Getty Image / Kena Betancur
Joey Chestnut is in the zone right now ahead of the 2023 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island.
In a recent interview with BroBible, Joey Chestnut revealed what the days before a major eating competition look like. With under 4 days to go until Coney Island, Joey’s still training hard and eating normally. But that all changes with 48 hours to go.
I spoke with @joeyjaws, 15x Nathan's Hot Dog Contest winner and owner of 55 competitive eating records, about the one record he really wants to smash, what he's doing to stay physically and mentally fit, and how he's feeling ahead of the 4th of July ⤵️ https://t.co/GYpUUspLjc pic.twitter.com/2oPBI9X04X
— Cass Anderson (@casspa) June 27, 2023
Chestnut told me:
“At about 48 hours, 2 days, is my last real meal. And then a normal meal. And then it’s pretty much a cleanse beforehand. Lemon juice, water, a little bit of protein supplements.
Then the day of the contest I wake up super early. I’m drinking liquid, doing yoga, doing some burping exercises, and sucking in my stomach and saying alright, there’s room for 15, 16, and 17 pounds of food.”
Later in the interview, the conversation turned to what it’s like when the most famous competitive eater on planet earth goes out to eat.
Within the world of competitive eating, Joey Chestnut is easily the most famous and most recognizable figure and it’s not even close. So it should come as no surprise that he gets recognized when he goes to restaurants.
For some celebrities, that sort of attention at a restaurant could become cumbersome but not for Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut. He relishes in the moments shared with fans and unlike other celebs he can actually eat the food restaurants send out.
When asked about being recognized at restaurants, Joey Chestnut told me:
“Oh yea. It’s not.. It’s not bad. Yeah. So if I go to a little restaurant and the waiter recognizes me, then he tells like, the manager, or the manager tells the chef and the chef sends out something really cool. And it’s always happy people.
And I can eat it. A lot of people will tell me ‘oh my god, I sent this out to to a baseball player, and he just took a bite and he left it.’ So but they’re really happy that I could finish whatever they send out.
And like I said, it’s always happy people and the food brings people together. I’m really lucky that the people that do recognize me are the ones that have a love of food like I do.”
Chestnut also said that when he’s at baseball games fans love to challenge him to a ‘one off’ hot dog eating contest. There’s something about baseball games and hot dogs that seem to really bring out the competitive spirit amongst his fans.