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Michael Phelps apparently likes for people to think he is normal, telling Details magazine that he doesn’t “count calories.”

He says, “Whether it’s Sour Patch Kids or Reese’s or a bag of chips, if I feel like eating it, I’m going to eat it.”

But just a few lines later, the Olympic swimmer reveals some of his pre-race methods are less than traditional.

“At home, I sleep in an altitude chamber set to about 8,000 feet,” he revealed.

Wow.

But then again, not everyone is an Olympic gold-medalist either. But while Phelps felt on top of the world after his big win in 2008, he tells Details that he certainly experienced some low moments as well.

“At that point, I just didn’t have anything. It was weird going from the highest of the high, the biggest point of your life—winning eight gold medals—and then saying, ‘All right, where do I go from here?’ I wasn’t motivated. I did nothing, literally nothing, for a long time. 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’s like, “Bro, you gotta start working out, man. You are fat.”

“I realized that I probably hadn’t reached my full potential. There was still more in the tank. As I come to closure on my career, am I going to look back in 20 years and say, ‘What if?’ That’s something I don’t want.”

He also calls his infamous marijuana photo “a learning experience.”

“It was a learning experience. I’m the kind of person who has to go through the learning experiences myself. Somebody could tell me, “If you eat this much you’ll be fat,” and I’d be like, ‘Yeah, okay, let me try it.’ I’ll be the first to say I’ve made thousands of mistakes, but I’ve never made the same mistake twice.”

Click here for more of Michael Phelps in Details magazine.

Jul10
10:57 AM ET

Channing Tatum, who may be one of the most on-the-scene actors of the upcoming year, is on the February cover of Details magazine.

From his new films “21 Jump Street,” “Haywire” and “The Vow”, all set for release this year, to his marriage, the actor didn’t hold back.

On shooting guns with his dad as a child…“When I was a kid, we lived on the bayou in Mississippi. My dad would throw a beer can into the water and have me shoot at it. Once, when I was really little, we had this huge double-barrel shot-gun, and when I tried it, it literally blew me off the dock.”

On his past projects and learning process…
“You gotta do the Dear Johns. You gotta do The Vow. I’m conscious about why I did those parts, those movies. I wanted to learn from Rachel on The Vow. I wanted to learn from Lasse Hallström on Dear John—he did The Cider House Rules and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I didn’t go to acting school, so my knowledge of story, filmmaking, and character comes from just being on set and doing it. I know I’m not the best actor, but I hope my characters are getting better.”

On his film aspirations…
“I really don’t want to be in any more movies that I don’t produce. Unless it’s with one of the 10 directors that I really want to work with, I don’t have any interest in not being on the ground floor of creating it. But what I really want to do is direct.”

On his late nights, often until 4 A.M., brainstorming at the office…
“Jenna’s not always happy when I come home that late, but I’ve just got to get it out.”