If you're in training for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest held on Coney Island every year on the Fourth of July, or any other summer eating contest for that matter, there are a few things you should know. You can't just walk up there and eat 500 wings. It takes a little strategy and know-how. So put on that bib, get ready to grub and check out these 5 tips for winning an eating contest.
1. Get a physical
Listen, competitive eating is as American as gluttony itself, but no one said it's healthy. Talk to your doctor before you enter any eating contest to make sure you're healthy enough. It would be so lame to win the eating contest and then drop dead. Kinda kills the glory.
2. Stretch your stomach
You can drink lots of water, beer or eat mounds of Mexican food, but stretching your stomach is key to being able to hold vast amounts of food. A puny fist-sized stomach simply won't cut it.
3. Eat a lot of the food you'll be eating competitively
Nathan's hot dog champ Takeru Kobayashi pioneered the "Solomon Method" of hot dog eating in 2001, where he would break the hot dog in half, swallow it and then eat the bun. Other eaters dunk the food in water so it's easier to swallow. You won't know the method that works for you until you eat a lot of the food first. Entering a pie eating contest? Get used to eating pie face-first. It's harder to breathe in there than you think!
4. Exercise
Let's put it this way, the 2009 world record for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest was 68 hot dogs. A Nathan's hot dog has 297 calories. Do the math. That's 20,196 calories. You're going to need to run around the block a few times to burn that off.
5. Get used to eating way past full
Full is for sissies! Champion eaters need to shut their brain's "I'm full" signals right down. So eat until you're full and then make yourself eat more. Pretend like you're a sumo wrestler or foie gras or something.
Now get out there and eat until it hurts! No, really.
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