Berenice Baker request for anecdotes
Berenice (Brazen) Baker has sent me the following request:
I’m a UK-based journalist and I’m planning an article that I hope will
promote a very positive image of competitive eating and also appeal to
people who wouldn’t normally read about the sport. I’d be very grateful if
you could put the word out on EatFeats for people to email me their
experiences.Scheduled for the early months of 2007 when people might be slipping away
from their New Year’s resolutions, I want to talk about how people can
recover from overeating and return to healthy habits without feeling that
they’ve irretrievably fallen off the wagon. Who better than competitive
eaters to give advice about recovering from overindulgence?
It’s quite well known in CE circles that many competitive eaters keep their
weight down and stay healthy by training with low-calorie foods, eating
healthily between contests and exercising. Indeed, many have proud athletic
achievements. I think the average reader could learn a lot.I’d rather have anecdotal stories to keep the tone light-hearted, but here’s
some pointers to (non-mandatory!) information respondents could provide:Name
Eater name
Location
Age
Proudest competitive eating accomplishment
How do you feel immediately after a contest?
How do you recover immediately afterwards?
Do you make an effort to eat healthily between contests and when choosing
training foods?
Do you exercise or take part in any other sport?I’d also welcome any suggestions and comments from the friends, family and
fans that post here too.Many thanks,
Berenice Baker (EatFeats name Brazen)
http://www.myspace.com/brazen_berry
berenice_baker@hotmail.com
Loading ...
Anonymous said
November 4, 2006 @ 11:38 am
Some of the IFOCE eaters got together and decided to stop feeding personal training methods to journalist’s or reporters in the media because some of the new eaters or up and coming eaters use that free advice to better themselves. I suggest that we live by that promise unless the media people decide to pay us some bucks for our time and effort . Free publicity gets you nowhere . UK based journalist does nothing for a competitive eaters career
Brazen said (Registered August 3, 2006)
November 5, 2006 @ 2:41 am
Thanks for the comments Anonymous, that explains the lack of overflowing inbox! I’d be happy to address your concerns.
Firstly, I’ve contacted the IFOCE about the article, and they’re happy with it.
Like I said, the questions are just non-mandatory pointers and I’m more interested in anecdotes about how eaters stay healthy despite the overindulgence of competition than divulging training secrets. If anything, I expected, “I train with fruit and veg rather than eating hotdogs 24/7” rather than details. Having said that, I have written for Runner’s World before where world-class athletes share their training techniques in full knowledge that it won’t lead to them losing the next Marathon to one of the readers. Even armed with the knowledge to be as good as they can be, few have the talent, dedication and natural ability to rise to the top, and I suspect it’s the same with competitive eating.
I would love to participate in chequebook journalism so everyone gets as much cash as kudos, but unless any of you are sleeping with Prince Charles or Heather McCartney (in which case, drop me a line and we can talk!) there’s about as much money in a freelance article as third prize at a local pizza eating competition. I’d be happy to get everyone a round of beer and pretzels next time I’m over, though! I have a “day job” in technology journalism, but I wanted to share my fascination with competitive eating and counteract the mostly negative press it gets over here with something everyone can gain from, even if I have to do it for free or next to nothing.
An article like I’m planning may only bring free publicity and not directly boost individual’s careers, but I’d like to think it would promote the sport as a whole and help the I in IFOCE be a little more truly international.
Britain currently has no internationally ranked eaters, and Competitive Eating UK failed to get off the ground earlier this year. I’d really like to do my bit to help the sport have a future over here, and I think I can best do that by writing about the US eating scene where it is at a hugely exciting stage of exponential growth and burgeoning popularity.
All the best,
Berenice
donmoseslerman said
November 5, 2006 @ 5:52 am
this is don lerman go to my web site donmoseslerman .com and i will be happy to give advice
badlands booker said
November 5, 2006 @ 12:42 pm
I will be happy to pour all of my knowledge about the sport into your article Berenice. I will teach anyone who has a desire to learn about the sport. That’s how the sport grows! ‘Nuff Said!
Philly Guy said
November 5, 2006 @ 1:15 pm
Don’t bash her. I’ve seen her myspace and she’s a true fan of the sport trying to help. I thank her for her help. I don’t have any great eating stories, but I support her fully.
beautifulbrian said
November 5, 2006 @ 10:14 pm
Berenice BB at your service
Brazen said (Registered August 3, 2006)
November 6, 2006 @ 10:24 am
Thanks everyone for the support you’ve shown here and the fantastic responses I’ve had via email and MySpace. I’ll drop everyone who has responded a line, then I’m going to be away for a couple of weeks, during which time I’ll get the first draft together, so apologies if I can’t reply over that period. But plenty of time if anyone else has some great ideas!
No salacious scandals about eaters sleeping with royalty or selling babies to Madonna yet, but there’s time!
Jammin Joe said
November 6, 2006 @ 1:12 pm
Berenice
If I can do anything for your article it will be my pleasure. Contact me@
Jamminjoe3@gmail.com
Joe
Locust said
November 6, 2006 @ 1:25 pm
Berenice, I’d be glad to help provide some information for your article. Even though I don’t have any training secrets I think I can provide a lot of material such as why we do this and how we are able to stay in good physical condition. Feel free to contact me at any time as I am always willing to help the sport in any way I can.
Brazen said (Registered August 3, 2006)
November 7, 2006 @ 6:32 am
Thanks Jammin’ Joe and Locust. Locust, could you please drop me an email with your initial thoughts on staying in good shape as I don’t have contact details for you, then I’ll be in touch.
TheGodfather said
November 7, 2006 @ 7:15 am
count me in also
Gentleman Joe said
November 7, 2006 @ 9:22 am
I’ve been semi-secretly sleeping w/ Fergie. Does that count?!
Rhonda Evans said
November 7, 2006 @ 10:15 am
GJoe, when in the heck are we going to see updates on your site? If it’s a space thing, just get rid of a year or so worth of postings. If you want to keep them around, just save the entries to your computer in a Word document.
I miss your sarcastic offerings, whether I agree with/like them or not. They help keep the world in balance.
beautifulbrian said
November 7, 2006 @ 11:57 am
Rhonda it was those sarcastic postings and the back and forth bashing of one another two yrs ago that made my site what it is today. Although there was some mud slinging at times everyone appeared to be entertained
Rhonda Evans said
November 7, 2006 @ 12:51 pm
Brian I do remember and certainly miss that. My emotions ran the gamut from ecstacy to sorrow–from pride to humility–from anger and resentment to apathy. Sometimes I would simply laugh so hard I would almost cry. I got so much entertainment from it. And on the rare occasion that speedeat and bb.com were in agreement, well, it didn’t happen very often, and those few times were the best.
Rhonda Evans said
November 7, 2006 @ 1:12 pm
BB, GJoe used to REALLY give poor Crazy Legs Conti an especially tough time. I resented that more than anything else, I suppose.
I was most impressed with the Gentleman when he stuck his neck out and ranked Joey # 3 in the world (not that his rankings ever meant anything), after Joey’s 32 rookie dog stint in 2005. That took guts and GJoe proved to be right on target!
And actually BBrian, I can tell that deep down GJoe appreciates you, but he HAS to give you a tough time sometimes, just as you do him, to keep up the “ratings.”
One thing I like about both of you, is that you both are about as politically correct as Bush taking a crap on the floor in a mosque–and you both don’t care. Somehow, that’s important.
Johny B said
November 7, 2006 @ 2:05 pm
I didn’t even know fergie was back on meth, that says a lot.
You dont say said
November 8, 2006 @ 3:22 am
For those of you that still think Rhonda Evans and Crazy Legs mom are one and the same the rumor is totally false. Although their writing styles are similar and both share a great love for Sonya Thomas , Crazy legs mom would not refer to her own son as “body candy” and its a well known fact that Crazy Legs mom deplores Gentleman Joe while Rhonda finds him entertaining