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"Michael Phelps is in the best shape of his life, but he&amp;apos;s not one to watch what he eats.\r\n&amp;quot;I don&amp;apos;t count calories. Whether it&amp;apos;s Sour Patch Kids or Reese&amp;apos;s or a bag of chips, if I feel like eating it, I&amp;apos;m going to eat it,&amp;quot; the 14-time Olympic gold medalist tells the August issue of Details.\r\nWhen he&amp;apos;s training, eating junk food isn&amp;apos;t a problem for Phelps, 27. But when the swimmer decided to some take time off following his triumphant streak at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Phelps noticed a change in his appearance.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;It was weird going from the highest of the high, the biggest point of your life -- winning eight gold medals -- and then saying, &amp;apos;All right, where do I go from here?&amp;apos; I wasn&amp;apos;t motivated. I did nothing, literally nothing, for a long time,&amp;quot; he recalls. &amp;quot;I gained 25 pounds. A friend of mine and I were playing football on the beach in Miami, and somebody got a picture of us and put it all over the place. And he&amp;apos;s like, &amp;apos;Bro, you gotta start working out, man. You are fat.&amp;apos; So I started going through the motions again. I would go back for a week or two and then stop. I&amp;apos;d show up for dry-land practice and then just sneak out the back door so nobody saw me.&amp;quot;\r\n&amp;quot;I was watching Rocky II the other day -- the one where he&amp;apos;s fighting Apollo for the second time and he&amp;apos;s just going through the motions,&amp;quot; he adds. &amp;quot;It reminded me of how I was.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nGetting back in shape wasn&amp;apos;t the only obstacle Phelps has faced since his record-breaking performance in Beijing. In January 2009, photos of Phelps smoking marijuana surfaced online. As a result, one of Phelps&amp;apos; longtime sponsors, Kellogg, decided not to renew his endorsement contract; USA Swimming also suspended him from competing for three months.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;It was a learning experience,&amp;quot; Phelps says of the highly-publicized incident. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m the kind of person who has to go through the learning experiences myself. Somebody could tell me, &amp;apos;If you eat this much you&amp;apos;ll be fat,&amp;apos; and I&amp;apos;d be like, &amp;apos;Yeah, okay, let me try it.&amp;apos; Growing up, my mom taught us to make our own decisions, but also that you have to pay for the consequences of those decisions. I&amp;apos;m thankful for that. I&amp;apos;ll be the first to say I&amp;apos;ve made thousands of mistakes, but I&amp;apos;ve never made the same mistake twice.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nPhelps -- who will compete in the London Olympics beginning in late July -- eventually &amp;quot;realized that I probably hadn&amp;apos;t reached my full potential,&amp;quot; he tells Details. &amp;quot;As I come to closure on my career, am I going to look back in 20 years and say, &amp;apos;What if?&amp;apos; That&amp;apos;s something I don&amp;apos;t want. This is it. I&amp;apos;ve always said I wouldn&amp;apos;t swim past 30. I don&amp;apos;t want to be that guy who&amp;apos;s hanging on, but I want to reach my max potential. I don&amp;apos;t care how much pain I have to go through or the sacrifices I have to make. I&amp;apos;ll get it.&amp;quot;\r\nWant more Olympics? Meet Team USA&amp;apos;s families, go inside their homes (and gyms!), and more! Check out Us Weekly&amp;apos;s Olympic collectors edition, &amp;quot;American Heroes,&amp;quot; on newsstands now. Order at bn.com/usolympics."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/michael-phelps-i-got-fat-gained-25-pounds-after-beijing-olympics-201297>