Introduction
Don’t you just love the idea that eating could be your main passion in life, and one that is ranked up there with the likes of collecting or making crafts?
In fact, it’s quite a common question and one that we’re going to answer for you including some of the things you should know about eating that makes it such a passionate pastime for some people.
Food unites people, it’s the thing that brings everyone around the table at specific times of the day to share stories and break bread with each other.
Even if you’ve had an argument or you’re not on the best terms with each other, once you get a wholesome meal down you, it becomes far easier to forgive and forget.
You Are What You Eat, So Don’t Be Cheap: 5 Things You Need to Know About Eating as a Hobby
1. First of all, is eating a hobby?
Let’s address the elephant in the room first, and no, we aren’t referring to how much weight we’ve put on.
Is eating a hobby?
Yes, eating is absolutely a hobby if it’s something you actively do for enjoyment, or if it’s something that is strongly linked to your identity e.g. maybe you’re renowned for being able to eat the spiciest food.
That’s basically all a hobby is; doing something that gives you enjoyment which could be something as simple as watching television, and yes, even eating food.
The argument in favor of it not being a hobby is one that says if you’re doing something that is required to survive e.g. eating, sleeping, drinking fluids, then it can’t be classed as a hobby.
To expand on that point — it simply isn’t true and it depends entirely on the person’s own perspective around the activity.
If you enjoy the prospect of eating a spicy curry or ritualize the activity then it’s definitely in the realms of what we would consider a hobby.
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of what a hobby is and why eating is definitely a hobby.
Let’s explore some of the other aspects of eating and why some people find it so enjoyable.
2. Eating gives you a buzz
We know that we enjoy food and it makes us feel good, but is there a reason for why that is?
Well, yes actually.
When you eat, your body releases a flood of chemicals that are responsible for rewarding the activity or making you feel good.
This is because food is strongly linked to our survival; our body needs to incentivize activities that keep us alive.
The trouble with this is that we now live in a society that has an abundance of food and that can actually incentivize the wrong kind of eating such as binge-eating: in essence, your brain doesn’t know when to stop.
With that said, (provided you can temper your urges) you can use this buzz to be the highlight of your day where everybody gets together for food and fun.
3. You can eat competitively
Eating is not just a hobby but it’s one that can become a sport too; enter the world of competitive eating.
Competitive eaters can eat anywhere up to sixty hotdogs in ten minutes and can polish away thirty-two big macs in one sitting. Pretty mad, right?
In fact, it’s observed in some cases that the stomach of a competitive eater can hold up to four litres of food, and possibly more.
With that said, you’d expect competitive eaters to be hugely overweight but most of them are in relatively good shape.
That’s mostly to do with eating correctly around their competitive eating events and employing techniques that aid them in downing food without needing to be overweight.
4. Mukbang (what?)
Mukbang is an unusual word that originates from Korea: it’s a combination of the word meokbang “eating”, and the word bangsong “broadcast” — So literally it means to broadcast your eating.
You might also be asking why you would want to broadcast your eating efforts, however, it can actually be a lucrative pastime and one that could net you millions of followers.
Most people watch mukbang shows to witness copious amounts of food being gorged on, or so that they can listen to the sound of it all being slurped up — yes, we’re not making this up.
In fact, there are dedicated ASMR clips specifically for people who like the sound of others eating and mukbang enthusiasts have taken advantage of this niche.
We can’t say it’s the healthiest pastime but it’s definitely one that asserts eating as something that can become a hobby and one that can make you money.
5. Food Challenges
Food challenges always seem to pop up at some point in time, from the cinnamon challenge to the gallon of milk challenge, and even things like eating entire hot chili peppers, we always seem to find a way to ritualize our eating.
In fact, over the years, food challenges have become somewhat commonplace and there are literally thousands for you to watch on YouTube for sadistic purposes or even to give it a go yourself (exercise caution).
Not only is this a fun way to enhance your eating but you can also get your friends involved which can be an excellent way to maintain your relationships with them.
If you want, you can also come up with your own weird and wonderful food challenges which we think is a great idea if you really want eating to become your hobby.
Fat FAQ’s for Foodies
You should now have a better idea about why eating is a hobby and how you can make it a more engaging activity.
With that said, we wanted to explore and address some of the most popularly asked questions regarding food, let’s take a look.
How Much Food Can You Eat in One Sitting?
There’s not an exact number and this is based on loose anecdotal evidence at best, however, one of the most successful competitive eaters, Joey Chestnut, was able to eat around 16 pounds worth of hotdog meat and buns in 10 minutes which seems to be the upper limit.
It’s also worth considering that a “sitting” is variable for each person and if you stretch it over a longer duration you can usually eat more.
Most competitive eaters use the assistance of water to make the food easier to get down and so it’s mushed up making it more space-efficient.
How do Mukbangers not gain weight?
Believe it or not, most mukbang sessions are filmed intermittently meaning they don’t eat like that every single day.
Generally speaking, those who engage in mukbang are aware of the potential health consequences if they don’t eat healthily which is why the majority of their diet is spent eating smaller portions of nutritious, wholesome food.
With that said, you can eat anything you want for a mukbang session; as a reminder, mukbang means broadcasting your eating, so why not try something healthy?
Conclusion
So now we know that eating is definitely a hobby and there are even niche areas of eating such as mukbang that can add to the fun.
As with anything, we recommend not over-indulging especially since poor food habits can lead to ill-consequences.
In fact, a good analogy to bear in mind is that your body is like a Formula 1 car; it will only do its best and perform at maximum capacity provided it’s given the most premium fuel to run on.
That means, eat like an Italian: get your greens, nuts, and healthy fats in all whilst having good conversation with your friends.
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We regularly update our website with the latest information about hobbies including advice on certain topics that you weren’t 100% on.
