How many hot dogs do you reckon you can eat in 10 minutes? I bet it's not 62.
Joey Chestnut won his 16th Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest today (4 July). He ate a world record-breaking 62 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.
But let's not forget that consuming such an enormous amount of hot dogs has its consequences. Joey Chestnut recently shared a sneak peek into his post-hot-dog-eating routine
"Most people relate to feeling really bloated and tired after Thanksgiving," Joey told Insider. "It's kind of like that, except really, really bad."
"People have told me they can smell the hot dogs," Joey said. "I really can't, but the sweat afterward, it feels sticky and greasy. My girlfriend says it smells different."
After his impressive hot dog eating triumph, Joey shared his post-contest routine when he returns to his hotel. He said:, "Afterward, I'm crazy exhausted, and usually my first thing is either I'm thirsty or I want to go to sleep. I usually take a nap as soon as I can."
"It's natural," Joey said. "If you eat a lot of food, you're going to go to the bathroom."
In preparation for the hot dog eating contest, Joey says he adheres to a unique routine, ensuring he enters the competition with an empty stomach.
He follows a two-day cleanse, consuming only water and lemon juice during this period.
Explaining his approach, he stated, "My body knows that it's going to be digesting a massive amount of food really quickly, so I make sure it's easy to digest."
He further elaborated that while it typically takes around nine to ten hours for food to fully digest, his cleansing method expedites the process, keeping things moving swiftly.
"It's hard on the body, there's no way around it," he said.
Joey. who has become a legendary figure in the competitive eating world, has dominated the contest in recent years
But he said the aftermath doesn't put him off hot dogs - and he will always love eating them and has no intention to dip out of the competition.
"As long as my body's cooperating, I can see myself doing it for years," he said. "And one of these days someone is going to come — some absolute boss, man or woman — and challenge me, and I'm looking forward to it."
"I love the competition, and it's still exciting," he added. "Even if I end up getting beat, it would be really hard to walk away."
The female winner this year was Miki Sudo, after consuming 39.5 hot dogs.
She told The Mirror that was a little disappointed in this year’s number (of hot dogs eaten), but says, “now we have more serious competition on the women’s side and I’ve gotta step up my training!”
When asked what advice she'd give newer competitors, she said: “I see it most amongst women - you can’t be afraid to look silly. That’s the number one rule for a lot of it. You can't be afraid to jump in and get silly… don’t be self-conscious!”
“I only did like three practices this year. Now that I’ve got strong competition, I’ll be stepping up my training, stepping up my practices, and I think we’ll only see bigger numbers from here!”
As for how she feels after eating nearly 40 hot dogs. She said: “I mean, right now, I have almost 40 hot dogs in my stomach, I don’t know how much that weighs, but my son weighs 35 lbs, so when I was carrying him around, that was pretty difficult."
The Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual event held in Coney Island, New York.
It is considered one of the most renowned and prestigious competitive eating competition in the world.
The contest takes place on Independence Day and attracts thousands of spectators who gather to watch the incredible feats of eating prowess.
Competitors, both men and women, gather to test their eating skills and attempt to consume as many hot dogs and buns as possible within a strict time limit of 10 minutes.
The contest is sanctioned by Major League Eating (MLE), the governing body for professional competitive eating events.
