First day of orientation today at Marshall, I was able to throw down a slightly large lunch from the buffet, but nothing really remarkable. We'll see how the rest of orientation goes... I think my next challenge will be another spice one. I know, how can I even think of that after the horrors of last night? But I don't want to start training for quantity until I have my gym access at USC. My miserable attempts at swimming are only doing so much.
Weight Watch: 180.5 lbs
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Orochon Ramen Challenge
Where: Orochon Ramen, Downtown Los Angeles
The Challenge: Eat a large bowl of their spiciest ramen, the Special #2, in under 30 minutes.
As I waited for my bowl of ramen to arrive, I sat with Diddy and Chomscar (aka Aditya and Omar) and watched as a man nearby struggled with the challenge. It looked like every bite he took was more painful than the last, and he finally succumbed to the heat and gave up. He and his family wished me the best of luck, convinced I would have a similarly difficult time. I had walked into the challenge thinking it would be a piece of cake, my recent experience with the Buffalo Wild Wings challenge giving me a little cockiness. But watching this man struggle put the fear right back in me. Inspiring stuff, to be sure.
I got my bowl, and tried to size it up. The first few tastes weren't bad at all, except it was a smoking hot temperature. About ten minutes in, I really hadn't done much damage. Diddy got me a cup of ice, and I put a few cubes in to cool it down. After this, I was able to go to town. That's when the spice started to get to me. It wasn't all that spicy all at once, like the wings in Santa Clara, but a slow and permeating spice that built up to a roaring crescendo. 15 minutes in, and a good chunk of food down, I started to get the shakes, the sweats, and my palms started going numb. I thought I might fail my first spice challenge. The quantity was getting to me, and so was the spice. Things looked bad.
But then a group of people sitting to my right started chanting for me. Re-inspired, I took up the bowl and downed as much fiery liquid as I could.
The bowl wasn't as deep as I had thought, and I was re-energized. I took a minute to let my mouth cool a little, and then pushed through the end of the bowl to the cheers of the entire restaurant. And now my picture hangs "eternally" (a month?) on the Orochon Wall of Bravery. A fiery success!
Fun Fact #1 - the group to my right who pushed me through the end were big Man v Food fans and had traveled to LA with the partial purpose of visiting the restaurants Adam had gone to. They were so thrilled that someone was doing and beat the challenge while they were there that we had a 10 minute photo shoot with them after I had bought some milk.
Fun Fact #2 - This is by far the worst I've felt post challenge. Lets just say... fire in, fire out, fire out, fire out, fire out.
Spice Challenges: 3-0!
Overall: 4-6
The Challenge: Eat a large bowl of their spiciest ramen, the Special #2, in under 30 minutes.
As I waited for my bowl of ramen to arrive, I sat with Diddy and Chomscar (aka Aditya and Omar) and watched as a man nearby struggled with the challenge. It looked like every bite he took was more painful than the last, and he finally succumbed to the heat and gave up. He and his family wished me the best of luck, convinced I would have a similarly difficult time. I had walked into the challenge thinking it would be a piece of cake, my recent experience with the Buffalo Wild Wings challenge giving me a little cockiness. But watching this man struggle put the fear right back in me. Inspiring stuff, to be sure.
I got my bowl, and tried to size it up. The first few tastes weren't bad at all, except it was a smoking hot temperature. About ten minutes in, I really hadn't done much damage. Diddy got me a cup of ice, and I put a few cubes in to cool it down. After this, I was able to go to town. That's when the spice started to get to me. It wasn't all that spicy all at once, like the wings in Santa Clara, but a slow and permeating spice that built up to a roaring crescendo. 15 minutes in, and a good chunk of food down, I started to get the shakes, the sweats, and my palms started going numb. I thought I might fail my first spice challenge. The quantity was getting to me, and so was the spice. Things looked bad.
But then a group of people sitting to my right started chanting for me. Re-inspired, I took up the bowl and downed as much fiery liquid as I could.
The bowl wasn't as deep as I had thought, and I was re-energized. I took a minute to let my mouth cool a little, and then pushed through the end of the bowl to the cheers of the entire restaurant. And now my picture hangs "eternally" (a month?) on the Orochon Wall of Bravery. A fiery success!
Fun Fact #1 - the group to my right who pushed me through the end were big Man v Food fans and had traveled to LA with the partial purpose of visiting the restaurants Adam had gone to. They were so thrilled that someone was doing and beat the challenge while they were there that we had a 10 minute photo shoot with them after I had bought some milk.
Fun Fact #2 - This is by far the worst I've felt post challenge. Lets just say... fire in, fire out, fire out, fire out, fire out.
Spice Challenges: 3-0!
Overall: 4-6
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Next up: Orochon Ramen
I've been shying away from tackling any quantity challenges lately for three reasons.
First, I am getting fatter and there's no way that this high-carb regime is healthy for me, especially without any exercise. I tried to run yesterday, but my old leg injuries flared up and have put me out of commission for at least a few weeks. I can swim, but I flounder so much in the water that I'm not sure my body is getting a real workout while my lungs scream "stop, stop please, what are you doing?" and I leave the pool within twenty minutes. But, I digress.
Second, my confidence is shaken in my ability to eat large quantities. After racking up fail after fail, whose wouldn't be? I need some serious training time before I go at it again with any semblance of stone cold will power. I know I can do better than probably 90% of humans out there, but to beat these challenges, you need to be in an elite class. I'm just not quite there yet. Soon enough.
Third, there aren't too many food challenges in the L.A. area. I'll be here for two years or more. If I hit them all too soon, I'll run out and get bored and that could spell the end of a glorious era. So, I've got to pace myself.
However, there is a spice challenge at Orochon Ramen (also featured on Man v Food), and it seemed like it was fairly easy for Adam, so I can only assume it will be similarly doable for me. I probably shouldn't get too cocky, I'm sure it's quite terrible, but c'mon... after those hellfire wings in Santa Clara, I'm really not sure there can be much worse. So the Orochon Ramen challenge is fair game. Possibly later today...
First, I am getting fatter and there's no way that this high-carb regime is healthy for me, especially without any exercise. I tried to run yesterday, but my old leg injuries flared up and have put me out of commission for at least a few weeks. I can swim, but I flounder so much in the water that I'm not sure my body is getting a real workout while my lungs scream "stop, stop please, what are you doing?" and I leave the pool within twenty minutes. But, I digress.
Second, my confidence is shaken in my ability to eat large quantities. After racking up fail after fail, whose wouldn't be? I need some serious training time before I go at it again with any semblance of stone cold will power. I know I can do better than probably 90% of humans out there, but to beat these challenges, you need to be in an elite class. I'm just not quite there yet. Soon enough.
Third, there aren't too many food challenges in the L.A. area. I'll be here for two years or more. If I hit them all too soon, I'll run out and get bored and that could spell the end of a glorious era. So, I've got to pace myself.
However, there is a spice challenge at Orochon Ramen (also featured on Man v Food), and it seemed like it was fairly easy for Adam, so I can only assume it will be similarly doable for me. I probably shouldn't get too cocky, I'm sure it's quite terrible, but c'mon... after those hellfire wings in Santa Clara, I'm really not sure there can be much worse. So the Orochon Ramen challenge is fair game. Possibly later today...
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Damn USC scale
Now that I live in LA (as of two nights ago), I stopped by campus for a 5 hour session on how to format my resume (wooo). Before the session, I was able to make it to the USC Lyon Center, where I will work out for the next two years. I was able to fit in a one minute stair climbing session before I hit the locker room. As I weighed myself on their scale, I came out to a ghastly 188.5 lbs, a good 5 lbs heavier than my scale attributes my girth. I'm pretty sure that's more accurate, sadly... We'll be getting back on track soon....
weight watch: 188.5?
weight watch: 188.5?
Monday, July 19, 2010
Tucson + Me = Full
I have not been near hungry for over an hour in Tucson this visit. After the OMFG fail at Lindy's, the next day was spent recovering until it was all-you-can-eat sushi time at Sushi Hama. My friend Brad and I put away around $110 worth of sushi, all at the low price of $28 (total) after coupon. Very nice. We were both too full to fully enjoy Saturday night libations on 4th Ave.
I then spent Sunday partially recuperating from that stint, and then ate a large quantity of Chinese food (from Panda Village) for dinner, followed by drinks at The Depot on Ft. Lowell. Pretty full already, I still decided it was a great idea to get 3 taquitos and a very large burrito at Nico's to round out the night.
Needless to say....
Weight Watch: 184 lbs. Whoops...
I then spent Sunday partially recuperating from that stint, and then ate a large quantity of Chinese food (from Panda Village) for dinner, followed by drinks at The Depot on Ft. Lowell. Pretty full already, I still decided it was a great idea to get 3 taquitos and a very large burrito at Nico's to round out the night.
Needless to say....
Weight Watch: 184 lbs. Whoops...
Saturday, July 17, 2010
OMFG Burger at Lindy's
I wish I had pictures of this. It was a beautifully created, elegantly massive burger. I went to Lindy's on 4th ave in Tucson with my friends Bobby and James to take on this 3 lb burger, as featured on Man v Food. Bobby also attempted it with me.
This 3 pound burger was split into nine 1/3rd-pound patties, with slices of cheese between them, and topped off with lettuce and tomatoes. If I ate it all in 20 min, I'd get it for free, plus my picture on the wall and a $5 voucher for a future date. If i ate in in 30 min, I'd have to pay for the burger $20, but get everything else.
I started off at a pretty good pace, getting 6 patties out of the way in the first ten minutes. That's two pounds of food. I started to slow down considerably after that. I got through another patty and then put the remaining two on the buns in burger format. I made it through about a quarter of this final burger before the 30 minutes ran out, and was left with the option of trying to finish it for pride's sake or to save my night and not feel miserable for the afterparty on 4th.
I chose the latter. This is one of those that i think a good 5 months of training will get me fully prepared for. I just need to increase my consumption by 20%.
Until next time, Lindy's. :-/
Quantity: 1-6
Overall: 3-6
I really need to stick it to some spice challenges to pad my stats here.
weight watch: a totally dehydrated 177
This 3 pound burger was split into nine 1/3rd-pound patties, with slices of cheese between them, and topped off with lettuce and tomatoes. If I ate it all in 20 min, I'd get it for free, plus my picture on the wall and a $5 voucher for a future date. If i ate in in 30 min, I'd have to pay for the burger $20, but get everything else.
I started off at a pretty good pace, getting 6 patties out of the way in the first ten minutes. That's two pounds of food. I started to slow down considerably after that. I got through another patty and then put the remaining two on the buns in burger format. I made it through about a quarter of this final burger before the 30 minutes ran out, and was left with the option of trying to finish it for pride's sake or to save my night and not feel miserable for the afterparty on 4th.
I chose the latter. This is one of those that i think a good 5 months of training will get me fully prepared for. I just need to increase my consumption by 20%.
Until next time, Lindy's. :-/
Quantity: 1-6
Overall: 3-6
I really need to stick it to some spice challenges to pad my stats here.
weight watch: a totally dehydrated 177
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin' Challenge
The Challenge: 12 Blazin' (their hottest) wings in 6 minutes or less, no napkins and no drinks
If I win: Pay $9.99 and get a free t-shirt
The Competitor: Me. Look, if you haven't figured this out this late in the game...
The Result: I demolished it. Under 3 minutes. The waitress was impressed. I was nonplussed.
Honestly, I saw this coming the whole way when you take into account the factors involved:
1) Its a national franchise. How crazy can they get?
2) Its me. I don't want to get too cocky, but c'mon.
This was by far easier than the Hellfire Challenge in Santa Clara. I'm not sure if I described that one, but picture me with bloodshot eyes, snot dripping from my nose, my mouth, face, and hands on fire waiting the five minutes of torture after finishing the wings until I could use liquids for my insides and out. I chugged a quart of milk straight after just to try to get rid of the burn throughout my body.
Compared to that, this was a walk in the park. Three minutes and done. No eyes watering, no snot. Ate some fries after and finished my water. The waitress was cautioning me not to touch my eyes or any part of my body - she seemed really intent on warning me against touching my wangdoodle. I wanted to tell her that I was no rookie here, but I didn't want to spoil it for her or the manager who seemed really impressed by what I had just done. But... what they did have was a sick shirt to compensate.
I didn't even have time to take pictures before it was over.
Spice: 2-0
Overall: 3-5
If I win: Pay $9.99 and get a free t-shirt
The Competitor: Me. Look, if you haven't figured this out this late in the game...
The Result: I demolished it. Under 3 minutes. The waitress was impressed. I was nonplussed.
Honestly, I saw this coming the whole way when you take into account the factors involved:
1) Its a national franchise. How crazy can they get?
2) Its me. I don't want to get too cocky, but c'mon.
This was by far easier than the Hellfire Challenge in Santa Clara. I'm not sure if I described that one, but picture me with bloodshot eyes, snot dripping from my nose, my mouth, face, and hands on fire waiting the five minutes of torture after finishing the wings until I could use liquids for my insides and out. I chugged a quart of milk straight after just to try to get rid of the burn throughout my body.
Compared to that, this was a walk in the park. Three minutes and done. No eyes watering, no snot. Ate some fries after and finished my water. The waitress was cautioning me not to touch my eyes or any part of my body - she seemed really intent on warning me against touching my wangdoodle. I wanted to tell her that I was no rookie here, but I didn't want to spoil it for her or the manager who seemed really impressed by what I had just done. But... what they did have was a sick shirt to compensate.
I didn't even have time to take pictures before it was over.
Spice: 2-0
Overall: 3-5
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
C'mon Tucson...
What a disappointment... one of the spicy wing challenges (at Thunder Canyon) has been discontinued, one of them has been temporarily suspended so they can work on their wing sauce (at Wings over Broadway) - but they might have it ready by Monday, and the last one is a national franchise, which I was least excited to do out of the three (at Buffalo Wild Wings). Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love BWW, but they are a national franchise and I was expecting more out of Tucson than this.
Still though, BWW, the OMFG at Lindy's, and hopefully Wings over Broadway are still on the slate.
Still though, BWW, the OMFG at Lindy's, and hopefully Wings over Broadway are still on the slate.
Monday, July 12, 2010
LA -> Tucson
So by now i was supposed to have done 2 more challenges according to "the plan." But things didn't go quite according to schedule in LA (much quicker than I anticipated), so I decided to put a hold on the spicy sushi challenge. Instead I had all-you-can eat sushi at Midori Sushi in the valley. Yum! Also stuffed.
Today I left for Tucson and was planning on making a stop in Scottsdale to take on a 2lb burger + fries + 50 oz coke challenge. But as I was driving, I started getting really antsy and tired of being on the road and made up my mind not to waste 2 more hours than necessary taking care of this challenge. Instead, I stopped by a In-N-Out and ordered two 4x4's with fries. As I waited for my order, I did a little research on the patties, and realized that they're 1/8th of a lb. So not that big.
I got my burgers and started to dig into them. Halfway through the second one, I realized that it was a 3x3, and not a 4x4. Son of a... But i put them down pretty quickly, so maybe I could have finished the 2lb burger? maybe...
I'll try to do a wings challenge tomorrow though.
Weight Watch: new scale, but its reading 181.5
Today I left for Tucson and was planning on making a stop in Scottsdale to take on a 2lb burger + fries + 50 oz coke challenge. But as I was driving, I started getting really antsy and tired of being on the road and made up my mind not to waste 2 more hours than necessary taking care of this challenge. Instead, I stopped by a In-N-Out and ordered two 4x4's with fries. As I waited for my order, I did a little research on the patties, and realized that they're 1/8th of a lb. So not that big.
I got my burgers and started to dig into them. Halfway through the second one, I realized that it was a 3x3, and not a 4x4. Son of a... But i put them down pretty quickly, so maybe I could have finished the 2lb burger? maybe...
I'll try to do a wings challenge tomorrow though.
Weight Watch: new scale, but its reading 181.5
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Don't call it a comeback...
2.2 lbs of chicken, broccoli, and eggs in around fifteen minutes. Followed up with 50 oz of water before the half hour struck. Doesn't this seem doable? This guy's clearly antithetical appearance to my own so markedly makes it much more feasible sounding.
I'm 1-4 in quantity challenges. That's miserable. I hope Arizona brings me some respite.
Weight Watch: 182 lbs (post dinner) <- seems reasonable.
I'm 1-4 in quantity challenges. That's miserable. I hope Arizona brings me some respite.
Weight Watch: 182 lbs (post dinner) <- seems reasonable.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Variety killed the cat?
I'm getting a little tired of my daily cuisine. For the last few days its been nothing but hot dogs. Yesterday i ate 13 hot dogs and a sprig of broccoli. Today i had 7 hot dogs for breakfast and lunch, and then 1.3 lbs of chicken for dinner. Tomorrow, I have 3 chicken breasts and 5 eggs to get through. Its been ok, because I spice it up quite nicely, but eating just meat might not be the best thing.
If I believe truly and wholeheartedly in Gary Taube's book Good Calories Bad Calories, it might be an ok (or ideal) diet. And honestly, the ~5 lbs I've gained while eating ridiculous amounts of challenge food and training food in the last month and a half has been well under what was expected. I think this is partially because I keep carbs and unnecessary calories to a limit during the week, and then splurge a little on weekends with the challenges and normal weekend activities. But on the other hand...
I can't wait until i start exercising again, and potentially be able to eat what I want. Or at least to spice it up a little bit with a variety of veggies, rather than try to focus on low carb ones.
Weight Watch: 180 lbs (after dinner)
If I believe truly and wholeheartedly in Gary Taube's book Good Calories Bad Calories, it might be an ok (or ideal) diet. And honestly, the ~5 lbs I've gained while eating ridiculous amounts of challenge food and training food in the last month and a half has been well under what was expected. I think this is partially because I keep carbs and unnecessary calories to a limit during the week, and then splurge a little on weekends with the challenges and normal weekend activities. But on the other hand...
I can't wait until i start exercising again, and potentially be able to eat what I want. Or at least to spice it up a little bit with a variety of veggies, rather than try to focus on low carb ones.
Weight Watch: 180 lbs (after dinner)
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Killer Whale Roll Update
Folks, my apologies for the delay. These last two weeks have been some ca-razy times here in the San Fran as I get ready for my departure.
Last Friday, June 25th a few coworkers (Terrell Gaige and Daniel Kim + other non-competitors) and I traveled to Bay Shabu Sushi Sake in the West Portal, SF to take on the Killer Whale Roll Challenge. It was a massive 4lb roll of sushi. As I once described it - a tempura roll and potato surrounded by a metric ton of rice, topped off with pieces of eel, shrimp, and tuna. As long as my arm, and much thicker.
In the 30 min we had to demolish this beast of a roll, we did our best to start at an aggressive pace. Terry and I pushed through at a good clip through the first half of the roll in under 12 minutes, but as the sheer amount of rice and the dryness of said rice became a challenge, we slowed considerably. Towards the end, I started swallowing rice down with water, but couldn't get the whole thing down. All in all, it was a good challenge, and quite delicious for the first few pieces. But I only made it through 10/13 pieces by the end of regulation.
Following this challenge, I have determined that I need some serious training before attempting more quantity challenges. I've been eating a lot of hot dogs recently, and July 4th has inspired me to make it to Coney Island in 2-3 years.
Some upcoming challenges (maybe?):
Sunday July 11 - Yagumo Sushi Ninja Roll in Van Nuys, CA (spicy)
Tuesday July 13th - Giligans 2# Burger in Scottsdale, AZ
July 14th - 19th - a slew of wing challenges in Tucson, AZ
Sometime in Tucson - OMFG burger at Lindys
July 20 - Holy Moly Burrito at Crazy Carlos' in Peoria, AZ
Weight Watch: 177.5 lbs
Last Friday, June 25th a few coworkers (Terrell Gaige and Daniel Kim + other non-competitors) and I traveled to Bay Shabu Sushi Sake in the West Portal, SF to take on the Killer Whale Roll Challenge. It was a massive 4lb roll of sushi. As I once described it - a tempura roll and potato surrounded by a metric ton of rice, topped off with pieces of eel, shrimp, and tuna. As long as my arm, and much thicker.
In the 30 min we had to demolish this beast of a roll, we did our best to start at an aggressive pace. Terry and I pushed through at a good clip through the first half of the roll in under 12 minutes, but as the sheer amount of rice and the dryness of said rice became a challenge, we slowed considerably. Towards the end, I started swallowing rice down with water, but couldn't get the whole thing down. All in all, it was a good challenge, and quite delicious for the first few pieces. But I only made it through 10/13 pieces by the end of regulation.
Following this challenge, I have determined that I need some serious training before attempting more quantity challenges. I've been eating a lot of hot dogs recently, and July 4th has inspired me to make it to Coney Island in 2-3 years.
Some upcoming challenges (maybe?):
Sunday July 11 - Yagumo Sushi Ninja Roll in Van Nuys, CA (spicy)
Tuesday July 13th - Giligans 2# Burger in Scottsdale, AZ
July 14th - 19th - a slew of wing challenges in Tucson, AZ
Sometime in Tucson - OMFG burger at Lindys
July 20 - Holy Moly Burrito at Crazy Carlos' in Peoria, AZ
Weight Watch: 177.5 lbs
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