Joey Chestnut prepping for Toronto poutine eating challenge

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Here is a sentence you won’t often hear from a man who can eat a year’s worth of poutine in 10 minutes flat.

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“I count calories,” world-champion eater Joey Chestnut told the Toronto Sun on Thursday afternoon.

Chestnut is back in Toronto to defend his Smoke’s Poutinerie World Poutine Eating Championship title. Last year, he forced 26.5 pounds of Quebec’s most famous comfort food down the hatch before the time was up.    

Part of Smoke-A-Palooza, the eating contest begins 3:30 p.m. at Sankofa Square on Saturday. Admission is free.

He won Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest in early July by gulping down 66 hots dogs and the accompanying buns in 10 minutes.

Down the hatch

Conservatively, a regular beef hot dog is around 150 calories each. The bun is approximately 120 calories. Multiplying and adding that all up equates to about 17,820 calories.

A couple hours after a contest is completed — that is when Chestnut’s media and fan obligations usually end — preparations are underway for the next contest.

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As is the case in Toronto, where his hotel is only five blocks away from the scene of the crime, he usually walks back while drinking warm water and walking at pace.

“Warm water is awesome,” he said. “It relaxes the muscles. Warm water is one of my favourite go-to’s.” He said he learned warm water was his fave by “trial and error.”

At this time in the season, all the training has been done. The 42-year-old eats sparingly between events. He is usually not hungry the day after an event.

“I eat salads and drink water,” he stated, saying he counts the calories between contests. “It’s not like I eat like that every day. There is preparation, practice, and recovery, slowly adapting to an insane amount of food.”

Salads and water cleanses

Chestnut dabbles with salads and water cleanses during the week and slowly adds protein to his diet in the lead up to the next event. He doesn’t consume sugar or starches during the week. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there are times where I’m under 500 calories a day,” he said, though admitting he is usually in the 1,000-calorie range per day. “I am used to pushing myself. I can do three-day water fasts. I’m used to pushing my body on both ends.”

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The day before a contest he will usually do a “liquid diet” just to get prepared for the voluminous amount of food coming his way.

He says some people are surprised to know that one day a week he eats like a gluttonous prince, while the rest of the week he eats like a pauper.

“They see you on television, and you’re stuffing lots of food,” Chestnut said. “Kids are surprised to know that the other six days of the week I am eating 1,000 calories or less a day.”

He wouldn’t term himself a small man, but he is not a grossly overweight either. Through years of trial and error, he just knows what works best for him.

“I am in tune with my body,” he said. “I can tell when I’m losing weight, and I can tell when I’ve been cheating on my diet, and I’m putting on real pounds.”

ganderson@postmedia.com

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