![\"pic\"](\"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/pic14.jpg\")
My New Year\u2019s resolution this year is to compete in a watermelon eating contest. I\u2019ve identified the contest and interviewed competitive eaters. With six weeks to go before the big day, the only thing left to do is get a few watermelon-eating practice sessions under my belt to test my capabilities and refine my technique.<\/p>\n
Like I mentioned before, I used to be a semi-professional competitive eater, so \u201cpractice sessions\u201d are nothing new to me. Before any eating contest, it\u2019s a good idea to practice at least once to determine what sort of challenges you might face on game day. Even if it\u2019s a food you\u2019ve eaten 100 times in the past \u2013 whether it\u2019s hot dogs, apple pie, ice cream, or watermelon \u2013 it\u2019s a completely different eating experience when you\u2019re consuming mass quantities of it in a short period of time.<\/p>\n
For my first training session (and all future sessions), I practiced with half of a medium-sized watermelon, cut lengthwise into two equal quarter-melon wedges. My goal: to consume both in about three minutes. I\u2019ve been known to eat on quarter-melon wedge in a single sitting, but I\u2019ve never eaten two, and I\u2019ve certainly never eaten two in the span of 180 seconds.<\/p>\n
With my wedges in front of me (that\u2019s them above next to a fork for perspective) and wearing my favorite \u201ceating shirt\u201d (yes, I have an eating shirt), I was ready to dig in. I warned my wife that things might get messy and she wisely suggested that I move my practice run to the picnic table on the back porch. She\u2019s pretty smart about stuff like that.<\/p>\n
So how\u2019d it go? I finished both wedges in about five minutes. Not quite as fast as I had hoped, but not a terrible first effort, either. I was also right about things getting messy. By the time I was finished, my face was soaked in watermelon juice and my eating shirt was drenched, too. That\u2019s okay, though, because it has more than its share of stains \u2013 each one with its own story to tell.<\/p>\n
I plan to try at least two more training sessions before the contest on July 4 to see if I can improve my speed and technique. I\u2019m pretty sure there\u2019s room for improvement, and I\u2019ve already got some ideas for how to make that happen. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My New Year\u2019s resolution this year is to compete in a watermelon eating contest. I\u2019ve identified the contest and interviewed competitive eaters. With six weeks to go before the big day, the only thing left to do is get a few watermelon-eating practice sessions under my belt to test my capabilities and refine my technique. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[61,221,223],"class_list":{"0":"post-1495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"tag-competitive-eating","9":"tag-new-years-resolution","10":"tag-watermelon-eating","11":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n