For the elite individuals seeking to improve and expand their eating challenge skills beyond their own local community within a few hours of their home, this article includes advanced tips to help you maximize your number of food challenge victories. By the way, that was just a more proper way of saying “For big eaters who are addicted to winning food challenges.” I personally really enjoy completing food challenges, no matter how big or small they are, or where they are located. If a restaurant has a challenge, I want to beat it! On March 19th, 2010, my friend and I won $500 just for eating a 28″ eleven pound pizza, and I have been addicted ever since. I now have over 200 food challenge wins in over 22 American states and 8 countries around the world, and I am constantly seeking to expand those numbers. Being a professional eater allows me to do all three of my favorite things at the same time, which are traveling, exercising, and eating. When I first started, competitive eating was just a fun hobby for me, and I mostly just focused on the food challenges around me. Then as my experience and excitement (aka addiction) grew, I gradually increased my level of seriousness about the sport. After a while, I had already completed most of the challenges around me, so I knew that I had to start traveling to other areas if I really wanted to continue. I then quickly realized that I had to figure out how to maximize my number of wins during the trip, because it wasn’t worth traveling multiple hours for just 1 or 2 challenge victories.

If you have found yourself in a similar situation, and you are wanting to begin traveling to cities further away to attempt their challenges, this article includes advanced tips that cannot be found in any other article on our site. If you have completed multiple large (3 star) challenges and feel that you are ready to move on to trying more advanced tasks, other than just attempting larger challenges, this article is for you. If you are a beginner and have not yet won many challenges, I definitely don’t recommend following any of the advice below. You need to gain some more wins first. Unless you are experienced and understand your current physical limits, you will quickly get in over your head and will have a very low chance for success. The three major moves that I am referring to is attempting two large challenges in two days, attempting two challenges during the same day, and then doing two challenges back-to-back. I have done all three of these, each multiple times, and they are never easy. I have never failed two challenges in a row within two days, but I have failed trying to win two in one day, and also trying to win two back-to-back. I know from experience that these are not situations where you can be cocky and overconfident. With that said, I will now cover how to successfully complete each advanced move:

Winning 2 BIG Food Challenges In 2 Consecutive Days

In most countries, and especially in the USA, obtaining a driver’s license, as soon as you reach the proper age, symbolizes that you are no longer just a child, and that you are now old enough and responsible enough to begin assuming more responsibilities, such as driving a vehicle. In the new world of food challenges and competitive eating, that moment is when you decide to do two large food challenges on consecutive days. A large majority of competitive eaters don’t do more than one event per week, and will only do 2 or 3 events per month at most. If the right situation arises, these eaters prefer having at least three or four days between events so that their bodies have time to recover and eliminate the previous challenge or competition meal. Very few people have even attempted two big challenges in two consecutive days. To do this, you basically have to train just like you normally would for your first challenge, using our Stomach Capacity Training tips. Your training doesn’t really have to be anything different, and you should treat your first challenge just like you would treat any other regular challenge. Once you finish that first challenge though, you need to go into rapid recovery mode.

If you get to choose the order, schedule the tougher challenge first, and get the harder challenge done and out of the way. Also, be sure to schedule that first challenge for mid-afternoon to early dinner time, and try to avoid any later time after that. You need a few hours for your body to initially process your challenge meal before you go to bed, and the more time you allow, the better. Begin drinking water as soon as possible, and try to avoid all other beverages like beer and soda, especially for your first time trying consecutive challenges. Make sure your body is hydrated and rapidly digesting your first challenge meal. Hopefully this is obvious, but definitely avoid having any more food or dessert for the rest of the evening, other than maybe a scoop or two of ice cream for dessert. Make sure to get a great, full night sleep because that will definitely help your body recuperate and be ready for challenge number two. Before you go to bed though, you definitely want to take something that will help your body quickly eliminate all that food that is now slowly moving through your intestines. Check out our Optional Medicinal Drugs That Help Recovery article. From my experience, you need something stronger than just a stool softener, and even a normal laxative. Your major goal is to make sure all, or at least most, of that first challenge meal is out of your body before beginning challenge #2. I always use option #4 from that list which is a Colon Cleanse product that is loaded with both fiber and laxatives. If that first challenge meal is not out or at least really close to being out, that may cause you to fill up faster during your 2nd challenge and fail.

If possible, please schedule challenge number two at least 22 hours after challenge number one is over, with eighteen to twenty hours being the minimum. You don’t need to do any training for challenge number two, and let challenge number one serve as your max-out meal. Drink plenty of water that morning, and just like normal, stop drinking water at least four hours before the challenge and let your body process everything down and out your system. You want to make sure you are as empty as possible, and it would help if you did some exercise beforehand to get your blood flowing and body hungry for challenge number two. Let your performance on day one boost your confidence on day two. If you dominated challenge number one which is a tougher challenge than meal number two, get confident and know you will dominate challenge number two!! If you wake up on day two and you feel like challenge number one is not close to being eliminated, you are welcome to take another full (or double) dose of your Colon Cleanse product. Most of those are supposed to work in six to eight hours, but that applies to normal sized meals. You may need that second dosage that morning to give that meal an extra boost. If you do all of that, and put a heavy accent on recovering from challenge number one before starting number two, you have done everything you can do. You have set yourself up in a highly favorable position to win your second challenge too!! Since you have done everything possible to get yourself ready, it’s time to dominate!!

Winning 2 Quantity Food Challenges In 1 Day

If you successfully completed the “2 challenges in 2 consecutive days” challenge, and feel you are comfortable moving on to the next advanced task, you are welcome to attempt two food challenges during the same day. This does not refer to doing them back-to-back or within the same hour, which is discussed next. This applies, for example, to winning a challenge for lunch and then winning another challenge later that evening for dinner. Using our age example above, attempting 2 challenges in 1 day in the competitive eating community is just like becoming old enough to legally consume alcohol. You have been driving for a while now and are even voting, and now you get to basically assume all the responsibilities that other adults are allowed to have, such as drinking alcohol responsibly. The two main things to remember for this situation is that you need to choose two smaller challenges to attempt, and you need to space out the challenges as much as possible. For back-to-back eating challenges, you need to make sure that the two challenges don’t exceed your maximum stomach capacity since you are basically doing one right after the other without a break. The total for this task can definitely be higher than your maximum stomach capacity since you will have a good break in between. Obviously, you cannot get carried away though since your first meal won’t be fully digested by the time you start your second challenge.

Just like with the task above of winning 2 in 2 consecutive days, it would be smart to schedule the tougher challenge first for breakfast or lunch. If the easier one is a breakfast challenge at a diner that closes early, then you don’t have a choice, and you’ll just have to adjust and conquer. If your first challenge is at a restaurant that opens at eleven, get there pretty close to when they open and try to start and finish as early as possible. If the restaurant doesn’t like doing challenges during rush hour times, let the manager or owner know that you are travelling and that it would be best for you to take the challenge earlier than later. The restaurant may be very willing to work with you. The later your first challenge ends up being, the later you need to schedule your second challenge for. Since you are doing two smaller challenges, you should definitely have no problems drinking water as soon as your first victory is complete. Since you went the previous 4 or 5 hours without much water, the surge in liquid will help jumpstart your digestive system and get all that food processing. Just like after any other challenge, let your body rest directly afterwards, without having anything for dessert. At this stage in your eating career, you have probably looked into using digestive enzymes before your challenges? One these days, they would be very helpful since you want to definitely get your meal processed out of your stomach and into your intestines for the second half of the digestion process. The first half (your stomach) will need to be empty so that you can fit that second challenge meal. If not empty, then you will likely fill up quickly during meal #2.

This is not fully proven, but some people believe (I am one of those people) that drinking carbonated, highly acidic soda will help speed up the digestion process. The acidity in drinks such as Coca-Cola and Diet Coke will help break down the food particles faster so that your stomach has an easier time processing everything. I finish most of my challenges with soda already, so I drink a good amount of water after my first challenge, and then I switch back to Diet Coke, Diet Dr Pepper, or Diet Pepsi a few hours later. I also like that the carbonation helps me burp up remaining air and psychologically makes me feel like my stomach is almost empty. If you drink soda, you may want to try doing this between your challenges. If you don’t allow yourself to drink soda, then stick with water. Fiber pills and laxatives will not help on days like this, since there isn’t enough time for them to operate and work successfully before challenge #2 begins. You may or may not have exercised before challenge #1, but you definitely want to do some type of activity before meal #2. Get your body hungry and wanting to eat again. All of the things mentioned will help you be ready for the second, easier challenge, but allowing as much time between challenges as possible is the best thing you can do. After doing everything listed, it’s now time to dominate your second challenge. You definitely want to stand or kneel during your second challenge just to be sure you have all of the stomach and body space available for storing the meal. Get that second big victory!!

Winning 2 Quantity Food Challenges Back-To-Back

Now that you have comfortably finished two bigger challenges in two consecutive days, and you have won two smaller challenges during the same day, you can now attempt the granddaddy of all food challenges, which is completing back-to-back quantity food challenges. If you can do this, and we aren’t referring to finishing a few spicy wings as the 2nd challenge, you are officially a MAN or WOMAN in the food challenge world. You become a member of an elite community, because that is a feat that not many people can say they have accomplished. This can happen in two different ways. The first and most simple way is for you to complete two smaller quantity challenges at the same restaurant. That opportunity is extremely rare though since most restaurants only host one food challenge, or they host one quantity challenge and one spicy challenge. Most restaurants don’t host multiple smaller one and two star challenges. Some do though, and you are welcome to try if the opportunity presents itself. The other possible way to accomplish this is to basically finish one challenge at one restaurant, and then immediately go to a nearby restaurant that also hosts a smaller challenge and win their challenge too, all within the same two hour period. If you are a Louis CK fan, he calls this a “Bang-Bang.” This opportunity is fairly rare too, but can be done in most larger cities since there are more challenges readily available for you.

To be honest, there really isn’t any special strategy for doing this. You just need to win the tougher challenge first, make sure the second challenge has a longer time limit to allow for your slower eating speed, and also be sure that the total size of both challenges doesn’t exceed your maximum stomach capacity. Most quantity challenges are three to four pounds at a minimum, so you will need close to a four star (6.25 pounds or more) stomach capacity or greater to accomplish this feat. It is absolutely crucial that you do everything you can to avoid filling yourself up with liquid during the first challenge. In this situation, it is okay to look past the first challenge, and already be thinking about the second challenge. If you are worried about finishing the first challenge, why are you even considering trying to win a second challenge directly afterwards? If you drink an excessive amount of liquid during your first challenge, you will have a much higher chance of not being able to finish the last few bites of your second challenge. Since you are doing the second challenge right after the first, you won’t have time to digest or process any of the liquids consumed during the first challenge, so be careful. Even if that means taking a few extra minutes to chew and swallow since you don’t have the help of liquids, that is certainly okay. You’ll need the extra stomach space for challenge number two, which you should begin asap.

When trying to win back-to-back challenges, time is not your friend. As you continue eating, your brain is sending out signals to the rest of your body that you are getting full and need to stop eating, so the more time you take, the more your body fights back. If you are doing two challenges at the same restaurant, try to make it so that the second challenge will be ready shortly after you finish the first challenge. If the second challenge is a dessert or ice cream challenge, they can just start making it as soon as you finish the first one. If the second challenge has to be cooked too, have them start preparing it as soon as you begin the first challenge, and that will allow the second challenge some time to cool off so that it is ready to be eaten shortly after you finish the first one. If you have to go to a completely new restaurant, clean up and get out of the first restaurant pretty quickly so that you can move on to the second restaurant and get the challenge ordered. Don’t take all day and think you have all the time in the world. Get the food down & get both victories before your body starts feeling tired and sluggish. If that happens before you begin the second challenge, you may be in trouble. It is pretty hard to eat a lot when your body is tired and making you feel like taking a nap. Other than that, everything  is pretty simple. Be sure to train hard beforehand and that you have great strategies. Then you can dominate!!

NOTEIn all three tasks above, there is never anything mentioned about using self induced vomiting as a way to get ready for the second food challenge. Not only is this not recommended and not healthy for your body, but it is also nothing that you should necessarily be proud of, especially if you used that recovery method to win two challenges in one day. The three challenges above are only a real challenge if you keep EVERYTHING down and inside your body. For reasons why you want to avoid making  yourself throw up, please read our Dangers & Risks Of Self Induced Vomiting article. Your body throwing up “accidentally” on its own is not an issue since that is nothing you have full control over. If that occurs, you just need to consume extra water afterwards to help bring your body fluids back up to a natural balance. That may occur after your challenge on day one while trying to win two in two consecutive days, because it may be pretty large, but it should not happen when trying to win two in one day, since both food challenges you are attempting are smaller than you are typically used to handling.

There are two more things to note after reading this advanced article. First and most importantly, you will more than likely be consuming an excessive amount of calories by doing any or all three of the food challenges listed above. You need to factor that into your recovery plan and allow yourself a few extra days to burn off that extra weight you gained through consuming less daily calories and exercising more frequently. If you don’t practice moderation and maintain control, you can quickly get out of hand and gain a significant amount of undesired weight through attempting these tasks. Secondly, not only will you be consuming an excessive amount of bad calories, but you will also be consuming an excessive amount of dietary fiberless foods. To help recover faster and keep your digestive system running strong, please Increase Your Dietary Fiber Intake Afterwards, along with doing everything else mentioned throughout our After The Challenge section, so all that food you ate quickly gets eliminated. The three situations above are detailed using “perfect” situations, which you may not always encounter. Use the advice above to help plan your own personal strategy for the situation you are facing. If you have any particular questions you are not certain about after reading through everything, please contact us.

*** Winning both a quantity challenge and a small spicy challenge is not covered or considered a major feat because it really doesn’t involve a special strategy or advanced stomach capacity level. Just simply complete the quantity challenge first, followed by the spicy challenge. Then use Recovery From Spicy Food Challenges.

Thanks for reading “Advanced Tips For Chronic Food Challengers” and checking out FoodChallenges.com!!

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