Competitive Eater Crazy Legs Conti's Diet and Fitness Routine
Posted on Nov 6th 2009 2:00PM by Sara AbadiFiled Under: Celebs & Entertainment
Crazy Legs Conti, competitive eater and star of Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating
Photo: Buck Wolf, AOL News
Call it a sport that's seen a growth spurt or two, a fascinating hobby or just plain gross. You've seen the photos, or at least heard of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest -- personally my favorite part of July 4th -- but what about the other 364 days of the year? Who are these ferocious feasters and what is their life like outside of competition?
To get inside the world of competitive eating, we consulted competitive eater Crazy Legs Conti, ranked 15 in the world and most recently the cannoli eating champion. People assume competitive eaters must be 400-pound individuals who gorge themselves at all-you-can-eat buffets, and nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Crazy Legs is 6'3'' and weighs 215 pounds.
You also might be surprised to know that he's a dedicated runner and does yoga two to three times a week. "Throughout the year I eat competitively 40 to 45 times," he says. "So I'm watching every bite, chew and swallow to be able to go the table and perform to the best of my ability. It's like preparing for a marathon, but it's a marathon of eating." With about 80 competitive-eating events a year, thousands of dollars of prize money on the line and tons of buzz surrounding these events we definitely wanted to hear more from this eating expert about how he stays fit, while eating so much.
To get inside the world of competitive eating, we consulted competitive eater Crazy Legs Conti, ranked 15 in the world and most recently the cannoli eating champion. People assume competitive eaters must be 400-pound individuals who gorge themselves at all-you-can-eat buffets, and nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Crazy Legs is 6'3'' and weighs 215 pounds.
You also might be surprised to know that he's a dedicated runner and does yoga two to three times a week. "Throughout the year I eat competitively 40 to 45 times," he says. "So I'm watching every bite, chew and swallow to be able to go the table and perform to the best of my ability. It's like preparing for a marathon, but it's a marathon of eating." With about 80 competitive-eating events a year, thousands of dollars of prize money on the line and tons of buzz surrounding these events we definitely wanted to hear more from this eating expert about how he stays fit, while eating so much.
That's Fit: People might assume you sit around and eat all of the time, but you're pretty active. What is your exercise routine like?
Crazy Legs: The first thing I do is running. I jog the Williamsburg Bridge [between Brooklyn and Manhattan, in New York] three or four times a week. I travel to so many cities, so I always bring my running shoes. I'm fromNew York
Crazy Legs: The first thing I do is running. I jog the Williamsburg Bridge [between Brooklyn and Manhattan, in New York] three or four times a week. I travel to so many cities, so I always bring my running shoes. I'm from
TF: What is your day-to-day diet like and are there any foods you won't eat?
CL: I do yogurt or oatmeal in the morning and I do a lot of vegetables and salads. I do a lot of quinoa and grains for my carbohydrates. I actually don't eat an enormous amount of meat. If I'm going to eat meat I want the best of what I'm going to eat. In competition I'm eating Nathan's hot dogs, Krystal sliders, and so outside of competition if I'm going to consume something it's got to be something I place a premium on. You know, I'm in New York where everybody likes to be a pizza snob or a burger snob, so if I'm going to eat those foods it's got to be really good. I love all food but I'm not very good with spicy foods. Each year La Costena does a jalapeno eating contest. The record is 266 jalapeno peppers in 15 minutes. Before I retire I'm going to compete in the jalapeno eating contest. There is a good chance I will eat three and I will curl up in the fetal position and start crying. It will be an embarrassing moment. I would say you can count on me next September, it will be pretty grueling and after that probably no more jalapenos for me.
TF: Tell us a little about competition and how you prepare.
CL: So coming up I have the Martorano's Meatball Eating Contest which requires utensils, which is interesting. There's the Roy Roger's World Roast Sliders Eating Contest and the Jose's Flauta Eating Contest. Meatballs, roast beef sliders and flautas are not foods that would normally figure into a daily diet. And they don't figure into my daily diet, so I need to figure out my game plan. For roast beef sliders it's a combination of meat and bread and then I'll be using a liquid to help lubricate the throat and wash down the food in competition. So to eat as many roast beef sliders as I can in 10 minutes, I need to figure out the size, let's call it two ounces. I know I'm going to eat half of it, one ounce down, drink and then eat the other half, another ounce down. I'm not going to overload my mouth and chipmunk.
There's a lot more than just hot dogs and sliders, see what other eating competitions are out there.
