Finding a Flow With Eating
I think, or at least hope, that everyone recognizes that flow (with eating) is probably about the most important part of competitive eating. The concept here is that you’re shoving more food in your mouth just as the space becomes available. That means there needs to be a consistent flow of food coming into your mouth, chewed and swallowed. This is an art that is very hard to perfect and it changes with the food you inevitably end up eating.
Here is the only way:
Practice
I wish I could tell you that there is a method that you can follow that will break everything down into a step-by-step manner, but there isn’t. Everyone is different; you eat different, you chew different, you even swallow different. The only way to figure out how to get flow with your eating patterns is practice.
There are a few things that I can tell you that should help you out though.
You Should Be Counting
The last thing you want on your mind is that you’re eating. You want to get into a flow, so everything needs to be performing up to a specific standard (IE: speed). I have found that everything basically comes down to your chewing speed. Obviously you can’t chew over 20 times for this competition, but counting your chewing is the pace.
A drummer will tape his sticks together to set the pace and so will your chewing…
“1… 2… 3… 4… 5…” *insert hotdog* “1… 2… 3… 4… 5…” *insert hotdog*
This is how a pace is created and you do it through your chewing patterns. In the above example you take five chomps, swallow and insert more food in. You’re no thinking about what you’re eating or how much you got in. All you’re doing is counting. “1… 2… 3… 4… 5…”