I did not know that yesterday!

Those old pie eating contests they used to hold at county fairs are nothing compared to modern eating competitions. Besides being able to stomach loads of food, professional eaters usually boast colorful nicknames, such as Jaws, Bonestripper, and Dumplings. But they take the sport seriously -- there's even an International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE).

HowStuffWorks explains that in order to get the grub down faster, eaters often dunk the food in water or break it into smaller pieces. They're used to ignoring the natural gag reflex, as well as the stomach's feeling of fullness. Some folks train by filling up with large meals or water to stretch the stomach. However the IFOCE frowns upon this method. Some "old school" competitive eaters prefer "picnic style rules," which ban dipping, mushing, dunking, and picking apart their chow.

Takeru Kobayashi, currently the top-ranked competitive eater, has a theory about success in the sport: "You have to gradually build up your gut by eating larger and larger amounts of food, and then be sure to work it all off so body fat doesn't put a squeeze on the expansion of your stomach in competition." It's time to start training. Hey, you gonna eat that?

Source: ask.yahoo.com