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Biggest Headline of 2008: The Competitive Eating Craze

YumSugar — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:30:01 -0800

In general, sports have been known to have a positive impact on one's health. The exception might be in the case of competitive eating, a sport that has developed a massive following this year. Although I have yet to understand the appeal of competitive eating, there's no question that it holds some aura of mystique, as it made multiple headlines in 2008; here are just a few of them.

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Man Dies in Company-Sponsored Pastry Eating Contest

YumSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:00:22 -0800

A few months ago we noticed that competitive eating was a rapidly growing "sport": This year, 1.5 million people tuned in to ESPN to watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, and there's now a game, Major League Eating, available on the Nintendo Wii. Yet while it's entertainment for many, it comes at a cost for others. Yesterday, Saurab Sabharwal, a 22-year-old engineer at Nokia-Siemens in Gurgaon, India, died during a company-sponsored pastry eating contest held in the office cafeteria. After choking, he ran to the bathroom alone, and was found unconscious an hour later. Colleagues called for an ambulance, which rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. This isn't the first death we've heard of from competitive eating. Last month, a Taiwanese student fell unconscious and died during a steamed bun eating contest.

Does this call for further measures to be taken, so that others don't get hurt? Should a medical expert have been mandated to stand by, just in case? Or should government officials consider placing a ban on eating contests?

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Joey Chestnut Wins First Ever World Pizza Championships

YumSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:00:42 -0700

Yesterday the world's best competitive eaters met at a pizza eating competition in New York City's Time Square. Joey Chestnut, the nation's champion in hot dog and hamburger eating, broke the record with an amazing 45 slices in ten minutes at the Famous Famiglia pizza eating competition. Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti was Chestnut's closest opponent - he ate 43 slices in the quick ten minutes.

Chestnut folded the regular cheese slices before launching them into his stomach. He washed the pizza down with water in paper cups and "never appeared to chew." After winning the pizza-eating contest, Chestnut is certainly the current star of Major League Eating. Although I find the whole thing pretty disgusting, I'm excited to see what other records Chestnut miraculously beats.

What do you think?

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Competitive Eating Is a Growing Sport

YumSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:00:41 -0700

It may not be in the Olympics - yet - but competitive eating has become one of the world's fastest-growing sports. Last month, as many as 1.5 million people tuned in to ESPN to watch Joey Chestnut beat Takeru Kobayashi in Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. According to the Major League Eating spokesman Ryan Nerz:

At the big eating events you have normal guys who get up and do this thing well, beat a bunch of people, and all of a sudden they have a camera shoved in their face. They get a whole new group of friends, a blog, a MySpace page, fans. It very quickly becomes their identity, and it transcends their former identity as a waiter at a pizza restaurant, an accountant, or whatever.

The profile of a typical competitive eater has also evolved in recent years. The demographic has changed from the overweight, blue-collar male champions to trimmer, younger, white-collar competitors that include men and women. Many competitors believe in the Belt of Fat theory - that a skinny build allows the stomach to expand with less difficulty than if it were surrounded by a constricting layer of fat tissue.

Have you or would you ever try competitive eating? For some recent records in the world of competitive eating, read more.

Mince pies: 6 pies in 10 minutes - Sonya Thomas

Nigiri sushi: 141 pieces in six minutes - Timothy Janus

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches: 42 sandwiches in 10 minutes - Patrick Bertoletti

Jalapeños: 177 pickled jalapeño peppers in 15 minutes - Patrick Bertoletti

Waffles: 29 waffles in 10 minutes - Patrick Bertoletti

Lobster: 44 Maine lobsters from the shell in 12 minutes - Sonya Thomas

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Nathan's Famous Dog Contest Ends in First Ever Dog Off

partysugar — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:41:55 -0700

The excitement was incredible this morning at Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition. The reigning champ Joey Chestnut and the Japanese firecracker Takeru Kobayashi faced off in a shorter - 10 instead of last year's 12 - minute competition to see who could eat the most hot dogs. For the first time in history, after the ten minutes, there was a tie: both Chestnut and Kobayshi, who eat at basically the same pace, had eaten 59 hot dogs.

What happened next was a dog off: whoever could eat five more hot dogs the quickest would win. Although it was neck and neck, Joey Chestnut was victorious and walked away with the coveted mustard belt. When ESPN asked why he had won, Chestnut remarked,

It's fourth ofJuly and you can get through something like this. It came down to who needed it more, he wanted it but I needed it.

Anybody that needs to win a hot dog eating competition seems a little crazy to me. If you missed the competition be sure to check out the video: read more.

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Would You Consider Entering A Food Eating Contest?

partysugar — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:03:38 -0700

Watching this video of our very own 7bits win a peach pie eating contest makes me wonder just how much I could eat for a prize. Do you think you could do it? Would you consider entering a food eating contest?

Kara DioGuardi Covers Women's Health

FitSugar — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:30:52 -0700

Since suffering from an eating disorder in her 20s, Kara DioGuardi has come a long way. With Paula Abdul gone, she is the current Queen Bee on American Idol; she also has an accomplished career as a songwriter and music producer. And at 38, she looks damn good - something she shared with the world during the series finale of American Idol last year. Kara stripped down to a black bikini to battle it out with a contestant known as "Bikini Girl," a move that she tells Women's Health this month defined her: "It probably saved my job. It was a defining moment. Like, 'She's serious and industry, but also as kooky as everyone else on this panel.' "

Here are more highlights from the interview.

Battling an eating disorder. "I’d pretty much clean out the refrigerator. Food was my drug of choice. It anesthetized me so I wouldn’t have to feel whatever I was feeling. I’d stuff myself full of sugar and fall asleep."
On eating healthy. "The more roughage you eat, the more it fills you up."
On the importance of water. "Two huge bottles a day, minimum. I have them around - one upstairs, one in the car - to force me to remember."
Her exercise routine. "Two miles of running or 25 minutes of cardio - boxing, treadmill, step-ups, walking lunges, sprints. I mix it up. And weight training is important as you get older. You build muscle which burns fat when you’re at rest."

To see the rest of the interview, pick up a copy of Women's Health, on newsstands tomorrow.

Photo courtesy of Fox

Yummy Links: From Jalapeño Poppers to Cocoa Powder

partysugar — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:50:41 -0800

Here's 11 amazing ways to make jalapeño poppers. - Chow
Would you eat this pizza cone? - Slice
Marco Pierre White is the latest chef to get his own live cooking television show. - Eater
How to host a jungle-themed baby shower. - Hostess Blog
Mario Batali reveals his plans to open a NYC brewpub. - Grub Street NY
Calling all aspiring food photographers: enter the Saveur cover contest. - Saveur
Rocco Dispirito still knows how to make good pizza. - Feast
Everything you need to know about cocoa powder. - David Lebovitz

Get Over the Hump Day: Progress Report

FitSugar — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:00:44 -0800

Although many consider Mondays to be the most difficult day of the week, getting through Wednesday, over the halfway hump of week, can equally as challenging. Since we are both midweek and midway through our Get Fit For 2010 challenge and contest, I though I would check in with you all and ask how it's going? So write up a blog post in the Get Fit For 2010 Group and drop me a line on your progress. I'd love to hear what's going on with you.

This, the sixth week of our three-month contest, is also time to play catch up. Finishing any challenge from the past five weeks this week will count as an entry for our weekly prize - a $100 gift card from Nike - as well as our grand prize: a $1,000 gift card from Nike; a year of personalized nutrition plans by nutritionist Alexa Fishback, plus a copy of her book; a year membership to 24 Hour Fitness for you and a friend; and two Bodybuggs.

If you're new to the challenges and contest, start today. Here's what you have missed:

Share a healthy recipe using our recipe form.
Take a page from your fitness journal and share it in blog post format.
Tell us what you're eating and write up a food journal in the Get Fit group.
Take these three tests to measure your fitness level.
Share your healthy goals for the year and tell me how you plan to meet them.

Nutritionist Alexa Fishback on the Power of Food Journaling

FitSugar — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:00:02 -0800

This week, the Get Fit For 2010 challenge is to write a blog post about a day of your food journal. But there's no need to go it alone; nutritionist Alexa Fishback, author of The Daily Fix is here to help us all.

Here are some encouraging words from Alexa:

Congratulations on joining Get Fit For 2010! This week we are focusing on the food journal, a very basic but powerful tool to create awareness about the foods you eat every day and thus those that impact your weight and health. Although it can be tedious, studies have shown that the longer people keep a food journal, the more weight they lose.

The important lesson is to be able to connect the sandwich you eat every day for lunch to its calorie content, and to monitor your overall fruit and veggie intake. You may be shocked to see how caloric some of your favorite foods are or pleasantly surprised to discover those foods that really fill you up and are low in calories. You may be stunned by the lack of fruit in your diet and all the calories in the bread and olive oil you nibbled on before dinner, or proud of yourself for fulfilling your daily veggie requirement on a regular basis.

Maintaining a food journal for one week is usually quite effective, but feel free to continue logging your intake until (a) you feel you fully understand your daily eating habits and (b) you get to the point where you have memorized or can estimate the calories of the foods you typically eat. At the end of each week, review your food journal and ask yourself: "Should I be eating these foods every day, or should some of them be reserved for special occasions?" You will quickly learn to distinguish between good daily choices versus weekly or special-occasion foods. Remember - you are what you eat every day - not what you eat randomly for a treat.

Now that you know how keeping a food journal works, be sure to join our Get Fit For 2010 challenge and contest, for a chance to win a personalized nutrition plan created by Alexa, along with many other amazing goodies. Here are the details on our fabulous grand prize.