Hot Dog Eating Results

On July 4th, 2011, at roughly 1pm MT, I decided to try and eat 8 hot dogs as fast as possible, in honor of our nations greatness and replication of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition held earlier in the day. I managed to finish my 8 hot dogs in 6 minute, 5.85 seconds. Always a competitor, I am slightly disappointed in this result. After watching the tape (yes, I recorded it) I identified several factors that in the future could help me consume hot dogs faster. Here are the things I learned from my 4th of July self-challenge:

1. Just because you like a food doesn't mean you can't eat it indefinitely. I ate peanut butter sandwiches every day from Kindergarden to 5th grade, then didn't touch them again 'til Senior Year of HS. Same goes for hot dogs. There is always a threshold were something stops being tasty or yummy and becomes nauseating. I must keep this in mind for the upcoming gallon challenge.

2. Competitive eaters are athletes. I don't care what you say- they have trained their muscles and body to do impressive feats that normal people cannot. As I was progressing, my jaw began to feel fatigued, and I could not chew as fast as normal. My jaw was out of shape.

3. Again, unlike competitive eaters, I have not trained my stomach or throat to handle large pieces of food. So even though it feels more impressive to take large chunks of hot dogs, I am bound to chew it more into manageable bites. Therefore, I have deduced that quicker, smaller bites are the way to go.

4. Sitting down is not the way to go- it contracts the esophagus, making swallowing and food passage longer and more difficult. I sat down for the benefit of the camera, but next time I will set the stage a little better.

5. And finally: Don't worry about the time. Just get the job done.