It’s Monday, May 24, 2021 and the start of a BIG week for me!! While writing this, I’m in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma inside a Panera with 997 unique restaurant food challenge wins, and I plan on going for overall win #1000 this upcoming Saturday, May 29, 2021. Three longtime friends and I will be attempting the 25lb 4-Person Team Burger Challenge at Kooky Canuck in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. Click here to read my blog post announcing the plans. For the past few months while chasing win #1000, I’ve had many people ask what I intend to do after getting victory #1000. I’ve given most of them a simple answer – going for overall win #1001!!

Back in 2016 during my first semester (of 6) back at Missouri State University, my Springfield, MO video editor Arthur Davis and I filmed a few Q&A videos where I answered lots of different frequently asked questions. I kicked off the series by answering “why” it takes so long to post our videos after they’ve been filmed, and why I still do food challenges. Watch that video below if interested:

I laughed while re-watching the video because again, we are well ahead of our video posting pace, still publishing challenge videos filmed down in Florida earlier this year. Years later, everything I said still applies, but now my goal is to get to fifty countries rather than just thirty. Katina Eats Kilos and I are moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin this summer so that in August I can begin the 9-month Dietetic Internship mentioned in the video. Another update is that I intend to get a Master of Science in Dietetics. My original plan I made in 2015 didn’t include a master’s degree. I’ll finish that online while traveling to the remaining 13 new countries for victories.

What my plans have never included is a numerical food challenge wins goal. I eventually wanted to win 500 challenges, and once I got near that number, it got upgraded to more. Back in 2010 when I started doing food challenges, I had never been out of the United States before. My grand prize trip (for winning the national Men’s Health / Spartacus Body Transformation Challenge) to Auckland, New Zealand in September 2010 was my first adventure abroad. Back then, getting to 5 countries was a lot. As I kept on traveling to expand my reach, my international countries goal grew just like my food challenge wins number has. Eventually, I did want to win 1,000 food challenges, so you can consider it a goal I’ve strived for, but I’ve never thought about “retiring” afterwards.

For all the people wondering if I am retiring after my 1,000th win, the answer is “no.” I’m not even taking a break. I have even more people commenting that they hope I take a break after surpassing 1,000 wins, for health reasons, because they are concerned about my elevated bodyweight. I am taking a break soon, but my overall win number had no influence on the decision that’s been planned for years now. Back in 2015 when I committed to becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), I knew I’d have to finish 3 years of schooling plus a 9-month 1,200 hour internship. My original plan was to complete the internship directly after graduating with my bachelor’s degree, but I did “audible” and adjust my plans after failing to get an interview with the Ohio State University DI program.

Back in 2019, I withdrew my internship applications to take 2 full “gap years” off to travel and grow my YouTube and Facebook social media channels via restaurant food challenges. It wouldn’t be wise or effective to compete in lots of food challenges as an RDN. Lots of people think I might shut down my channels, or may just stop posting videos once I’m done with professional eating. That boggles my mind, just like when people ask if I plan on posting a challenge video that I recently filmed. I’ve put my body through A LOT since I went “all-in” with everything back in 2013. Especially since 2015, all the food challenges I’ve been doing have been because of what I’ve planned on doing “after.” I am soon going to blog about this, but if it wasn’t for my plans “after,” I would have retired years ago.

On the day I become an RDN, I will be the #1 followed dietitian in the world on social media. The book / nutrition education program and everything I’ve been working on since 2012 will publish (when it’s ready), and my marketing plan will have a budget similar to my food budget when on tour – not much, thanks to my career as a professional eater. People now get their nutrition information from fitness-oriented people (with a large following) rather than nutrition professionals who are nearly non-existent online in comparison. That is all about to start changing for the better in a few years, as my team works to provide people with a basic nutrition education.

I don’t talk much or get too “loud” about what I am doing, because there really isn’t much value in the “talking” part of it all. I’ve been dedicated on the same path for what seems like forever now (9+ years), and the funny thing is that I’m still not even really started with everything I want to accomplish. One day, winning food challenges in 50 countries and all 50 states will be known as the “easy” part of my career. If I had to forecast, I’d say I’ll have about 1,250 victories when I retire, but I’ll stop with 1,248 wins if that’s when I’ll be done “winning before I begin” and ready to make the full switch over to being a social media dietitian. My pro eating career has no set “end date or number” and it may end up being prolonged, depending on how everything goes. My nutrition education book & system is not “complete,” and could require more work than I think. It also might also take less! There are lots of variables involved.

What I can control now is continuing to grow my social media channels while simultaneously completing my 1,200 hour internship and master’s degree from Mount Mary University. I’ll be stationary in Milwaukee from August 2021 to May 2022 and to answer lots of comments about the same thing, Sexification 2021 starts in August later this year. It will last a minimum of 24 weeks since it will take about that long for all the videos we’ll have filmed by then to post. I cannot lose too much weight too fast, or else I’ll finish with a lot of excess skin. Therefore, I plan to “tier” my weight loss down towards 240lbs/109kg which will be my “dietitian weight.” August is also when we will cut down to two challenge videos per week, with a part-educational Sexification 2021 update video each Friday.

So with all that said, win #1000 is going to be a fun and memorable event. We are going to party hard that night on Beale Street, but then I’ll wake up on Sunday, rehydrate, and get ready for win #1001. Then the next day I’ll go for win #1002. There is lots upcoming and I appreciate everyone supporting me now, no matter when you started “following.” I appreciate everybody’s “genuine concern” as well. My health is always a top priority for me, which is why I’ve been able to withstand everything I’ve been doing the past eleven years. It would be impossible to become the world’s #1 go-to source for simplified nutrition and weight management information, if I had a history of health issues caused by poor lifestyle choices. All will be (fortunately) fine and dandy like it always has been. I look forward to posting all my upcoming updates during Sexification 2021. Thanks for your time reading this and win before you begin!!

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