"It's not about the food for me as much as the competition," he told AOL News.
Chestnut holds six world records for competitive eating, including most hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes (68) and most chicken wings consumed in one setting (241).
And now he has set his eyes -- and stomach -- on a new chomping challenge that could give him two world records in a single day.
AFP / Getty Images
Joey "Jaws" Chestnut chomped his way to his fourth consecutive hot dog title at the Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 4.
On July 22, Chestnut will see if he can set a Guinness World Record for most Mars Bars consumed in one minute, and then compete with other members of the International Federation of Competitive Eating to see who can devour the most Mars Bars in five minutes.
The event will take place at the Tin Fish, a San Diego seafood restaurant near the San Diego Comic-Con, in part to promote "Red Faction: Armageddon," a new video game set on the planet Mars -- get it?
Although Chestnut feeds on competition, he admits this particular event won't be as easy as taking candy from a baby.
"I usually stay away from chocolate," he said. "Sugar hits the body hard afterward. I tend to do best with proteins. However, [fourth-ranked competitive eater] Patrick Bertoletti loves chocolates, and he's better with sweets."
Is Chestnut really worried, or is it just a savvy bit of gamesmanship designed to psyche out the competition? He isn't saying. But while the thought of eating all that sugar leaves a sour taste in his mouth, he admits the two particular competitions are easily manageable.
"A five-minute contest is very unusual," he said. "It's shorter than other events, so there is a chance I won't feel bad afterward. Also, I will drink a lot of milk afterward; it slows down digestion."
The Mars Bars match is just one of many competitive eating events that have been cooked up in the past few years. Chestnut averages one every seven days or so.
"We're doing these weekly," he said. "I take a couple days off in between them and then prepare the day before a contest. I will eat whatever is being served in order to figure out the proper technique."
When Chestnut isn't flying around the world to chow down on won tons, deep-fried asparagus, steak and other goodies, he studies engineering at San Jose State University. He said this background helps him prepare methodically for each competition.
"I view each contest as a problem," he said. "I want to eat as much as I can while maintaining my health."
And there we have a brave new world.
Because competitive eating is a relatively new "sport," "athletes" like Chestnut, Bertoletti and Takeru Kobayashi are, perhaps, going boldly where few stomachs have gone before. As such, it's impossible to figure out what, if any, long-term effects the binge eating will have on their bodies when they are older.
"We are pushing the body to the edge," Chestnut said. "And that's why I do better when I am competing against someone like Kobayashi in the hot dog challenge or Bertoletti in the Mars Bar contest. Without them, I will push for the win but am less likely to go for the record."
That was the case at the Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest -- a match that Kobayashi sat out over a Major League Eating contract dispute before being arrested for rushing the stage.
Chestnut won his fourth consecutive "Mustard Belt" at the July 4 contest, but he was named top dog after eating 54 hot dogs, 14 fewer than he consumed last year when he was competing against Kobayashi.
"We definitely respect each other," Chestnut said of his longtime foe, who won the Nathan's contest six times in a row.
Still, Chestnut does feel that Kobayashi's antics at the Nathan's contest stole the spotlight from a great event.
"It did take away a little bit of the win, and the way he went about it was strange," said Chestnut, who compares his rivalry with Kobayashi to the legendary rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. "I'm told he was asking for weird things like the right to compete against the event sponsors. It seems like he didn't really want to come."
Chestnut said he initially suspected something was wrong as far back as during a won-ton-eating contest in Singapore a few weeks earlier.
"I never expect to lose a contest, but this was one event I expected him to win," Chestnut said. "It was a food I wasn't used to and didn't have a technique worked out. But he had this weird technique, which made me think he might have been hurt."
But because competitive eating is in its infancy compared to, say, baseball or golf, techniques are still being formed.
"There isn't a book you can read. There are no trainers and no fundamentals," Chestnut said, adding that professionals like him closely guard their trade secrets.
"I like to think of myself as like Shaun White, training away from everyone else," he said with a laugh.
But just as some people get hungry only when food is placed in front of them, Chestnut says he often makes last-minute decisions about how to swallow his competition whole.
"Take the Mars Bars contest," he said. "For the minute challenge, each of us will get a minute to eat the chocolate. I'm going last, so I will be able to see the technique the others are using and plan accordingly."
Chestnut acknowledges that the competition at the Mars Bars contest will be fierce, but fear is not an option for him.
"I don't like to think about fear; it's more like facing an obstacle," he said. "Anytime you push your body to its limit, there is going to be a negative reaction. Competitive eating isn't the most healthy thing, but it's not as bad as boxing."
Source:
http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/eating-champ-joey-chestnut-feeds-on-competition-especially-from-takeru-kobayashi/19562051
