You Won’t Believe What These Professional Eaters Crave After The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest
If you’ve ever watched the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on the Fourth of July, you know it’s messy. Contestants stand in front of piles of hot dogs with their drink of choice close by. For some, it’s water. For others, it’s something else. “I use Crystal fruit punch,” said competitor Geoffrey Esper. “Everybody spots it right off the bat because my hands and everyone around me all get stained red.”
When the 10-minute timer begins, chaos ensues. The professional eaters separate the dogs from the buns and start shoving the dogs into their mouths with clenched hands. The buns get dunked before they're eaten. Liquid splashes and runs down their arms as their scrunched faces continue to eat more and more hot dogs.
An emcee keeps the crowd excited, announcing the numbers of dogs eaten. “There is no one, no one catching up to Joey Chestnut unless a comet hits this arena,” he says, referring to the reigning champ of the men's division. It’s intense, exciting, and uncomfortable to watch.
Have you ever wondered how the contestants train for such intense eating? Delish chatted with three competitive eaters slated to participate in this year’s contest to see how they get their mind, body, and stomachs ready.
Three months before
At this point, it's all about familiarizing yourself with the food. Most professional eaters will compete in similar competitions to get ready, splitting the foods they eat competitively into two categories. “We have debris foods, like chicken wings or ribs. There’s a bone,” said Miki Sudo, who has won the women’s competition seven times since 2014 with a record of 48.5 hot dogs. “Those are technique-driven. You need speed and hand coordination.”
Then there are capacity foods, like chili. “You’re just shoving it into your face,” Sudo said. “Something like hot dogs is a hybrid because you're working with two different textures, the bun and the meat. During this time, it’s all about re-familiarizing yourself with the food.”
That involves practice runs. “I set up everything just like it's gonna be at the contest,” said Esper, who came in second last year behind Chestnut, eating 51 hot dogs. “I get my dunking cups and put as many hot dogs as I think I'll get through in 10 minutes and just go as hard as I can.”
This helps with technique and stretches their stomach capacity. “Some people like to go to buffets,” Esper said. “I'll eat a lot of vegetables with a lot of liquids and just really get stretched out and bloated and uncomfortable. It's not a lot of fun.”
Three weeks before
Once her stomach capacity is up, and the practice runs have started, Michelle Lesco likes to work on her technique. “You have to worry about how you are getting the dogs and buns down in the most efficient way while not taking in too much liquid,” said Lesco, who won last year, eating 30.75 hot dogs. She even thinks about the angle of the plate. “You'll probably see me rotate a plate before the contest starts. I tend to want to grab the hot dog with my right hand and the bun with my left hand,” she said.
Sudo likes to be “within striking distance” of her potential during this time. “You want to be within some attainable reach of where you want to be [on competition day,]” she said. “I make sure I'm as healthy as I can be, getting proper sleep, staying hydrated, eating right, and staying near my fighting weight.”
Three days before
In the days leading up to the competition, the eaters just want to make sure their digestive tracts and stomachs aren’t full or backed up. “I'll eat for caloric density and nutrition and really try to minimize volume,” Sudo said. “You don't want your stomach to have a whole lot to process, and you don't want your digestive tract to be really full.” For her, it’s all about protein shakes and peanut butter. And no fiber.
Post-competition
You probably think that a hot dog is the last thing the competitors want to eat afterward, but you'd be surprised. “After Nathan's, I'm looking forward to eating a hot dog,” Sudo said. “But this time with a non-soggy bun and sauerkraut, brown mustard, and onions.”
Lesco agrees. “If you gave me access to Nathan’s hot dogs throughout the year, I would still eat them throughout the year.”
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