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Before every event, competitive championship eater Joey "Jaws" Chestnut practices his craft over the course of five days. He gorges on the event's chosen food for one day; fasts for two days; gorges again on day four, and then eats normally on the fifth day. Each time he practices, he pushes himself just a little bit further so his body adapts and gets stronger.
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To prepare for competitions, Takeru "The Sunami" Kobayashi stretches his stomach by consuming whole grapes. The whole fruit multi-tasks by helping Kobi practice swallowing, keeping his body hydrated by digesting slowly, and stretching his stomach so it holds more food at one time.
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To train for crawfish eating competitions, Eric "Badlands" Booker doesn't mess around. He orders pound after pound of steaming crawfish and practices his 3-step crawfish strategy: snap it in half, pry the meat out of the tail with his teeth and suck out the innards from the head. It's more of a technique thing than a capacity thing, he claims.
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Beginning competitive eaters should eat a healthy diet, says Sonya Thomas. If they think they have what it takes, they should begin by competing in one or two Major League Eating contests to safely "size up" their abilities.
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To get all the meat off a chicken wing quickly and efficiently, Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti recommends holding the wing by the end where the two bones come together, inverting it on the table and pushing the meat to the opposite end. If done correctly, you essentially end up with a "meat umbrella" that you can simply use your teeth to remove.
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Sonya Thomas, a.k.a "The Black Widow," trains for competitive eating events by ... not training. In her early years of competition, she sometimes practiced her speed for a minute or two, but since 2005, she has not trained at all.
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Kobayashi holds many records, and they're all thanks to his unique way of getting the food down the hatch. Take hotdogs, for example. First, he splits the dog in half, soaks the buns in water, stuffs it all in his mouth and then wiggles to encourage the food to slide down his esophagus and settle compactly in his stomach.
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When the day of a big event arrives, rising competitive eater Miki Sudo relies on comfort to get her through the day. She dons a baggy T-shirt and stretchy bicycle shorts to accommodate her sure-to-swell belly. She drinks chocolate milk to wash down spicy foods, coffee if the food is sweet.
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Miki Sudo has an established routine for the days leading up to a competitive eating event. She juices all her meals, which provides her body with the nutrients it needs and clears her stomach to make room for the massive amounts of food she'll consume during the event.
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And, to become a great eater, you eat. It's as simple as that when it comes to training for an event, according to Matt "Megatoad" Stonie.
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When competing in hot dog eating contests, the best way to get them down quick is to eat the bun and meat separately, according to "Hungry Man" Charles Hardy. Dip the bun in water for lubrication, but don't let it sit in there too long: "Soggy bread in your mouth makes you want to throw up."
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For general competitive eating style, Charles Hardy recommends keeping a steady pace. "Don't rush. When you rush, you get sick," he warns.
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Joey Chestnut makes sure he stays properly hydrated at all times. Even on the days he fasts, he drinks almost a gallon of water and a half-gallon of milk so his body doesn't dehydrate and his stomach stays stretched.
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When Takeru Kobayashi is "in training" for an event, he eats buffet-style and weighs all of his food. This allows him to eat as much as he can without spending a ton of money, and lets him keep track of how many pounds of food he's consuming.
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"The Lovely Juliet Lee" figures out the best approach to eating a food before the day of competition. She tries to get a sample of the exact food (this can be tricky and expensive) to practice with beforehand, but does no other training because she doesn't think home training is a good idea.
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