Competitive Eating-"The Calling"
Why did you want to be a competitive eater?
I really fell into competitive eating. To tell you the truth. I've always enjoyed eating alot of food because I like the taste of things and out eating say my dad or my mom. Family members are like he is going to get a second plate. But when I realized I should be doing this I ate a 64 oz steak my junior year of college becuase I was afraid I would have to pay for it. If you eat the whole thing you wouldn't have to pay the $40 or whatever it was and I did it in 17 mins. At the time I was like is that fast? They were like, we have never had anyone finish it at the restaurant. Maybe I should look into this and that was the start of this.
How long have you been a competitive eater?
I guess I've been competitively eating all my life in a joking sense because I've always wanted to out-eat, you know, the next guy or, you know, my friends and things like that. Just because it's fun and, you know, it's always like "How many pancakes could you eat?," or, you know, "I bet you can't eat that whole plate of whatever." But professionally I've been eating since, I guess, June of 2005.
What's so great about competitive eating?
Competitive eating is growing in popularity and its a great way to fill up on free meals. And don't forget the possibly of winning money and becoming famous. Believe it or not theirs a huge fan base, and you also get the chance to go on T.V. or get your name and picture in the paper. It's got it's pluses.
How much do you eat when you're not competing?
I eat a whole bunch of small meals everyday. So whenever it comes to on a daily basis, I do not say well for lunch I am going to have four and a half pounds of zucchini. For dinner I think I will have about eight pounds of chicken wings. I mean I just do not do that. I mean I eat chicken and broccoli and protein shakes and you know, hamburgers and pizza. But it is in moderation. I do not kill the whole pie whenever I order it. I do not eat twelve burgers from McDonalds. Moderation is the key.
What do you hope to accomplish as a competitive eater?
The one thing I've always wanted to do in competitive eating is to compete against the Japanese. And that's because its been so popular over there for so long and they have such a rich history in competitive eating that for me to either go over there or compete against someone over here that's been established or is even just getting into it, I just think that I have that kind of art. Because over there its held so highly that I think that would be it.
