thePULSEBy Tine Roycroft
Last night, dinner for me was canned salmon plopped on arugula and I still counted calories. But somewhere nearby, Peter “Pretty Boy” Davekos was possibly consuming 29 hotdogs (with buns!) in ten minutes. And he wasn’t paying attention to carbs.
Davekos, 32, is a star in the world of competitive eating ~ a place where you eat as much as possible in as little time as possible. One could guess that such a sport would leave him unhealthy, but Davekos hits the gym 5 days a week and at 6’1” and 210 pounds, maintains a normal diet and lifestyle.
“You don’t want to train at home,” he explained. “Competitive eating is more mental training and mental focus ~ envisioning what you need to eat and going for it.”
Despite having a zen approach to the sport, the quantity of food Davekos eats in such short amounts of time is astounding. For the spice lovers, he’s downed 18 burritos in 10 minutes. For the chicken aficionados, he’s swallowed 22 wings in 3 minutes. For the farmers, he’s devoured 21 ears of corn in 12 minutes and for those college students, he’s shoved in 4.95 pounds of Ramen Noodles in 10 minutes. The contests take place all around the world ~ Queens, NY, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Ontario, Canada ~ and each competition is well-attended with excited fans yelling out support and instructions, cute cheerleaders prancing around with scorecards and team mascots providing bursts of humor along the way.
Davekos got his start in competitive eating at 28. Before then, he was a body builder who constantly watched what he ate. Davekos grew up in a Greek family where thoroughly enjoying good food was a way of life, so after he got started, his cravings for something other than egg whites were intense. One day, a friend challenged him to enter an eating contest and he accepted. Within an hour, he had eaten three pounds of burgers and a new way of life had begun.
Living with a well-known competitive eater might prove to be challenging, but Davekos’s wife Mia handles it with ease. She was accustomed to media attention before she even met her husband.
“Mia was on the ninth season of Survivor,” said Davekos. “We met at a bar. At the time, I was a junkie for reality television and I was immediately attracted. When it comes to my competitive eating, she’s both proud and horrified all at once.”
In addition to his wife, Davekos also has two other loyal fans ~ his 1 1/2 year old girl Piper and his 3 1/2 year old boy Parker. And in the Davekos family, it’s “like father, like son.”
“Parker is obsessed with my competitive eating and all the contests,” Davekos said. “I bring him along and he’ll walk out dressed exactly like me on the day of contest. He’s even been on ESPN. Parker’s my only addiction.”
Davekos has his favorite and least favorite competition foods. A big fan of eating hot dogs, he claims they are the great equalizers in a competition as they are hard to consume but worth it. Pizza presents a difficult challenge. According to Davekos, pizza requires a great deal of jaw strength and sometimes his mouth just isn’t up to the task.
Davekos says he intends to continue to eat competitively until he gets bored. Some people play golf, others collect trading cards. “Pretty Boy” likes to eat.
Photo courtesy of Erin Wigger Photography
