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Asking A Competitive Eater How He Puts So Much In His Mouth

Asking A Competitive Eater How He Puts So Much In His Mouth

And other stuff.

Matthew Cooper

Matthew Cooper

Last week was British Sandwich Week so I set out to ask someone who eats competitively about big sandwiches.

Unfortunately he was touring Europe during this time, eating food, strangely enough. By the time Randy Santel- competitive eater and personal trainer got back to me, sandwich week was over.

Still, I wanted to know how the man could juggle two completely contrasting career choices, and how he could get so much food inside him without shitting out his own insides.

Being the nice guy that he is, Randy obliged to answer my curious questions:

First, how's the tour been and what have you gotten up to?

I have gone on 4 trips during the last month and just got back from 2 directly in a row. I did some challenges initially in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and then I went and did a few in Manhattan, NY. The two trips I just got back from included Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona, Hermosillo in Mexico (country #10), and then I flew to the Czech Republic (#11) and won 5 food challenges and 1 pizza eating contest which was held at a festival. I now have 386 food challenge wins in 38 US states and 11 countries. I have 10 days to prepare for our next tour which will last about 70 days traveling all over Europe, spanning about 8 to 10 countries including England, Wales, and Scotland along with Sweden, Belgium, Greece, Germany, and the Czech Republic again for sure. Hopefully more places get added.

What are the worst and best things you've ever eaten?

With food challenges the most common ones are burgers and pizzas, and breakfasts when I'm in the UK and Ireland. I once got to eat an 8lb GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH in Chicago, Illinois which is the most delicious challenge I've won to date. Here is the video:

It actually turned out really good. The challenges I hate the most are extra spicy ones that really burn and hurt. Most spicy challenges are so hot that you can't taste any flavour or anything so they're not only extra hot, but they taste terrible too. I ate 10 wings covered in a sauce containing Trinidad Moruga Scorpion peppers and it hurt so bad that I didn't attempt another spicy challenge for over a year afterwards.

Is there a specific training routine you have to put yourself through so you can stay in shape while doing challenges?

I am a lot more extreme than all other food challenge and eating contest competitors. In 2015 I won over 140 food challenges which equals out to winning more than 1 every 3 days. I go on tours spanning over 6 weeks at a time and I do gain a pretty serious amount of weight. After the tour is over though I take a few months off to let my body rest and recover, and I eat very healthy and diet back down to a normal size. During my tours my exercise consists mostly of jogging around various cities doing a bunch of sightseeing and stuff. When I am home I focus more on weightlifting and resistance training. My metabolism is pretty high in general because my body is now used to processing thousands of calories at a time.

What are the most filling things to eat and what are the easiest things?

The greasier and juicier something is, and the more "broken up" food is, the easier it is to eat and swallow fast. Mexican food challenges like tacos and burritos are easier to eat because all the food is already ground and shredded up. Pizzas are pretty easy because of the greasy and juicy cheese and meats which help get the crust down as well. Steaks can take a while because you have to cut them up and everything, unless you throw manners "out the window" and just use your hands like Molly Schuyler does. Many restaurants use cheap "fillers" to make their challenges harder without costing a lot of extra food expenses. Many English breakfasts feature 8 to 10 totally unnecessary slices of boring bread which are meant to fill people up without costing the restaurant a lot. Lunch and dinner challenges often feature a lot of French fries and potatoes because they are cheap but filling. Burgers and sandwiches that feature a lot of bread are typically tougher because the bread is very filling. Ice cream can be easy to eat if you know how to avoid the brain freeze and stuff like that. Basically things that are juicy and tender can be eaten faster and things that are dry will take longer. You also need to drink more liquids to help get those dry items down safely without choking or anything like that.

Ideal Sandwich?

Because of my line of work, I have been able to eat some awesome sandwiches!! Here are a few:

Ultimate Destroyer which was on Man v Food

Mangetout's in Southend-on-Sea

Oh wow, Southend-on-Sea in England, how did you end up there?

That one in Southend was one of my favorite sandwiches! It had 7 different layers on it. It was very tough but really delicious. I do food challenges anywhere and everywhere, and that was a unique one so I wanted to try it. Plus it was neat going to Southend. It was fun walking the very long pier there (way longer than it looks from afar haha). I bet it is very fun there in the summer time. I was there in the winter when hardly anybody was there. Traveling is much cheaper then!

Thanks, Randy.

Randy will be back in the UK doing all sorts of cool stuff over the next few months.

You can check out his website here and his YouTube here.

Words by Matthew Cooper

Lead Image Credit: Randy Santel

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Burgers, Eating, Food