Michael Phelps says he ate a pound of pasta to recover after winning his 23rd Olympic medal

Over Michael Phelps' unparalleled Olympic career, he's become famous for his ridiculous diet.

At the peak of his career in 2008, Phelps was reportedly eating 12,000 calories a day to fuel his body for all of his swimming.

Now, on his fifth Olympics, Phelps appears to have dialed it back a little bit, but not much. According to Max Winters of Inside the Games, Phelps' recovery after winning gold in the 4x100m freestyle for his 23rd medal Sunday night included a fairly hearty meal.

"I tried to do as much as I could, get my lactate cleared, had a massage, had an ice bath, eat," Phelps said. "I think I had a pound of spaghetti and I am not a spaghetti fan, I forced myself to eat it."

Phelps also revealed that he didn't get to sleep until almost 3am and then had to be up at 11am for a bus ride.

At 31 years old, Phelps' recovery isn't as easy as when he was 22. However, eating a pound of pasta sounds a lot more pleasant than his other recovery methods.