under no circumstances produced the identical mistake twice."

Photo : Celebrity pot smokers

Phelps -- who will compete in the London Olympics starting in late July -- finally " recognized that I most likely hadn't reached my total potential," he tells Particulars . "As I co me to closure on my occupation, am I going to search back in twenty years and say, 'What if?' That is some thing I do not want. This is it. I've generally explained I wouldn't swim past 30. I don't want to be that man who's hanging on, but I want to achieve my max prospective. I don't care how a lot pain I have to go as a result of or the sacrifices I have to make. I will get it."