There are few things more discouraging for a food challenger or competitive eater than training for a whole week to prepare for a competition, just to get there and discover that the challenge or contest is not available or canceled. Sometimes these situations are out of your control due to outside circumstances, and other times they may end up being your own fault. It has happened to me a few times, and I’ll be the first person to tell you that it sucks. It has happened twice over in Europe because I was never able to contact the restaurant while I was over there, and the other time was because the eating contest did not attract any competitors except for me, and was therefore cancelled. You get there ready to eat everything in sight, only to find out that all those calories and all that training just need to be written off as a learning experience, and that if you want something to eat, you’ll have to order it. The easiest way to avoid this situation is to call the restaurant in advance and confirm the details. You may even need to call a few times if the restaurant or event seems extra unorganized. You will find that a large majority of restaurants, and almost all restaurants with larger challenges, prefer that you call ahead in advance to let them know you are coming. Here is a good list of reasons why you should:

The challenge meal may involve special items not kept in stock – Most restaurants don’t keep 72oz steaks, 10″ buns, or 3′ long baguettes in stock every day, believe it or not. Your challenge may involve a particular item that is only used for the challenge meal, and therefore the restaurant may not always have it in stock. If they do, it may be reserved for somebody that did actually call ahead. This happens most often with larger challenges. If you think the challenge meal may use a special item, definitely call ahead to avoid all of the extra hassle.

The restaurant may not have enough staff for somebody to be available to watch you – If you do more than just a few challenges, you will learn very quickly that some restaurant care a lot more about their challenge than others. Some restaurants require somebody to watch you almost the entire time so that he or she can keep track of time and also make sure you follow the rules and don’t cheat. If the restaurant is busy and is understaffed, you may be out of luck if you did not let them know you were coming ahead of time, and that is your own fault.

The restaurant can’t handle challenge meals during peak hours – Just because a restaurant is big, that doesn’t mean that the kitchen is. Some restaurants have smaller cooking areas, and a large challenge burger or meal may take up half of the grill or oven. Restaurants can’t keep regular customers waiting while your meal cooks. Therefore, they may not want you coming during certain hours. If you know the restaurant can get pretty busy, you need to call ahead if you plan on coming during a busier time, or you may get really disappointed.

Will there be a group with you? – If there will be a group with you to watch you take the challenge, then you need to call ahead. The restaurant will want to know so that they can accommodate your entire group and sit you all together. You don’t want to have to have everyone sitting in different spots, just because you didn’t call ahead. If you don’t call ahead, whatever happens is your own fault, and that is obviously very preventable.

Are multiple people taking the challenge? – It’s one thing for the restaurant to have one 3lb burger patty available so that you can take the challenge, but not many restaurants keep in stock enough materials for multiple people to do the challenge at a time. If you are putting together a group event where multiple people will be taking the challenge, you definitely need to call ahead in advance. The restaurant may even want to help set up the event & get other people to join you!! Either way, the restaurant will appreciate the prior warning.

Some restaurants want to promote your challenge – This doesn’t happen very often, but I have heard of several restaurant owners wanting time to contact media and set up an event so people can come and watch, no matter who the person is wanting to attempt the challenge. This typically only happens at smaller places though.

Unless the challenge is really small and not even free or discounted if you win, you should definitely call ahead to confirm the time and date that you will be attempting the challenge. If there are no restrictions listed on the website or challenge rules, there still may be restrictions, or there may be something going on that night you are wanting to come. Once you call ahead and confirm, and the restaurant says ok, it then becomes the full responsibility of the restaurant to notify you if the challenge becomes no longer available when you are wanting to come. Hopefully they notify you before your max out meal!! If you are signed up for a competition and you know there are not that many people signed up, call back one or two days before the contest to make sure the event is still scheduled. Follow the restaurant’s Facebook page too. Staying on top of things will help make sure you don’t show up to an unavailable or cancelled event. Believe me, that is an avoidable BIG inconvenience.

You should also use this opportunity to ask any particular questions you may have. Confirm that the challenge components, time limit, price, prizes, and rules are what you think they are. If you don’t know something, ask!! The host or hostess answering the phone does not get paid to do nothing. One of their jobs is to answer the phone and sell the restaurant’s menu items. The challenge is definitely a menu item they should know about. Make sure that everything is the same as you think it is, and then you will be ready to really start preparing!! Use the advice in the Stomach Capacity Training section and Failing To Plan Is Simply Planning To Fail article.

Thanks for reading why you must confirm the details with the restaurant and using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

The 24 hours before your eating competition are definitely the most critical hours of your training period. If you don’t take these hours seriously, your body will not be at peak performance during your challenge or contest. Before you read this article, please make sure that you have read and understand How To Expand Your Stomach Using Food, How To Expand Your Stomach Using Water, Expanding Your Stomach Using Food AND Water, and even read A 48 Hour Stomach Crash Training Plan. Since you will be following plans similar to these, and they all lead up to this critical 24 hour period before the competition starts, you will understand this article better if you read them first. You’ll be using the results of your past training days to plan out this period. Now let’s get into the real “meat and potatoes” of what you need to do to prepare for your challenge so that you can DOMINATE!!

The Very Important Max Out Meal

As mentioned in all of the other training articles, the max out meal needs to happen 18 to 22 hours before your eating competition. Since you already Set The Challenge Time And Date and Confirmed The Details With The Restaurant, you already know what that window of time is. It is not the end of the world if you do it 24 hours beforehand or 16 hour beforehand, but know that 18 to 22 hours is optimal. This will be the last meal of solid foods that you have, and the main goal is to expand your stomach as far as possible, and then allow enough time for all of that food to be “eliminated” from your body before the competition. You want your body to be empty and ready to be filled back up again during the challenge. If you eat your max out meal only 16 hours in advance, this really doesn’t allow your body much time to get rid of everything. This could cause you to fill up quicker during the challenge since there will still be a good portion of your max out meal sitting in your lower digestive organs. At the same time though, you don’t want your body to be completely starving. You will have more calories before the event (mentioned later) but those won’t be from solid foods. If your body is used to solid foods, then it could get really hungry if you go 24 hours or more without eating solid foods. For your first time, stick to the 18 to 22 hour window & then after that you can venture out if you deem it personally necessary.

As mentioned in the other training articles, your max out meal needs to consist of mostly easily digestible vegetables and fruits such as the ones listed in Lower Calorie Stomach Training Foods. Even if you are a hardgainer that has a very high metabolism, that does not mean that the actual food will process and “leave” quicker than other people’s bodies. Eating vegetables and fruits that are high in both fiber and water will help make sure that the food has all been “eliminated” before you start eating. You may also want to take some type of fiber supplement or laxative to help make sure that “elimination” happens in time. For tips on that, please read some of the articles in the After The Challenge section. In case you are on a budget, feel free to read Stomach Capacity Training On A Budget which has some good ideas for having a cheap max out meal. Eat as much food as you can, and it is not a big deal if it takes an hour to do it. You want to expand your stomach as much as possible. Once you know that you are at your max and can’t eat anymore, stop because you don’t want to get sick. After allowing a few minutes to let the food settle, drink water until you can feel your stomach stretch. Don’t get out of control though, because you don’t want to hurt yourself. After doing this, you are now done with solid foods until eating competition time. Your next non-solid meal will take place in the morning.

The Rest Of The Night Before The Competition

After having a meal that big, you won’t be able to get to sleep because your body is working hard to digest all the food you just ate. After an hour of letting your food digest, you want to start drinking water which will help your body process and metabolize the food faster and more efficiently. You don’t need to chug water or drink a lot at a time. Just drink it steadily, and quit an hour or two before bedtime. Please be aware that since you just ate food full of water, and you were drinking water to help the food digest, you may have to get up a few times to go to the bathroom. Since this is your first or one of your first challenges, please don’t attempt to go out partying the night before your challenge after the max out meal. I did it multiple times when I was younger and I definitely noticed a significant decrease in performance when doing challenges after drinking the night before, compared to challenges that I completed after a good night’s sleep. Get a good night sleep so that your body is well-rested and ready to go the next day. You want to be feeling strong when you take that first delicious bite!!

The Day Of The Challenge (Game Day!!)

If your challenge is real early in the morning, please make sure to read Preparing For An Early Morning Challenge. For the purpose of this article, we will base the schedule on a challenge time between 2pm and 5pm. The earlier your challenge is, the earlier you want to get up. If your challenge is at 12pm, you may want to consider getting up between 6am and 7am, and no later than 8am. If your challenge is later in the day, you definitely have the option to sleep in if you don’t have any productive things to do. When you wake up, drink 16 to 20 ounces of water just to wake your body up. An hour later after getting out of bed, go ahead and drink a protein shake, meal replacement shake, yogurt, or some other type of non-solid breakfast. You don’t want anything solid because that will affect your eating performance during the competition. After drinking your breakfast, you have the option to have one last small liquid stomach stretch. If you were drinking water all throughout the week, you may want to try one last stomach stretch with a low calorie sports drink or water mixed with a “mixer” containing electrolytes. If you have four or five hours left before the contest, drink an amount of liquid that you feel comfortable drinking, based on how your training went earlier that week. You know your body better than I do, and everybody is different, which is why I am not giving a certain required amount. Just make sure to be careful and that you are not drinking just water. Only do the optional stomach stretch if you had a non-solid breakfast to go along with it too. This will be the last bit of liquid you drink.

Let’s say the contest is at 3pm, and that you did the last stomach stretching exercise at 10am so that you have five hours to let the water “leave your body” along with the remaining food from your max out meal. Around 12pm (noon) you may want to get some exercise or some type of workout in so that your body is even more hungry and ready to eat the big meal. Click to find out Why You Should Exercise Before The Competition.

If you have an event later in the day, at 7pm for example, you want to approach the day a little differently. Have the max out meal the night before for dinner, just like normal, and still make sure to drink water and get a good night’s rest. Since your competition is so late in the day, you will want to eat a lighter solid breakfast. You don’t want to have a big stack of pancakes or anything like that, but have some eggs, oatmeal, and other foods early that morning. If you go all day without any solid foods, your body may not feel as energized during the contest, and you definitely don’t want to feel weak. The light breakfast will help keep your body regulated and it won’t affect your performance since the contest is in the evening. Then have your protein shake and stomach stretch in the afternoon. Using 7pm as the example time, you would want to do that around 2pm, which is plenty of time after your small breakfast. Then workout around 4-5 pm, and you will be ready to dominate your competition!!

Hopefully it has been understood that this article pertains to people preparing for quantity challenges, and not small super spicy challenges. You don’t need to have any kind of real stomach capacity to finish 12 spicy chicken wings, which is why small spicy challenges are only 1 star in our system. Make sure that you have that max out meal and that you are drinking water too, and don’t believe the common misconception that you should fast for a long time before challenges. Feel free to read the Reasons Why Starving Yourself Does Not Work.

Thanks for reading about the 24 hours before your eating competition and using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

One of the common misconceptions regarding how to prepare to eat a large meal is that you should completely starve your body beforehand so your body is ready to consume a lot of food. This could not be further from the truth. I always see comments under posts about food such as “I wouldn’t eat for a week just to prepare for that delicious looking meal.” If you did not eat for a week, let’s just say that you would not do well. You actually would not be able to eat much at all. If you want to be able to eat a lot, you have to gradually increase your stomach capacity by eating (and/or drinking), and you cannot starve yourself. Here are a few reasons why:

The human body does not respond very well to rapid changes. In most cases, if you try to force your body to do something, the results will be the exact opposite of what you were originally wanting. If you try to lose weight too quickly by exercising too much and not eating enough calories, your hormones and body will be so thrown off that you will end up not being able to handle the situation you put yourself in. Just like most people like to have “structure” during their everyday lives, your body also likes a consistent schedule. It likes when you have similar meals at the  same times every day, and it likes when you have a consistent flow of water coming into your system every day too. It also likes when you exercise around the same time daily or every other day. Your body adapts to these schedules so that it has to work less while processing everything more efficiently. For example, if you consistently drink water every day, and your body always has water readily available to use for everyday body functions, your body will stop retaining water and let it all flow through your body without any really being retained. This is how bodybuilders prepare for contests and shows. They drink a lot of water for multiple days in a row while minimizing their salt intake (sodium retains water) so that their body can get used to having a steady flow of water. Then they quit drinking water altogether 1 or 2 days before the contest so that all of their excess water weight that their body was retaining can “leave” which allows the skin to become tighter and show off more muscular definition. To get rid of excess water weight, drink a lot more water.

This concept is why competitive bodybuilding is no more “healthy” than competitive eating. Bodybuilders are extremely light and toned during their competition, but right afterwards it becomes an entirely different story. Since a bodybuilder followed a mostly bland and boring diet with a reduced amount of calories for a long period of time to get their bodyfat percentage extremely low, their body adapted to this lifestyle during the process. Because of the decreased amount of calories, their metabolism slowed down to counteract the changes. If that bodybuilder goes back to eating a lot more calories once the competition is over, he or she is going to put on some extra weight pretty quickly because they have a reduced metabolism that isn’t burning as many calories as it used to. The same applies to bodybuilders that go 1 or 2 days without water before their show. Because their body had no water coming it, it adapted by retaining every bit of water possible, and it will stay like that for the day or 2 after the contest. If he or she goes back to drinking a lot of water after the contest, that person will put on some excess water weight and then appear bloated for the few days after the contest while their body adapts to having more water readily available again. I have never competed in a bodybuilding contest, but in 2010 I won a national body transformation contest sponsored by Men’s Health Magazine and the TV series Spartacus. I trained for my final photos just like a bodybuilding contest. I looked great during the final photos, but then I put on quite a bit of weight during the 2 weeks afterwards because i went right back to my normal lifestyle of eating a lot and drinking alcohol. You will get bad results if you don’t let your body adapt gradually.

Your stomach works the same way as the examples above in regards to allowing you to eat a lot. If you go a long time without any food, your body will go into “survival mode” and your stomach will shrink up so that your body can survive on smaller amounts of food. Your stomach when empty and completely contracted is only the size of a normal fist (hand), so if you are a person that eats many small meals rather than a few larger ones, your stomach will also stay pretty small because it has never had a reason to expand. If this happens and you then go to eat a big meal, your stomach will be really small and tight, and therefore you won’t be able to eat much at all. Your stomach will counteract what you are trying to do because it hates rapid changes. You may have noticed this before in the past. Have you ever been so hungry that you just want to eat everything in sight? When you got the opportunity to eat everything in sight, your eyes most likely ended up being a lot bigger than your stomach, and you probably were not able to eat nearly as much as you expected. This is because your stomach muscles had shrunk and contracted due to a lack of food and calories to function regularly. I encounter this after taking long breaks from food challenges. My stomach is large and expanded while I am doing challenges almost every week, but my first challenge usually doesn’t go well after taking a few months off. If you want to eat a lot, you have to eat a lot beforehand so that your stomach muscles are relaxed and more “accepting” of the large meal you are trying to eat. By following the plans mentioned in the Stomach Capacity Training section, you can gradually get your stomach muscles used to holding more food and liquids. To eat more, you have to train yourself to eat more, and you won’t be able to eat more if you don’t eat at all. Your body will do what you want it to do, but you have to allow it enough time to make the changes and you have to steer your body in the right direction so that it can successfully make those changes. There are no safe and effective shortcuts.

Thanks for reading reasons why starving yourself does not work and using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

It is strongly recommended that you get some cardiovascular exercise or some type of resistance workout in prior to your eating competition. You will notice a significant difference in the way you feel before your big challenge which will definitely increase your level of performance, allowing you to eat faster for a longer period of time. It is a fact that your body is able to perform better when you are in shape and feeling strong than when you are feeling lazy and sluggish. That is one reason why it’s better to do a challenge later in the day rather than earlier in the morning, because you are allowing your body time to really wake up and operate at full speed. A workout will really wake your body up so that you feel more hungry, strong, and ready to dominate your event.

After a good weightlifting workout or long cardio session, have you ever felt really hungry afterwards? I am sure that you have. This is because you just drained your body of a lot of nutrients, glycogen, and calories that your body had stored up, and now your body is craving more food and nutrients so that your “tanks” can be refilled. The explanation can obviously get more scientific than that, but that is basically what is happening. After exercise, your body is much more accepting of the calories you put into it so that it can use all of the calories as energy to rebuild and refuel. That is why people drink protein shakes after lifting weights, to help fuel muscle growth after spending the last 45 minutes to an hour tearing their muscles down. Make sure to workout or do some cardio so that your body is hungry and ready to eat when your competition starts, and not tired or drowsy.

It is a proven fact that exercise is great for relieving stress, which is another reason that you want to workout before your challenge or contest. The increase in calories over the past few days created some additional stress on your body because it is not used to processing that much food and water at one time. Also, there is some additional stress since you haven’t eaten solid foods since the night before which your body also isn’t used to. Get a good workout in to help your body burst through that stress so that you begin feeling physically stronger. Have you ever felt really stressed out before going into the gym, and then walked out feeling “like a million bucks” after a great workout? Lift or exercise beforehand so that all those added stresses are totally gone.

Another reason to lift beforehand is so that your body is stretched and loose afterwards which is what you want to be right before and during an eating competition. You will not perform at your highest level if you are very sluggish and tight. If you are not a person that exercises much, at least stretch or do some yoga beforehand. When I am travelling, I usually end up just stretching. The more loose you are, the better you will feel. Adapted from a quote by Randy Moss (NFL), “If you lift good, you will feel good, and if you feel good, you will eat good!!”

Whether you choose resistance training, cardiovascular exercise, or just stretching, that is really up to you and is just a personal preference. There really is no right or wrong way as long as you are doing something that is actually beneficial. I know some eaters that love to lift weights beforehand, and I know others that go on long runs or bike rides. Then there are others that just stretch or do yoga. Your workout may even be working in your yard shoveling mulch!! The choice is up to you and just depends on what you know makes you feel better and stronger, which will help make sure you are relaxed when you get to your event later. Your challenge or contest isn’t going to be easy, so don’t make it a point to just have an easy, relaxing workout. Having an intense workout will lift your spirit and pump you up so that you are feeling great and ready to dominate your competition.

Thanks for reading why you should exercise before the competition and using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

The strongest “muscle” in your entire body is not located in your legs, chest, arms, or back. The human mind is definitely the most powerful “muscle” and a strong mind can push you through any reasonable obstacle. In the words of Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” This quote is very true in the world of food challenges and competitive eating. If you go into an eating contest thinking that you will get second place, you will probably get second place, or less. If you begin a food challenge and aren’t totally sure that you can finish it within the time limit, you more than likely will fail the challenge. Every now and then, you might surprise yourself and end up completing the challenge, but that is very rare. Food challenges are a huge mental game, meaning that you have to have complete confidence in yourself in order to be successful.

“Always make sure to flex your mental muscles!!”

The human body is capable of extraordinary things, but a strong body will never achieve its maximum potential if it is attached to a weak mind. On the other hand, a weaker body attached to a powerful mind will continue to grow stronger and stronger as long as the person allows the body to gradually catch up. If you aren’t fully confident that you can win, you should not even try. If you do try, make sure that you have your wallet with you to pay for the meal after you lose. It has happened to me a few times, usually on trips where I am doing one or two challenges per day. Every now then a time comes when I am not too confident that I can fit it all in, but I go through with it anyway because people will be there to watch. More often than not, I fail. I have learned over time not to over-schedule myself, so typically now I only do challenges that I am confident I can win.

The easiest thing to do to help make sure you show up confident and ready to eat is to select a challenge that you know you can beat. To do that, make sure you have read Selecting The Food Challenge Right For You. You can think you have all the confidence in the world, but if you don’t pick a challenge that you can beat, you will fail. There is a difference is between having confidence and living in a “false reality” where you think you are better than you really are. Don’t overestimate your abilities when selecting a challenge. The next most important thing to do is remember that “knowledge is power, and confidence is king.” Read all of the articles throughout this website that you can so that you can learn how to train, strategize, prepare, win, and then recover. Even knowing how to recover from the challenge will help boost your confidence because you will feel better knowing that you won’t feel bad for very long afterwards. Learn as much as you can, and use it to strategize and prepare for your challenge. If you arrive at the restaurant and have already visualized how the challenge is going to go, you will have the confidence required to make that visualization a true reality. Expect to win, and then leave no doubt.

Train for the challenge, and make sure that your “max out” meal was larger or close to equal to the actual challenge size that you are attempting. If you know you ate more the night before during your max out meal than what your challenge actually weighs, your confidence will be really high. One thing to also remember is that confidence and cockiness are two different things. If you act really cocky before the challenge while you are at the restaurant, you may be talking yourself out of a victory. To find out why, please read Never Talk Smack To The Restaurant Staff, and particularly the chefs cooking your challenge meal. There are many different factors that go into making sure that you are truly focused and confident that you will win. Make sure to cover all of the different aspects so that you can show up confident, without having to say you forgot to do something you wish you would have done beforehand. Don’t think or hope that you can win. Know you will win, and then do it!!

“Visualize yourself winning the challenge, and you will win!!”

Just to clarify, I am not meaning that you should pick easy challenges that you know you WILL easily win. I am referring to making sure you pick a challenge that you CAN win. There isn’t much satisfaction that comes from winning a challenge that you didn’t even have to train for. What I am mostly meaning is that you should not attempt a challenge that is 2lbs heavier than you can handle. 2 star eaters should not be attempting 4 star challenges, and thinking that they can win. The math just doesn’t work. If just starting out, pick challenges that you know you have a good shot at winning. Once you have built up a large amount of real confidence, then it is ok to attempt challenges that are border-line out of your league. Doing this early in your career though is just setting yourself up for failure. Use your powerful mind to train, strategize, and dominate your competitions.

Thanks for reading why your mind is your body’s strongest muscle and using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

The dumbest thing you can possibly do before a food challenge is to talk smack to the restaurant’s kitchen staff about how you are going to dominate their challenge. Never get cocky and talk any kind of smack to anybody involved with the challenge until it is physically sitting in front of you at the table. That has been my policy since the very beginning, but even to this day I still worry about a chef adding extra food or cooking the meat extra tough so that the challenge becomes harder. There are so many ways that a restaurant can make the food tougher for you to eat, and they will more than likely do that to you if you are running your mouth before the challenge about how you are going to win. People like humility, and most people don’t like loud-mouths that “write checks with their mouth that their body can’t cash.” You are free to do whatever you want, but I suggest not making any bets with any of the restaurant staff before the food is sitting in front of you. Running your mouth may end up costing you dearly in the long run. These things may happen to your food if you talk smack:

They can overcook the meat – I once beat an 87 ounce steak challenge in just 15 minutes that was perfectly cooked, and it has taken me over 40 minutes to beat a few smaller steak challenges that were overcooked. If the restaurant overcooks the meat, it will be much harder to chew and swallow. Unless you specifically asked for your food a certain way, they may do this if you are already talking about winning while you are ordering it. Even if you did ask for it certain way, they will probably laugh at you if you don’t finish the challenge. I beat a 72 ounce steak challenge in Seattle, Washington in 45 minutes, and it was overcooked. I found out later that the only person betting against me was the little chef that cooked it. You don’t want the chef against you!!

They can overcook the fries – There are few things more disappointing during a food challenge than to finish a larger burger or sandwich and then bite into the first handful of cold, crispy, and really hard to chew fries that are remaining. A pound of fries doesn’t sound like very much, but a pound of overcooked fries that are cold and crunchy is really tough to eat and can take forever to finish. If the chefs overcook the fries and there is a short time limit, you may be in trouble if you aren’t a really fast eater, all because you got cocky and ran your mouth.

They can add in extra salt – Bacon is the worst choice typically on big pizza challenges because it is one of the saltiest meats available, and its hard to eat a lot of a food that is very salty. I have done two or three burger challenges that tasted abnormally salty. Luckily I had drinks with me to help overcome the terrible flavor. This is one of the easiest things for them to disguise too, so please avoid the situation by not being an arrogant idiot.

Definitely avoid talking smack before pizza challenges – There are multiple things that can be done to a pizza challenge. They can overcook the crust, add in extra cheese and toppings, and they can just add extra crust. When I was in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, I did a pizza challenge and the owner and I ended up making a wager beforehand. I did this after seeing the actual pizza go into the oven. We bet that I would get extra money for every minute under the time limit that I finished, since nobody had ever finished before. I knew I was going to win, so I said yes. It turned out that they “accidentally” burnt the pizza and had to make a new one. Right when I saw them bringing it to me, I knew what they did. I obviously didn’t know how much at the time, but I found out afterwards that they added an extra full pound of dough into the challenge so that I would not finish as fast. Luckily, I still dominated the challenge, just not as fast. That “mistake” saved the restaurant an extra £50.

Aside from them adding an extra pound of dough, the pizza was delicious, but I still would not go back. It just goes to show that you should not talk smack before a challenge. Cockiness can come back and bite you, and losing is not fun, especially when you are “eating your words” too. This doesn’t mean that you should be scared though. Be kind to your waiter or waitress, and feel free to ask questions about the challenge. Feel free to ask for the food a certain way too. Just make sure to not give off an overconfident vibe. I always make jokes when I am speaking to the chefs about being nice to me, and I always make sure to thank them both before and after the challenge. If the restaurant is on your side, which is the goal, your chances of success go up significantly.

If you are an eater that does happen to have quite a few food challenge and eating contest wins, you don’t need to lie to the restaurant if somebody asks you if this is your first time attempting something like that. You don’t have to give the exact number of wins and the times that you finished each one in though. You can just say respectfully that you have done a few before. If they ask what other ones you have done before, it is fine to mention some of the challenges that you have defeated. There is a large difference between confidence and arrogance. You don’t need to be scared to tell them about some of your challenges. Food challengers are rare, yet very interesting because not many people can eat as much as we can, so that person may be genuinely interested in your story. Confidently telling about a few of your challenge wins is different than acting like you have been there, done that, worn the t-shirt, and this challenge will just be another nice notch on your belt.

Most restaurants with challenges are very friendly, but every now and then you will find an owner that goes out of his or her way to make sure that nobody beats their challenge. Some things are out of your control, but you definitely control how you act before the food is there sitting in front of you. When you are getting ready to start, feel free to have some fun with it if you really do think you can dominate. When people ask me if I am going to win, I tell them that I will know when the food arrives. Once the food arrives, it is how I expected it, and I know what the outcome will be, I smile and just say “I didn’t come all this way just to lose.” People love humility, and many people are ok with cocky people, but nobody likes arrogant people. Treat other people with respect, don’t run your mouth arrogantly beforehand, and you will have a great food challenge experience.

Thanks for reading why you should never talk smack to the restaurant staff & using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

Food challenges are over one hundred times more fun when you have people watching and cheering you on to victory. I have done over 75 challenges basically sitting at a table by myself with my camcorder sitting on a tripod, and I can tell you with full confidence that they were not nearly as fun as the challenges I have done with many people watching and cheering. My favorite challenges to do are partner pizza challenges because then it is me along with somebody else working as a team to complete a challenge. Victories are always sweeter when other people are there to share the moment with you. It also can be very motivational to know that people are there watching you and wanting you to win. If you know you will have friends and family there when you take the challenge, you will be more motivated to train and prepare beforehand. Eating challenges are meant to be fun, and it is a lot easier to have fun with other people than it is when you are just sitting there by yourself.

For me it is a little different because I need help from people to operate my video equipment and cameras, but one thing I do really like having somebody there for is to get things if I need them. A server may not always be around to help you, and there may be times when you are running out of time, and running out of whichever beverage you are drinking. Golfers have caddies and football players have equipment managers, and you may need somebody to make sure you get a drink refill or napkins. This may not sound like a big deal, but know that not all restaurants actually care about their challenge, and many servers don’t really care about their job or the people they are waiting on. If you are really full and trying to force down cold french fries during the last few minutes of the challenge, you will want somebody there to make sure your drink is fresh and you are taken care of. Best of all, that person will be there to help celebrate your victory with you. That will be much more fun!!

Here is an example of a challenge when there are people there…

Here is an example of a challenge when you are by yourself…

The big hot dog challenge was one of the most fun challenges that I have ever done. All of those people in the restaurant that day were there to watch me beat the challenge, and it was such a great time taking pictures and celebrating the win afterwards. That burger challenge is actually the most delicious challenge that I have ever done. I don’t remember exactly what was so special about it, but I remember wanting to order a second one. The reason I don’t remember much about it is because the only people watching me were the owner and the one waitress that was there. The challenge was delicious, but it definitely wasn’t anything that can be considered fun. If possible, get friends and family to come and watch you. Just make sure to Confirm The Details With The Restaurant so they can have the challenge available and be ready for your group to arrive and be seated together. If you can, find a friend to do the challenge with you, which will make the experience even more fun and memorable. There may be times, especially if you are traveling, that you may just have to do the challenge by yourself. If you can though, get a group to come watch. The event will be a lot more fun and memorable!!

Thanks for reading why you should bring friends and family for moral support & using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

Before every single food challenge that I do, I follow the exact same pre-challenge ritual, and I won’t start a challenge until that ritual is completed. Similarly, I wear the same shirt during every single challenge that I do. There have only been 2 challenges out of the over 170 challenges that I have defeated where I did not have my challenge shirt on. That was only because I had a set schedule while in Ireland and the airline lost our luggage for a few days. Do you have any kind of rituals that you do? Many athletes have some type of ritual. I don’t know of any other eaters that take rituals as serious as I do, but mine definitely aren’t changing any time soon.

Once the food arrives at my table, I take a whole bunch of photos with my nice camera, and then I take more with my camera phone so that I can post pictures afterwards on my social media. I always wear my A&Z shirt so that my brand is always seen in every photo posted. After the photos are completed, I go to the bathroom one last time to get rid of any remaining water, since I can’t use the restroom during the challenge. After washing my hands, I take a knee, make the sign-of-the-cross and say a little prayer for a victory while taking 6 deep breaths, and then I stand up to look in the mirror and say “It’s challenge time baby!!” Typically I try to make sure I am the only person in the bathroom when I do that, because I have found that I get really strange looks if people are watching!! I then take my A&Z shirt off to reveal my “These aren’t guns, they’re cannons” cut-off shirt that I always wear, and then I walk out to take the challenge. After making sure that all my camcorder equipment is on and focused, I do my video introduction. After the introduction is over, I take a deep breath, make another sign-of-the-cross, and then I turn my hat around and make the switch from Randy Santel into ATLAS, an eating machine. Many people think it is taken from Ash turning his hat around before Pokemon matches, but really it is from one of my favorite “manly” movies, Over The Top, with Sylvester Stallone.

Once my hat is turned around, I go ahead and give the 1, 2, & 3 to start the challenge. There are 2 things I wear and use during each and every challenge. I always use my “Hannah Montana” mp3 player because I could listen to “Party In The USA” by Miley Cyrus all day long. Miley and Ke$ha songs fill up half of my playlist. Also, I wear my necklace that was made for me while I was in New Zealand on the set of Spartacus back in 2010 after winning a national body transformation contest. It was an amazing experience. Here is a video about that:

I go through the exact same ritual every time I do a food challenge, and doing that helps me remember where I started from and the long & lonely path that it took to get the point I am at today. My foundation is a degree in Construction Management, so everything I started back in 2010 has been self-taught. Remembering all of that hard work keeps me motivated through each and every challenge that I do. Now that you know my pre-challenge ritual, consider creating your own!! It doesn’t have to be as serious as mine of course, but think of something that you want to do before your challenge that will help keep you focused and motivated. When people watch me, they know that I care about what I do, and that is why they watch. If you don’t take the challenge seriously, don’t expect anybody else to either. I’m not saying that you have to have a ritual to be considered serious, obviously, but I am saying that it is a good way to keep you focused. To possibly spark some additional thought, here is a short documentary that my friend created for her class project that further explains all my rituals:

Thanks for reading about creating a pre-challenge ritual and using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

As you will see when reading some of the different STRATEGIES articles, ordering your challenge meal is a very critical step that can really influence the outcome of your challenge. If one or more of the eating challenge components is not prepared properly, you will have a much harder time consuming your challenge within the time limit allowed. To prevent this from happening, there are a few things you need to know that can help you order your challenge meal properly. Ordering your food needs to definitely be one of your main priorities before the challenge. Use the following tips and you will have a much easier and tastier food challenge experience:

Do not order until you are ready – Most eating challenges only take around 20-25 minutes to prepare, and the restaurant will typically let you know how long it will take, especially if it takes 30 minutes or longer. If you are waiting on somebody that is coming to watch, or if there is any other reason that you may not be ready to begin when the challenge is ready to be served, do not let your server put the order in. If you are not ready when the restaurant is ready, that will surely be considered your own fault. They cannot just make you a new challenge meal, unless they are responsible for messing up your order. You want to be able to start as soon as the meal is cooled down enough, and no later, so do not order your meal until you know you will be ready to start eating.

If the restaurant is not busy, talk to the cook directly – During every food challenge, there are 2 main people involved. You, the person attempting the challenge, are #1, and the chef(s) who is preparing your challenge meal is #2. Your server’s involvement is really only serving you the meal, getting you the drinks that you request, and keeping the official time, unless somebody else is in charge of that already. The server’s other job will be to place the order for your challenge, and to relay your particular requests to the chef. There is obviously not a 100% chance that all of your requests will be communicated correctly to the chef who is preparing your meal, so you may choose to talk to the chef directly if the restaurant is not busy. You can do this whether you have done one food challenge or 100 food challenges, because your server will not know who you are anyway, and will therefore treat you the same as everyone else. In most cases, especially if you act kindly and confident, your request will be accepted, and you will be able to talk to the chef. Introduce yourself, respectfully ask any questions that you have about the challenge, kindly make all of your particular requests, and make sure to close the conversation by thanking him or her for preparing your meal. The chef will know the most information about the challenge because in most cases, he or she had direct involvement in creating the challenge in the first place. That is the best way to make sure that all of your reasonable desires have been understood. Treat the chef with respect, and he or she will more than likely prepare your challenge correctly. If you act cocky and arrogant, make sure you are ready to chew some overcooked, salty, and poorly tasting food, which will be your own fault.

Ask about substitutions and options – Almost all food challenges have a set list of main ingredients and components that make up the actual challenge, but many restaurants allow minor ingredient substitutions, and a few restaurants will even let you choose what side items or toppings you want. You will never know whether you have options if you do not ask. If you are able to choose your side item, the server will most likely ask you which option you want when you order the meal, but he or she cannot read your mind and know that you do not like pickles. If you don’t like pickles on your burger, ask to substitute more tomatoes in place of the pickles. Many restaurants will be okay with your request. Onions are typically the most undesired burger topping, so if the challenge has onions, that restaurant has most likely already dealt with your question before. If you are able to choose your side item, ask your server what he or she thinks is the best option to choose, if you do not already know what you want to pick. If you don’t ask questions, your sever will assume that you are okay with how the challenge typically is served, so ask any questions you have when ordering so you are not disappointed later.

Order your meat, fries, and other foods correctly – The most important thing that you must do when ordering is to specify how you want your meats and fried items cooked, if applicable. This is also covered in many of the STRATEGIES articles, particularly the Basic Strategy For Winning A Food Challenge article, but you need to stress that they do not overcook your meats, baked foods, and fried side items. If they do overcook your burger meat, steak, french fries, potato wedges, or even your pizza, those particular items will become dry and tough to both chew and swallow. They will be even tougher to eat when they get cold later on in the challenge. If you are doing a steak challenge, make sure to get your steak cooked medium rare so that it is juicy and tender, making the meat easier to eat and also more delicious. If you order it well done, you will need steak sauce and you will have to drink a lot more liquid during the challenge so that you can still eat quickly. Those liquids will just take up additional room in your stomach. That same theory also applies to when you are ordering a burger challenge. If they overcook your fries, they will be really crunchy and tough to eat when they are cold after you finish your main entree. Also, if they base the amount you get on weight, you will actually have to eat more because all of the grease and juices were fried out of them, making them much lighter. Save yourself a lot of trouble by stressing that they do not overcook the meats, fried items, and all other cooked items, especially beef. Pork, chicken, and other meats have different cooking requirements. You definitely do not want to eat them raw, because then you risk getting sick. The restaurant cannot legally serve you those particular meats under-cooked anyway, so this mostly refers to challenges that involve beef. Please make sure that your food is not overcooked or burnt, and you will have a much better food challenge experience, and a much higher success rate too.

Order the drinks that you will need – Beverages and liquids can play a major role during your challenge because you can use them to both help get your food swallowed faster, and change up the flavor of your food if you begin suffering from flavor fatigue. For more advice on which beverages you should choose, please check out our Basic Strategy For Winning A Food Challenge article. One thing to remember when ordering your drinks is that you need to tell them whether or not you want ice included. I typically make sure to ask for no ice if the liquid is served cold already, and light ice if the liquid is served warm if ice is not added. I like my beverages to be fresh and cold, but too much ice gets in the way when I am trying to take a drink. If you prefer drinking out of a straw, ice being in your drink will not matter. The choice is up to you and your preference, but you need to make sure to ask for no ice if you do not want any, because servers are typically taught to serve all soft drinks with ice unless specifically asked not to. You may want to also check whether or not drinks are included with the challenge. I have had a few instances where I won and got the challenge meal free, but I still had to pay for my $2 fountain drink. While I do think that is completely ridiculous, rules are rules, and they definitely must be followed.

Follow the tips above when ordering your challenge meal, and there will be a much higher chance that your food gets prepared appropriately. To further help you order your particular challenge, check out the specific article in our Strategies Per Challenge Type section that corresponds to the type of challenge that you will be attempting. That article will provide advanced pre-challenge strategy tips to help you win that particular challenge type.

Thanks for reading advice for when ordering the food challenge and using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.

Once you take that first bite and the timer starts, the challenge has begun and you now must abide by the restaurant’s established “house rules” while finishing the entire meal. If you have any questions about the rules, you need to address them before you start eating because “I didn’t know” will not be an acceptable excuse if you break the rules and get disqualified. You cannot just start over. As an eater, there are few things more depressing than when a restaurant owner declares you a failure when you thought you had won, and you were not aware of the reason that you were disqualified. In the end, that is your fault because you did not clarify the rule beforehand. If you have never attempted a food challenge before, or have only attempted a few, there are questions you should clear up that you most likely have not even thought of yet. Some restaurants are strict about their rules and some are very lenient, but you should prepare yourself so that you are ready for any situation. Here is a solid list of questions to clarify so you don’t have to learn the answers the hard way:

When does the official challenge time begin? – There are basically four different possible scenarios for when the official challenge timer or clock begins. Most restaurants begin the timer as soon as you take your first bite. Whether you let the challenge cool down for 5 minutes or 15 minutes, that is up to you and is acceptable. Once you take your first bite though, the clock begins. Some restaurants begin the clock as soon as you touch, separate, or cut into the food. If this is the rule, then you need to wait a while before touching the food. Let the exterior cool for a while, and then just let the inside cool while you are eating the cooled down exterior. Then there are some restaurants that set a specific maximum time limit that your food is allowed to cool before time begins. You may be allowed 5 minutes or 10 minutes. If this is the rule, you need to separate the food to let it cool off as much as possible before that time runs out and the official challenge time begins. If you cannot even separate the food during that period, you will just have to adjust accordingly. The fourth possibility that may occur is that a few restaurants begin the clock as soon as the challenge meal touches the table. This really sucks if you like taking pictures and stuff before beginning, especially if you are filming yourself. If the cafe or restaurant has this rule, try to negotiate a few minutes so that you can take pictures and other miscellaneous things before beginning. More often than not, you will get those few extra minutes. Most restaurants just start the time as soon as you take a bite, but there are definitely other options. Ask what the rule is when you order so that you are not surprised when time starts as soon as it hits the table. Learn the rule and adjust accordingly.

Can you cut or separate your food before beginning? – This is mentioned in the question above, but is really its own separate question, and it especially applies when you are trying to break a very low time record. Find out whether you can divide, separate, and/or cut up your challenge before the official time starts. If you are allowed to separate your 6 patty burger beforehand, for example, you may choose to do that so that you don’t have to waste time separating everything once the time starts. Can you cut your steak up beforehand? 98% of the time you cannot, but you may want to cut up a few pieces if you can so that you don’t spend a whole bunch of time cutting the steak while the clock is running, since you need to be eating and not just cutting. This rule really depends on the restaurant and the only way to learn the answer is to ask the question. Some places will let you separate your food to let it cool and others will not. Find out the rules beforehand and adjust accordingly.

Does the food have to be in your mouth OR swallowed when time expires? – If you are doing a speed challenge with a short time limit, attempting to break a time record, or attempting a large challenge that may take you the entire time limit to complete, make sure to ask this question before you begin. You need to know whether your time ends when you open your empty mouth or when the last bit of food is placed in your mouth, waiting to be swallowed. Not knowing this rule can definitely cost you your challenge victory by just a few seconds, and you don’t want that. This rule varies based on the restaurant, so you definitely should not make any assumptions.

What can you do during the challenge? Can you get up and walk around? – Almost all food challenge rules will not allow you to “throw up” or go to the bathroom during your challenge, but are there any other things you can and cannot do? Are you able to go outside to get some fresh air or smoke a cigarette? Are there any restrictions on whether you can stand or kneel? You will not encounter this rule very often during quantity challenges, but there are some restaurants that require you to stay seated the entire time, and you are not allowed to even stand and stretch. Ask this question beforehand so that you know what you can and cannot do. If you stand up to stretch and are then told you must sit right back down, that might throw off your rhythm and cause you to not finish the challenge in time. While that would be unfortunate, the situation is very preventable by asking this question beforehand. Please note that most spicy challenges require that you do sit the entire time period.

Are there any rules regarding beverages? – This type of rule is also very rare, but you may encounter it at some point. There are some restaurants that limit you to drinking only 1 cup of liquid during the entire food challenge. There are also restaurants that limit you to only being allowed to drink water during the challenge. If the challenge you are attempting has a rule limiting your use of extra beverages, you will need to prepare for that accordingly. While asking this question, also check to see whether soft drinks are included with the challenge or not. Are there free refills? If drinks are not included, you may choose to only drink water, simply to avoid the extra expense. That is up to you, but be sure to ask this question early so you don’t encounter any surprises.

If it is a spicy challenge, are you allowed to drink anything or use extra sauces? – This is pretty straightforward, but definitely a question that you need to know the answer to before beginning. You are not allowed to drink anything or use any “help” (fatty sauces) during most spicy challenges, but you are allowed to drink liquid every now and then, depending on the restaurant and size of the challenge. Some spicy challenge rules allow you to drink liquids, but there are particular restrictions just like in the paragraph above. You may only be allowed to drink one glass of water, or you may be able to drink anything that is not a dairy product, since the chemical used in spicy challenges is fat-soluble. You may encounter a challenge where you cannot drink anything, but you can dip the items in a fatty dressing or top it with sour cream. You may want to call and ask this question before even getting to the restaurant, because then you can plan accordingly and bring whatever liquid or sauce that you need just to make sure that it is available. True chili-heads will call you a cheater if you use “help” during a spicy challenge, but you are not cheating if the “house rules” allow you to, so take advantage of the opportunity.

If it is a spicy challenge, is there an “afterburn” period? – An “afterburn” period is the amount of time you must wait after finishing a spicy challenge before you are allowed to take a drink and begin recovering from the intense heat. Most “afterburn” periods are five or six minutes long, and you will be disqualified if you take a drink during that period. Ask this question  beforehand because you will have to mentally prepare yourself for it if there is one included with the challenge. “Afterburn” periods are typically associated with spicy challenges that award better prizes, but really it just depends on the restaurant hosting the particular spicy challenge.

Does the challenge involve a “waiting period” after finishing? – This question refers to both quantity and spicy food challenges. Are you required to “keep the food down” for a certain amount of time directly after finishing the challenge? Some restaurants have a five minute “waiting period” in which you must remain seated so that they can monitor you and make sure that you don’t “throw up” or have a “reversal of fortune” directly after swallowing the last bite. I have even encountered “waiting periods” up to fifteen minutes, which was very inconvenient, but rules are rules. If there is one included, you must do everything possible to make sure that you don’t “reverse” before that time period is up. Hopefully this rule never has to matter to you, but you should definitely ask the question beforehand anyway just so that you don’t need to worry about asking it later.

Who is in charge of keeping track of the official time? – It is definitely recommended that you keep track of your own time with your own stopwatch, but most restaurants keep track of the official time too. Some restaurants are more relaxed than others, and there may be points where nobody from the staff is even watching you. If the official time is important for your challenge, you need to ask which person is in charge of keeping track of the official time. If that particular person is not there with only a few minutes remaining, you can then start asking other servers to find that person so that he or she can stop the clock when you are done. The restaurant’s time is usually the one that counts, so you need to do what you can to make sure that it is as accurate as possible, especially if the restaurant does not use a digital timer or stopwatch. If they use a “wind-up” kitchen timer, be sure to keep your own digital time to make sure everything is accurate. Their clock won’t be 100% accurate down to the second, and it may be a minute longer or a minute shorter. You don’t want to get stuck losing with one bite left at 44 minutes when the inaccurate timer goes off for the 45 minute challenge. If you timed it yourself, you can argue for that extra minute. Ask who is in charge before you start and let the staff know this isn’t your first “rodeo.” They will more than likely be proactive and make sure that you are well taken care of.

Are you allowed to dunk your food in liquid? – The answer to this question is either “yes” or “no” and there really is no gray area. If you are attempting a challenge that involves a very thick bun, crust, or any other type of bread, and you plan on dunking it in a liquid to help soften it up so that you can consume it faster, you need to clarify this question before beginning. If you plan on dunking and you know you are allowed to, you may want to order a special drink just so that you can dunk your food in it. You may even want to bring your own “dunking cup” to the restaurant if you know you will be using it. Ask the question beforehand so that nobody is surprised when you actually do it. If you don’t know there is a “no dunking clause” in the rules, and you begin dunking your food, a strict owner may disqualify you and that is your own fault. If you were planning on dunking but then find out you can’t, you are now able to adjust your strategy and plan accordingly to get the big challenge victory.

You will not encounter any of the above ten questions during most of your eating challenges, but knowing the answers to those questions before beginning a challenge where the particular situations may arise could end up being the difference between winning and losing a big challenge. Ask beforehand and you will be a winner!!

Thanks for reading questions to clarify before you begin eating and using FoodChallenges.com!!

To go back and view other Before The Challenge articles, click here.